Speaker 1: Welcome to Special Teams, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Greetings and Welcome inside the Special Teams Podcast. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Jason Smith, the man on my radio left, Hi on
Speaker 1: my carbon You gotta say a faster, buddy, let me
Speaker 1: come on you like you weren't ready. It's just ready.
Speaker 1: I just didn't know if you were going to give
Speaker 1: me a big build up, a bunch of adjectives to
Speaker 1: describe how swollen dominant I am in my performance here
Speaker 1: on the podcast. I didn't know they know who we
Speaker 1: are by now because we've we've done a few of them.
Speaker 1: I say, Jason Smith, you say Mike Carmon, but in
Speaker 1: staid it's oh hey, look at me. But there's always
Speaker 1: some new folks coming in. Sure, maybe there's needs to
Speaker 1: build up maybe a little bit of you know, giant
Speaker 1: flutes and trumpets. You want giant flutes and trumpets, not
Speaker 1: regular flutes and trumpets. Gotta be giant flutes, rock flute
Speaker 1: like Jethro Tall, not running down his nose. Play. They
Speaker 1: had other songs, m yeah, but that's that's the go
Speaker 1: to one though, that's always the pretty good one. Well,
Speaker 1: what we do on Special Teams Podcast we spotlight a
Speaker 1: single season in sports history. Some of the best, most notorious,
Speaker 1: or worst teams that grace a gridiron, hockey rank, basketball court,
Speaker 1: baseball field diamond whipper Will Woodpecker. Yeah, maybe the squared Circle.
Speaker 1: I mean, you never know what you're gonna get, you know.
Speaker 1: Let's sudden look at the year that macho man Randy
Speaker 1: Savage ad back in three Wrestler of the Year. We
Speaker 1: take a look at the seven Michigan Wolverines, the first
Speaker 1: Michigan team in fifty years to win a national championship.
Speaker 1: They did it via defense. They did it with a
Speaker 1: future NFL Hall of Famer who didn't even play, And
Speaker 1: there was controversy, there was achievements something we had never
Speaker 1: seen before in college football history, all part of the
Speaker 1: Big Michigan Wolverine season. This was a team coached by
Speaker 1: Lloyd Carr, who was a long time assistant and was
Speaker 1: promoted to being the head coach previously. And look, it
Speaker 1: wasn't like he was a guy that was sought after
Speaker 1: to become the Michigan head coach. He was a Michigan
Speaker 1: man and the old bullshem Bekler line, a Michigan man
Speaker 1: will always coach Michigan. He was a very loyal, longtime
Speaker 1: defensive coach who got promoted and hey, guess what, Lloyd
Speaker 1: Carr wins the first national championship in fifty years. Well,
Speaker 1: and it's all on the strength of the defense. And
Speaker 1: we'll get into some of those numbers and peculiarities when
Speaker 1: you look at the they have the hardest schedule in
Speaker 1: the land coming in, but it's the long held tradition,
Speaker 1: and anytime there's been a shift from that, there's the
Speaker 1: the question of, all right, is this legacy thing? Do
Speaker 1: we need to work outside every time the job comes open.
Speaker 1: All the speculation, but for Lloyd Carr, everything came together
Speaker 1: in what was one of the magical seasons. I mean
Speaker 1: that was still just fresh out of getting thumped with
Speaker 1: some regularity during my tenure at Northwestern, watched watching my
Speaker 1: team get obliterated a couple of wins in a row.
Speaker 1: But then they were on the schedule of what turned
Speaker 1: out to be a ridiculous run by car and his men.
Speaker 1: It wasn't a great year offensively, though they did have
Speaker 1: a defensive star and make some big plays for them.
Speaker 1: The defense was incredible. Every game for them was the same.
Speaker 1: They would hold the offense would score enough points and
Speaker 1: the defense would exert their will and close out the game.
Speaker 1: Most teams, you want to win a game, we want
Speaker 1: our offense out there because the offense is gonna chew
Speaker 1: up the clock and gain first downs. This Michigan team
Speaker 1: wanted their defense out there because they were the ones
Speaker 1: that closed all season long. They gave up their first
Speaker 1: fourth quarter points in Week nine. Ponder that for a
Speaker 1: minute week nine of a season. Overall, they gave up
Speaker 1: thirty seven second half points in a season and what
Speaker 1: was again at the time, the hardest schedule in the
Speaker 1: land when you put it on paper. Heading into the year,
Speaker 1: Michigan sent thirty one players from this team to the
Speaker 1: National Football League. Usually you see a team if it's
Speaker 1: really good, they sent between fifteen and twenty players at
Speaker 1: some point. Because this is not everybody in one, this
Speaker 1: is not all seniors. This is just who played on
Speaker 1: this You had thirty one players, and you had players
Speaker 1: who were terrific and had great NFL careers. Jay Feeley
Speaker 1: was the place kicker. He kicked in the NFL for
Speaker 1: well over a decade. You had Steve Hutchinson, who had
Speaker 1: a phenomenal career. To Honey Jones, who had a great career,
Speaker 1: also had a great career afterwards, broadcasting. Anthony Thomas, you know,
Speaker 1: played for a long time, played for your Bears for
Speaker 1: a while. The A train, I mean hanging in my closet.
Speaker 1: Do you really You're not even kidding you have an
Speaker 1: A train jersey Bears A train from promotion I did
Speaker 1: years ago when I was working at Yahoo. We had
Speaker 1: a thing where we gave out for our premium leagues.
Speaker 1: We gave out jerseys and they sent right. You could
Speaker 1: pick your team and then there would be a selection
Speaker 1: of players that would be fulfilled. And at one point
Speaker 1: they just sent me a couple of Bears jerseys, one
Speaker 1: of which is and Anthony Thomas, which still hangs proudly.
Speaker 1: And every once in a while I'll wear it. Maybe
Speaker 1: I'll wear it next week, or I'll wear it the
Speaker 1: next time they win a game. Good, good luck with that.
Speaker 1: You're missing somebody on the team, and I didn't mention
Speaker 1: him because we're gonna get to him right now. Headed
Speaker 1: to the No, headed to the Hall of Fame. Not
Speaker 1: a guy who slipped on his driveway and missed time
Speaker 1: because he was partying too much. Brian Greasy won the
Speaker 1: quarterback job for Michigan this year, right, he wanted over
Speaker 1: the incumbent the year before, who was Scott drives Back.
Speaker 1: Remember when Michigan at Scott drives Back, he was gonna
Speaker 1: be the next great quarterback. He was a good game manager,
Speaker 1: but he still had big games. But Brian Greasy, Bob
Speaker 1: Greasy's son, won the quarterback job he wanted over Scott
Speaker 1: drives Back and a youngster named Tom Brady, that guy
Speaker 1: who wasn't quite ready to compete and win the starting
Speaker 1: quarterback job at Michigan. Brian Greasy, to the end of
Speaker 1: his life is gonna go I'm the guy that beat
Speaker 1: out Brady at Michigan. He wasn't good enough, and I
Speaker 1: won the National championship. I remember that well. That was
Speaker 1: one of the curiosities going in And obviously the talk
Speaker 1: of nepotism and surnames ruling the day, uh certainly was
Speaker 1: was heard for quite a long time. And then you
Speaker 1: always have the pictures of Brady at his NFL combine
Speaker 1: with the concave chess, and you get young Well, I
Speaker 1: get it, I get it, and that's the way it works.
Speaker 1: And Greasy had some some big moments of big games,
Speaker 1: and even during this magical run though there were times
Speaker 1: where he did his his part to put some some
Speaker 1: of these games in jeopardy. It's amazing that in his career,
Speaker 1: think about this, he doesn't beat out Brian Greasy and
Speaker 1: then barely holds off Drew Henson, who was coming in
Speaker 1: as the much ballyhooed quarterback out of Michigan, local kid
Speaker 1: who was gonna he was gonna be the next one guy,
Speaker 1: and Brady barely held him off. Well. With Henson, though,
Speaker 1: you also had the giant baseball contracts sitting there, So
Speaker 1: in terms of trying to recruit him and get him
Speaker 1: to come to the school, you've got to make certain
Speaker 1: promises as well. Right, there's certain considerations. You're gonna get
Speaker 1: every chance to win this job, so you don't go
Speaker 1: play for the New York Yankees farm system. And you
Speaker 1: want another funny thing about this is I have seen
Speaker 1: all three of these quarterbacks play in person. How about
Speaker 1: that I've seen I saw Tom Brady play in uh
Speaker 1: for Michigan. Rather, I saw them all playing person at Michigan.
Speaker 1: Tom Brady lose the Syracuse in that big Donovan McNabb
Speaker 1: Ranford touchdown with his shoe off. You want to start
Speaker 1: peacocking around the studio was the best. I saw Scott
Speaker 1: drives back play against Boston College, and I saw Brian
Speaker 1: Greasy play in the National championship game against Washington State.
Speaker 1: So I saw all three of these guys play in person.
Speaker 1: About that, Mr Funk, Do you want me to make
Speaker 1: you a button to wear around? Nice little mow many
Speaker 1: people that you know concid, I saw all three of them.
Speaker 1: There's Michigan fans with season tickets in to see all
Speaker 1: that would be that would do you? You'd be a
Speaker 1: shortlist of one. So as Michigan was preparing for the
Speaker 1: fall season, what else was happening in? Married with Children
Speaker 1: was canceled after ten years? Yes, very sad, and I
Speaker 1: had the biggest crush on Kelly Bundy for the longest
Speaker 1: time still do I mean like, yeah, not quite as
Speaker 1: I did when when I mean dead to me doesn't
Speaker 1: rev you up. But you know she has her moments. Job, Okay,
Speaker 1: I'll give you that. Sure, I'll give you that. But
Speaker 1: back then, when I mean she was and I'm like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, Kelly Bundy, Kelly Bundy, Kelly Bundy. Titanic
Speaker 1: opened in seven became the biggest box office film ever
Speaker 1: in history, with over a billion dollars. Jack Chuck, I'm flying, Jack,
Speaker 1: Gonna be honest. Yeah, I've never seen the thing in
Speaker 1: its entirety. I've seen it all piece together, ship sinks
Speaker 1: at the years. That's why i didn't go see it.
Speaker 1: That's why I'm not part of a billion dollars. Harry
Speaker 1: Potter was published for the first time. Buddy, what is
Speaker 1: the Philosopher's Stone? What it makes it different from the
Speaker 1: Sorcerer's Stone? I don't understand. Just different countries, different publishing,
Speaker 1: and of course the band ruling the airwaves. Hanson their
Speaker 1: debut album Middle of Nowhere and the hit Bob Everything
Speaker 1: Old Is New Again, Bob Bob, Bob do doubt do Up?
Speaker 1: What what woo? Yeah? Yeah, they performed Bob Bob do up?
Speaker 1: Didn't doubt doubt do up? Bob Bob woo Hey. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you've been practicing that over these twenty plus years. I
Speaker 1: just went to a concert that actually had Hanson as
Speaker 1: part of the lineup. So take that. Wow? Did you
Speaker 1: pay money for that? Well? They were part of a
Speaker 1: much larger lineup like Bertie Groups seven oh, okay, like
Speaker 1: two groups I would say, oh boy, when Taylor Swift
Speaker 1: is the headliner. Okay, I think it's good. And Liza
Speaker 1: was out there and doing earthing. It wasn't like you
Speaker 1: saw the Hanson and seduction. No no, I did not,
Speaker 1: you know Fox, even though they took away married with
Speaker 1: children that year, they gave us King of the Hill.
Speaker 1: I sell propane and propane accessories. That boys, not right, Bobby.
Speaker 1: So that's everything heading up to the magical season for
Speaker 1: the Michigan Wolverines. Coming up next, they have a couple
Speaker 1: of big tests early and an unexpected player announces his
Speaker 1: candidacy for the Heisman Trophies. The Special Team's Podcast with
Speaker 1: Jason Smith and Mike Harmon. Welcome back to the Special
Speaker 1: Teams Podcast. Jason Smith and Mike Harmon hit us up
Speaker 1: on Twitter at how About a Fresca or at Swollen Dome.
Speaker 1: We are now taking a look back at the Michigan Wolverines,
Speaker 1: first Michigan team to win the national title and over
Speaker 1: fifty years. He began the fall season with a big
Speaker 1: win over Colorado to three. They followed up the next
Speaker 1: week by beating Baylor thirty eight three. And you're thinking, okay,
Speaker 1: this Michigan team is not bad. They get into their
Speaker 1: big Week three showdown with No tre Dame and that
Speaker 1: really is, for the longest time, was always the official
Speaker 1: beginning of college football. When Michigan plays No tre Dame.
Speaker 1: Now they play very rarely. They're not gonna play again
Speaker 1: until fourteen years. Yeah, Michigan able to look, Hey we
Speaker 1: won the last game. They were all talking. Social media
Speaker 1: was so good after that. We don't care, we don't
Speaker 1: play you guys. We're gonna play you guys with the
Speaker 1: fifteen years say whatever. That Yeah, so much coming out
Speaker 1: because you already you have to build up for that game.
Speaker 1: But what they did to Colorado was historic in its
Speaker 1: own way, right. That was a one games that that
Speaker 1: was the lowest output that Colorado had had. And then
Speaker 1: you get to Notre Dame. You got Paulos and you
Speaker 1: got the first year of Bob Davey. So you've got
Speaker 1: the shiny new look. And remember ron Polis that he
Speaker 1: was going to, Hey, we'll win multiples with No tre Dame.
Speaker 1: And then you know when I had when I had
Speaker 1: him on my radio show after when I was at ESPN,
Speaker 1: I would have him on every week and he was
Speaker 1: so awesome. And one time I was joking around about
Speaker 1: Ron Palace and he goes, oh, I talked to him
Speaker 1: the other day. I go, but you did, He goes,
Speaker 1: He's the quarterbacks coach at No. Tre Dame. Of course
Speaker 1: I talked to him. I talked to him all the time.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, I didn't know, like he still
Speaker 1: had a related talked to Ron Palace all that time.
Speaker 1: I always felt bad for Ron Polace because they kept
Speaker 1: trying to make him run the option when he was
Speaker 1: a statuesque stand behind the tackles and make a throw
Speaker 1: quarterback like Gretchian Winers kept trying to make Ron Palace happen.
Speaker 1: Then it just didn't happen, for he's not getting the
Speaker 1: outside stop. Week three's game against Notre Dame was a
Speaker 1: nail biter. No points in the fourth quarter for Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: Michigan scores two touchdowns in the third quarter, and they
Speaker 1: really put the game away late despite the fact they
Speaker 1: turned the football over repeatedly in the fourth quarter. A
Speaker 1: handoff was botched, gave no name the football. Notre Dame
Speaker 1: drove to the twenty yard line, but they had a
Speaker 1: key stop on fourth down and Michigan ran out the
Speaker 1: final three and a half minutes of the clock. They
Speaker 1: turned it over. This was the first nervous moment of
Speaker 1: the year from Michigan, but the defense was able to
Speaker 1: hold firm a storyline that would go on throughout the
Speaker 1: rest of in a spotlight game to get to three
Speaker 1: and oh and I mean, because let's face it, all
Speaker 1: eyes are on this game, right, You've got Florida State
Speaker 1: and Nebraska doing their things, and that'll be the other
Speaker 1: story that weaves in and out throughout what Michigan is doing.
Speaker 1: But you look at the dominance and especially fourth quarter scoring,
Speaker 1: like that's that's that became the hallmark on his defense,
Speaker 1: and especially with those giveaways. We talked about it all
Speaker 1: the time in the NFL talking about in college football
Speaker 1: the ability to bend a little bit but pick up
Speaker 1: for the other thirds, right, failures on offense or special teams,
Speaker 1: or if your defense is struggling, having a quarterback that
Speaker 1: can will you and push you over the top in
Speaker 1: points totals here of the defense, just stop after stop.
Speaker 1: You watched highlights of this group and just watch how
Speaker 1: they swarm to the ball is really something to watch.
Speaker 1: So now Michigan suffers are or gets through their first test,
Speaker 1: nearly suffering their first loss. A couple of big wins later.
Speaker 1: I'll gloss over the one against Northwestern. You're all, we've
Speaker 1: beating him two years in a row before that, you did.
Speaker 1: Brian Cohen's had a couple of field goals. He scored
Speaker 1: the first second half points against a man. Also, we're
Speaker 1: stealing the plays off of their sideline before the Patriots
Speaker 1: made it fashionable. You're all, you're kind of doing that smart. Well,
Speaker 1: you are very smart. If you're too dumb to cover
Speaker 1: up your signals, that's my old rule of thumb. Everybody's
Speaker 1: trying to get an advantage Baseball, football, etcetera. If your coach,
Speaker 1: your quarterbacks, whomever, too dumb to PI figure out that
Speaker 1: they're tipping calls. We keep seeing it in twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: teams as well. Michigan takes their undefeated record to Iowa
Speaker 1: four weeks six, and Iowa jumps all over them in
Speaker 1: the second quarter. They scored twenty one points, punctuated and
Speaker 1: by a punt return for a touchdown on the final
Speaker 1: play of the first half by Everybody's all American Tim Dwight,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite guys, Dwight. Tim Dwight, I'll tell
Speaker 1: you we we had a great story because at Northwestern,
Speaker 1: right small campus and the visiting teams busses, they're right
Speaker 1: outside and at the time you're collecting autographs or you know,
Speaker 1: you just want to go meet a player, a coach.
Speaker 1: Very easy to get close and Tim Dwight was. There
Speaker 1: was such a market and this is a big deal
Speaker 1: as we talk about the licensing and ability for players
Speaker 1: to make money off of their name. Back in the day,
Speaker 1: they had state sheriffs that traveled with the Iowa team
Speaker 1: because there was such a market for Tim dwight autographs
Speaker 1: in Iowa that they'd literally he'd look at me. Have
Speaker 1: we seen these guys before? It was their job to
Speaker 1: say yes or no? And we saw a guy that
Speaker 1: had traveled from Iowa City for the game, like, Noe,
Speaker 1: we know you, he's not signing for you, but he
Speaker 1: signed for everybody else. Couldn't have been nice. But that's
Speaker 1: how much of an industry and how popular Tim Dwight
Speaker 1: was at his peak. Later played very successfully in the NFL,
Speaker 1: including a Super Bowl run with the Atlanta Falcons, but
Speaker 1: this was a game the defense would once again close
Speaker 1: out for Michigan. After Michigan gets back in it, Brian
Speaker 1: Greasy scores on a fourth and goal sneak from the
Speaker 1: one yard line to give Michigan the lead, but then
Speaker 1: Iowa takes the lead back after a big kickoff return
Speaker 1: by Tim Dwight. Again, Michigan takes the final lead in
Speaker 1: the game after Brian Greasy throws a touchdown to Jeremy Tuman.
Speaker 1: Iowa drives all the way down to Michigan's fifteen yard line,
Speaker 1: but Sam Sword picks off Matt Sherman with thirty seconds
Speaker 1: left to go that secures the win. And it was
Speaker 1: once again, boy, as good as we've been, the defense
Speaker 1: really pulled us out of that. You look at Greasy
Speaker 1: three interceptions in this game, setting up opportunities, Riowa and
Speaker 1: Tim Dwight showing what special teams could do right just
Speaker 1: the game breaking opportunity and their their last field goal
Speaker 1: kind came off that seventy two yard return. But once
Speaker 1: again defense coming up big and just many stars off
Speaker 1: of that defense. Yes, Charles Woodson would get all of
Speaker 1: the headlines, but guys like Sam Sward came up big time.
Speaker 1: And again now you mentioned Charles Woodson, and this is
Speaker 1: really where his Heisman campaign began, which was Week seven
Speaker 1: against Michigan State and Nick Saban, you have, yes, you
Speaker 1: have an undefeated Michigan team. This is before Nick Saban
Speaker 1: was Nick Saban. This is when it was Nick Saban's
Speaker 1: getting the head coaching job at Michigan State. Really, Oh
Speaker 1: all right, I guess so, okay, we got we got Michigan,
Speaker 1: so we got we got him. They went to John L.
Speaker 1: Smith after that, and you know that, look, Michigan State
Speaker 1: through a bunch of guys before they finally got to
Speaker 1: Mark D'Antonio, who has been great. It was great for
Speaker 1: a long time. But Nick Saban really cutting his coaching
Speaker 1: teeth with Michigan State. But this is the game in
Speaker 1: which Charles Woodson announced his Heisman candidacy. Long being looked
Speaker 1: at as one of the best defensive players in college football,
Speaker 1: one of the best defensive backs, he's starting to play
Speaker 1: offense now for Michigan and he's cutting through the clutter.
Speaker 1: He becomes the story. What's the story of this Michigan
Speaker 1: football team. Well, their defense is good, in their quarterback
Speaker 1: is okay. But hey, Charles Woodson's the guy who's excelling
Speaker 1: on defense and he's starting to play offense. The first
Speaker 1: two way star the sported scene in a while. Rod Woodson,
Speaker 1: when he left perdue to go to the NFL, had
Speaker 1: a couple of great games at running back at the
Speaker 1: very end of his run, but he wasn't a two
Speaker 1: way player like Woodson was for the majority of a
Speaker 1: national championship season. So Woodson's getting all the attention. And
Speaker 1: it's Week seven against Michigan State where really his heisman
Speaker 1: candidacy is announced in earnest for the first time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, you have a couple of big interceptions and
Speaker 1: that brought his career total of fifteen. And you start
Speaker 1: when you're talking about the history of Michigan and every
Speaker 1: graphic is here's where he ranks all the time. You
Speaker 1: really get to start pushing that narrative. And Michigan State
Speaker 1: was five and one at this point underhead coach Nick
Speaker 1: Saban Nick Saban before he was Nick Saban. Remember meeting
Speaker 1: him as he became Nick Saban and moved over to
Speaker 1: l s U. Okay, No, he was a lot of
Speaker 1: fun chatting it up. He thought it was a you know,
Speaker 1: a new new world, new change. I'm like, why are
Speaker 1: you leaving a big ten Man's wrong with us? Why
Speaker 1: you gotta go over to the other because mayn't beat
Speaker 1: Michigan because we're Michigan. But that's just it. I was
Speaker 1: trying to celebrate it, but I mean they had done
Speaker 1: so well to that. I mean, that was the best
Speaker 1: start they'd had in thirty years, okay with that Michigan
Speaker 1: State team. So when we look at Nick Saban, he'd
Speaker 1: gotten everything moving in the right direction. Unfortunately he now
Speaker 1: faced an absolute juggernaut on that defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: Michigan States scored in the first quarter, did not score again.
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson with two interceptions and in a big highlight game. Hey,
Speaker 1: here's Woodson with two picks following week against Minnesota. Follows
Speaker 1: it up with a thirty three yard touchdown on the
Speaker 1: ground against the Golden Gophers in a game that Michigan
Speaker 1: won going away as well. So now you have Woodson
Speaker 1: with two interceptions. Here he's on a top down run.
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson two way star. When I say cut through
Speaker 1: the clutter, there's always there's always big pastors, there's big runners,
Speaker 1: there's big stories. But when you get something that you
Speaker 1: haven't seen in a while, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Speaker 1: This is this guy playing both ways. He's playing offense
Speaker 1: and defense and special teams. Remember he was a big
Speaker 1: punt returner as well. So this is something that everybody
Speaker 1: hooked into. And suddenly Michigan became the stars of college
Speaker 1: football because long tradition program winning all these games. And
Speaker 1: now you've got a guy that's one of the Heisman
Speaker 1: Trophy favorites. Look at what he's gonna do and some
Speaker 1: of the amazing work on defense. You mentioned special team,
Speaker 1: but now in this game, six team plays on the
Speaker 1: offensive side, including that reverse, and what they did in
Speaker 1: the second half, this is also I popping. They give
Speaker 1: up ten yards of offense in a half. That's like
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears twenty nineteen, like the Jets on any play yards,
Speaker 1: I thought I'd take one for the team there. I
Speaker 1: didn't want to make fun of the Jets. I didn't
Speaker 1: want to turn this into a therapy session. That buddy,
Speaker 1: that's okay. I mean we do that four hours a
Speaker 1: night nationally. He's so well, why do that here? The
Speaker 1: next week they beat Penn State. He catches a thirty
Speaker 1: seven yard touchdown and also holds Joe Gurrovicious, who was
Speaker 1: Penn State star wide out to twenty yards, receiving two
Speaker 1: catches for twenty yards. When Joe Gurovicious was how are
Speaker 1: they gonna stop him? Look at what he's done, and
Speaker 1: he does absolutely nothing, And now it's boy. Charles Woodson
Speaker 1: is great on both sides of the ball. They beat
Speaker 1: Wisconsin in week ten. They run a trick plane which
Speaker 1: he nearly throws a touchdown to Brian Greasey, unfortunately goes
Speaker 1: down at the one yard line. But the legend of
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson is now growing and it's something we haven't seen.
Speaker 1: And it's really Woodson versus Peyton Manning at this point,
Speaker 1: because Peyton Manning was the overwhelming favorite coming into the
Speaker 1: year for the Heisman trow. Look Peyton Manning his last
Speaker 1: year mark. He's gonna get that, He's gonna get the
Speaker 1: Lifetime Achievement Award. But now who's Charles Woodson showing up
Speaker 1: that's gonna try to take it away from him. Well,
Speaker 1: that Penn State game was significant in helping to bolster
Speaker 1: all of the the hype wagon as well, because you're
Speaker 1: talking about the long tenured career of Joe Paterno. They
Speaker 1: score nothing on that defense in the first half right,
Speaker 1: twenty four nothing, largest deficit a Joe Paternos Penn State career.
Speaker 1: And remember this is also a happy valley, so add
Speaker 1: add to that the misery that goes on there. Thirty
Speaker 1: four nothing over three quarters, they finally get points in
Speaker 1: the fourth. Those are the first fourth quarter points scored
Speaker 1: against this Michigan team. Uh Courtisinus was was the guy
Speaker 1: running for Penn State in What's garbage time? And then Bears.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of Bears connections on. It really does
Speaker 1: work quite well for me. But I mean, Penn State
Speaker 1: was a top three team as this matchup went went
Speaker 1: in and they absolutely thumped them. After this week, they
Speaker 1: debut at number one in the country and the Associated
Speaker 1: Press Pole. However, the coaches pole had Florida State at
Speaker 1: number one. Remember the days when it was the a
Speaker 1: P Pole and the coaches Pole and oh boy, who
Speaker 1: knows if that's gonna work, right, So had Michigan number
Speaker 1: one in the a P Pole and Florida State number
Speaker 1: one in the coaches poll. A lack of respect or
Speaker 1: belief in Michigan by coaches that comes back later in
Speaker 1: this storyline. But now for Michigan, it was all set
Speaker 1: up for them in their rivalry game against Ohio State.
Speaker 1: And this is back when Michigan used to beat Ohio
Speaker 1: State almost every year, instead of the rivalry to turn
Speaker 1: into under Jim Trestle and then Urban Myron, which if
Speaker 1: Michigan won once every seven years, it was a big deal.
Speaker 1: Not much of a rivalry at that point. No, they
Speaker 1: go into this game and Charles Woodson in a game
Speaker 1: that look nationally televised, it's the game everybody is watching.
Speaker 1: Woodson returns a punt for a touchdown seventy eight yards
Speaker 1: in the second quarter. He also picks off a pass
Speaker 1: and it was at that moment that he won the
Speaker 1: Heisman Trophy. Watching this, you see there's Heisman Trophy moments
Speaker 1: that players have and they go, oh, what's this Heisman
Speaker 1: Trophy moment? The seventy eight yard punt return for a
Speaker 1: score that was his Heisman Trophy moment. As long as
Speaker 1: they won this game and moved on, he was gonna
Speaker 1: win it. He had a very acrobatic interception in this game,
Speaker 1: and Michigan holds on with a big stand at the
Speaker 1: end to beat Ohio State fourteen Ohio State ten in
Speaker 1: one in this in the in the season at this point,
Speaker 1: and it was either team could now potentially be the
Speaker 1: number one team in the country. Here's Ohio State if
Speaker 1: they beat undefeated Michigan. This was that kind of game.
Speaker 1: But it was the defense that held from Michigan in
Speaker 1: the end. And I vividly remember this, Kirk Herb Street
Speaker 1: on ESPN saying, Michigan Ohio State with a six point game.
Speaker 1: Michigan's got a four teen lead late in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter and Ohio State gets the ball back and this
Speaker 1: is well, they could wreck Michigan season with a touchdown,
Speaker 1: and Kirk Herbsty Ohio State said, Michigan's defense has held
Speaker 1: all year, They're gonna hold here again. And they do
Speaker 1: hold and keep Ohio State off the scoreboard, and they
Speaker 1: win the game and they move on to the Rose Bowl.
Speaker 1: Four teen. Well, it's funny because you've got Stanley Jackson,
Speaker 1: Andy katsonmore like all these legendary Big ten names, at
Speaker 1: least at the time, Stanley Jackson uh the quarterback who
Speaker 1: eventually seeds in that game to Joe Germaine. The legend
Speaker 1: of Joe German began there. David Boston and some of
Speaker 1: these great names of five minutes in the NFL David
Speaker 1: Boston five minutes. What to Arizona would you expect? Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's true, that didn't help anything. We gotta survive. That
Speaker 1: was Larry Fitzgerald. No no no, no, not no, and and
Speaker 1: Rod Tidwell survived because Jerry McGuire was nine. And then
Speaker 1: people are still watching Jerry McGuire. It's okay, curiosity of
Speaker 1: how they put him on the Arizona Cardinals, but that's
Speaker 1: a whole other thing. Good work by Glenn Fry in
Speaker 1: that movie while we're at it as well. But taking
Speaker 1: care of business against Ohio State and what do we say,
Speaker 1: succeed and proceed? Ohio State was ranked fourth in both polls,
Speaker 1: and now Michigan, without a doubt, number one in the
Speaker 1: eight peopole, moving on to the Rose Bowl where they
Speaker 1: would take on Washington State. So this is your first
Speaker 1: consensus number one participant for the Rose Bowl since nine eight,
Speaker 1: because it wasn't like Big ten teams and and packed
Speaker 1: ten teams were winning national championships all the time. But
Speaker 1: now Michigan's number one in both polls and they're heading
Speaker 1: out to the Rose Ball, but they're playing Washington State,
Speaker 1: who was right number eight in the Country one verses eight.
Speaker 1: The doors open for if you beat a team that's
Speaker 1: not quite up to your level, for another team to
Speaker 1: maybe sneaking and split the national championship with you, lobbying,
Speaker 1: politicking and a little bit of uh, let's let's compare
Speaker 1: resumes going on. But Ryan Leaf was on the other
Speaker 1: side of that game. This was the last great day
Speaker 1: of Ryan Leaf's football career. Well, I guess getting drafted
Speaker 1: by the Charges with Big D any day after that
Speaker 1: wasn't very good. On they comeback trail, we all root
Speaker 1: for Ryan Leaf. So we're set up Michigan versus Washington State,
Speaker 1: Ryan Leaf, who was then the consensus at worst number
Speaker 1: two pick in the draft, behind Peyton Manning. But first
Speaker 1: we had the Heisman Trophy Award to get to. Coming
Speaker 1: up next on Special Teams, was it gonna be Woodson?
Speaker 1: Was it gonna be Peyton Manning? Well, you know by
Speaker 1: now it was Woodson. How close was it? And plus
Speaker 1: just how did Michigan hold off Washington State? And when
Speaker 1: the national title amits some controversy? That's next Special Teams
Speaker 1: Podcast Jason Smith, Mike Harner. It is the Special Teams
Speaker 1: Podcast on I Heart Radio. Jason Smith Mike Harmon taking
Speaker 1: a look back at the Michigan Wolverines. Before we get
Speaker 1: to the National Championship, there was the matter of the
Speaker 1: Heisman Trophy to disperse with and dispense with. He dispense
Speaker 1: with stuff you don't disperse dispense with. I mean you
Speaker 1: can dispense first. Funds you first. I mean you can
Speaker 1: say you dispersed Award he votes were dispersed out or dispersed.
Speaker 1: As we mentioned before, the three of the four finalists
Speaker 1: for the Heisman Trophy Peyton Manning, Charles Woodson, Ryan Leaf
Speaker 1: and Randy Moss out of Marshall, he wore the crazy
Speaker 1: socks all the way up to the top of his knees,
Speaker 1: and he had all kinds of touchdowns. Is he gonna
Speaker 1: dominate the NFL? But look at Randy Moss small school.
Speaker 1: He gets invited to the Heisman Trophy awards ceremony in
Speaker 1: New York, which is won by Charles Woodson the margin
Speaker 1: of eighteen fifteen to fifty three points. He is the
Speaker 1: first predominantly defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy. Just
Speaker 1: why did Charles Woodson win? Woodson one? As we talked
Speaker 1: about earlier, his story cut through the clutter playing defense
Speaker 1: but playing great on offense. But quite honestly, there was
Speaker 1: a Peyton Manning fatigue at that point because Peyton man
Speaker 1: had been a great player for so long but never
Speaker 1: reach the heights we expected to see him get to.
Speaker 1: And after all the years of Peyton Manning, Peyton Manning,
Speaker 1: you know what, we got something new And Charles Woodson
Speaker 1: was the new, shiny new toy. And we see that
Speaker 1: in Heisman voting now in which a guy who one
Speaker 1: last year got really close the year before comes back
Speaker 1: and as a finalist all the way through. But you
Speaker 1: know what got I've been hearing about this guy for
Speaker 1: two years. Now. Oh here's a new quarterback or a
Speaker 1: new running back doing something that's gonna be my guy
Speaker 1: for the Heisman Trophy. It happens. But this was definitely
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning fatigue and a combination of Michigan playing as
Speaker 1: well as they have, being undefeated all season long. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you had a representative of the number one team in
Speaker 1: the land, a guy who cut through the clutter, highlights
Speaker 1: on all three phases. Right, you don't often get to
Speaker 1: see that defense, big catches as our runs on the offense,
Speaker 1: and then working in the return game, so there was
Speaker 1: always something. Oh and here's another update from the Michigan game,
Speaker 1: and Charles Woodson's name would be in one of the
Speaker 1: three phases. Peyton Manning was throwing big yardage, big touchdowns
Speaker 1: week after week for years, and he'd been the talk
Speaker 1: of the town. So Charles Woodson wins the Heisman Trophy
Speaker 1: and Michigan moves on to the National Championship Game. De
Speaker 1: facto National Championship Game. We think, Hey, they're playing Washington State.
Speaker 1: Let's see how it turns out awaiting Michigan. As we said,
Speaker 1: Ryan Leaf, who really, I mean, going back to that,
Speaker 1: I remember Ryan Leaf and how highly everybody thought about him.
Speaker 1: In fact, there was some concern that he would jump
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning to being the number one pick because Ryan
Speaker 1: Leaf was the new toy with a cannon arm, throwing
Speaker 1: the football as well as he did with Washington State,
Speaker 1: and maybe Peyton Manning, Oh, does he have a strong
Speaker 1: enough farm? As ball flutters a little bit. That was
Speaker 1: a lot of the talk about Peyton Manning. Had he peaked? Yeah, right,
Speaker 1: because he'd been at that big performance for a couple
Speaker 1: of years and had been such a name, just like
Speaker 1: the fatigue. When voting for an award, it also becomes
Speaker 1: a all right, is he want to give me one
Speaker 1: of these college heroes. That doesn't necessarily translate because obviously
Speaker 1: not exactly. A guy running around with wheels didn't have
Speaker 1: the strongest arm. All of those some of those boxes
Speaker 1: you check when you look at Leaf and what they
Speaker 1: were doing at Washington State putting up forty plus a game,
Speaker 1: and a lot of it on the strength of his
Speaker 1: arm as much as just the accuracy. I mean, we're
Speaker 1: talking about a guy with a big howitzer attached that
Speaker 1: suddenly became a sexy thought of well, maybe they zag
Speaker 1: because he's the unknown commodity and the diamond in the rough.
Speaker 1: I was at this game as a fan. My wife
Speaker 1: went to Michigan and there was no we weren't going
Speaker 1: to the Rose Bowl. And I remember calling the day
Speaker 1: tickets got available, getting busy signals, busy scene was finally
Speaker 1: getting tickets, like, oh, I know you had to call that.
Speaker 1: You couldn't just get online. I just got a little
Speaker 1: guy walking like he's standing in line. We called. Remember
Speaker 1: your turn being at work and calling every couple of
Speaker 1: minutes because we called, like Rose Bowl tickets go on
Speaker 1: sale eleven AM, and my wife and I were on
Speaker 1: the phones at work. We had all when you had
Speaker 1: all the different lines you could call him on one phone,
Speaker 1: and we kept calling, calling, calling, We couldn't get him,
Speaker 1: couldn't get throughout. The time we got through, Rose Bowl
Speaker 1: was sold out. We were like, oh my God, but
Speaker 1: we're finally able to get tickets. We go to the game,
Speaker 1: we tailgate. It's the first Rose Bowl I had ever
Speaker 1: been to, and it's a hundred thousand seats standing, and
Speaker 1: it's the first kind of experience I've had with that
Speaker 1: kind of craziness on both sides, because going to other
Speaker 1: Michigan games I've been there where you know, it's a
Speaker 1: hundred thousand people and nine of them are rooting for Michigan.
Speaker 1: This is really split. A lot of Wazoo fans came
Speaker 1: down the coast and it was it was a lot.
Speaker 1: It was a really fun atmosphere tailgating before the game.
Speaker 1: But there was nobody who thought that Michigan wasn't gonna
Speaker 1: win this game. And the way it started was a
Speaker 1: very typical Michigan game, except Washington State came a little
Speaker 1: bit more than they thought they can handle. They took
Speaker 1: a thirteen seven lead getting to halftime, and it was boy,
Speaker 1: maybe Washington States can be able to loosen up this
Speaker 1: Michigan defense a little bit. In Michigan's offense is having
Speaker 1: trouble with the Cougars on defense. Nothing they were running
Speaker 1: was really working, and Michigan they were really kind of
Speaker 1: stuck in the mud on offense in this game. Well, yeah,
Speaker 1: you look at Leaf the second half at nine yard
Speaker 1: drives so right that that one's kind of deflating, right,
Speaker 1: you're expecting, all right, we're gonna force a punt and
Speaker 1: get the ball back amount midfield. This is right off
Speaker 1: the jump of the second half, and all of a
Speaker 1: sudden that defense showed some cracks, showed a little bit
Speaker 1: and Ryan Leaf, this this is where you start peaking
Speaker 1: the interest of the the overall, overall audience. And and
Speaker 1: remember bowl games at the time in their place, you know,
Speaker 1: just that pageantry, especially the Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of
Speaker 1: them all, Keith Jackson setting you up with everything from
Speaker 1: the parade on down. But then Brian Greasy, the ball
Speaker 1: goes on on his hand. He's got to make the
Speaker 1: big play. And we've seen over the course of the
Speaker 1: year where there had been spots where he became turnover prone.
Speaker 1: Not here. Tie Streets, another great name that will get
Speaker 1: into hits him with a big fifty eight yard reception,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, they're back to life. And
Speaker 1: this play change the course of the game. Michigan's offense
Speaker 1: was going nord. They're running a lot of play action
Speaker 1: and Greasy was going short and it wasn't working. And
Speaker 1: this play happened right in front of me because we
Speaker 1: were in the end zone and Greasy goes for a
Speaker 1: play action fake and he turns back around and he's
Speaker 1: got Tie Streets one on one and he just throws it.
Speaker 1: I think as far as he could. Tie Streets catches it,
Speaker 1: gets into the end zone. They kicked the extra point
Speaker 1: because Washington stated missed the extra point, So now they
Speaker 1: have a fourteen thirteen lead, and you could kind of
Speaker 1: tell there was a bit of a sigh of relief
Speaker 1: from the Michigan crowd as if, okay, we finally broke through.
Speaker 1: That play took a situation where it was nip and
Speaker 1: tuck for Michigan and suddenly open things up. They were
Speaker 1: breathing a little bit from there. They exerted their will
Speaker 1: on the game. They got another touchdown in the fourth
Speaker 1: quarter Greasy Throne with the Jeremy Tumman a field goal
Speaker 1: from Ryan Lindel, Remember Ryan Lindell. Washington State cuts the
Speaker 1: lead to sixteen, so it's still a chance for the
Speaker 1: Michigan defense to close, except they close in a very
Speaker 1: weird way because Washington State gets the ball back with
Speaker 1: not a lot of time left, and Ryan Leaf throws
Speaker 1: a forty six yard pass to put the ball just
Speaker 1: past midfield to Ny and Taylor, who commits the most
Speaker 1: blatant pass interference penalty you could possibly see, and you
Speaker 1: can see this on YouTube. Now, he just basically chucks
Speaker 1: it up to the to midfield where there's a lot
Speaker 1: of receivers. The Michigan defensive back it's not Charles Woodson
Speaker 1: is stopping to catch it, and Taylor just runs up
Speaker 1: pushes him out of the way. He sprawls on the ground.
Speaker 1: Taylor catches it, goes down and now Washington State has
Speaker 1: a chance here. It should have been a fifteen yard penalty,
Speaker 1: but instead Washing State's got the ball at Michigan's forty
Speaker 1: seven yard You know, you can have thrown a challenge
Speaker 1: flag in the NFL and been no with the but
Speaker 1: it was a two handed push and a ship doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: We saw those all during the nineteen season, are you kids?
Speaker 1: Harrison Ford kicking Gary Oldman out of his plane on
Speaker 1: a plane. So Washington State it's got a chance. Now.
Speaker 1: They run a hook and ladder play that gets the
Speaker 1: Michigan twenty six yard line. As Jason Clayton gets tackled
Speaker 1: with two seconds left, the clock has stopped to move
Speaker 1: the chains. So Washington State you think is gonna have
Speaker 1: at least one last player. They try to spike the ball,
Speaker 1: but they're gonna start the clock after they move the chains.
Speaker 1: With two seconds left, no time outs left, Ryan Leaf
Speaker 1: spikes the football, except the referee from the Southeastern Conference crew,
Speaker 1: Dick Burlison, shakes his head and says, Nope, he didn't
Speaker 1: spy in time. Game is over, Michigan wins chaos as always.
Speaker 1: I mean, he couldn't have it, and easy little bit
Speaker 1: of a makeup call, I thought. I said, Okay, well,
Speaker 1: maybe they get the spike in, but they shouldn't have
Speaker 1: the ball at midfield because of the past interference and
Speaker 1: that extra second ticked off a little fast and did
Speaker 1: the referees run away like a w w E referee
Speaker 1: or someone that just want a belt by hitting someone
Speaker 1: with a chair. I remember Ryan Leaf getting really mad
Speaker 1: trying to go over to talk to the referees. But
Speaker 1: at that point, Michigan wins, the game's over and everybody's
Speaker 1: running on It's not like you're going up to the booth. Thought, Hey,
Speaker 1: should we put time back on the clock. Nope, no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: games over. Okay, Now, once the game was over was
Speaker 1: over different times. Man, everybody's running on the field and
Speaker 1: I'm watching Lloyd car get interviewed by a bunch of
Speaker 1: different people. My wife is going crazy because they won
Speaker 1: the national championship, and it's just it's just a great moment.
Speaker 1: Michigan wins. You think, can we reset the game clock
Speaker 1: to one second please? So Michigan wins and national champions Sure,
Speaker 1: but they had to wait three days for the final
Speaker 1: poll to come out. This is back when the final
Speaker 1: polls would always name the national champion, and usually when
Speaker 1: the number one team wins in the game, they're the
Speaker 1: national champion. Except on January four, it was revealed that
Speaker 1: Nebraska overtook Michigan by four points in the Coach's poll.
Speaker 1: To win a split. Michigan wins the Associated Press National Championship.
Speaker 1: Nebraska wins the Coach's Poll for the National Championship. There
Speaker 1: was a lot of controversies surrounding this as Nebraska be
Speaker 1: Tennessee forty seventeen, had a big day on offense, and
Speaker 1: this was what a great day. Scott Frost was the
Speaker 1: Nebraska quarterback, and I remember after the game he put
Speaker 1: out a statement saying, Michigan any field anytime I did.
Speaker 1: He did a lot of politicking. Because the other thing
Speaker 1: is just goes back to the Peyton Manning effect, right,
Speaker 1: is that you just bludgeoned Peyton Manning. Right, you beat
Speaker 1: them down to where T Martin was finishing the game.
Speaker 1: You're finally T Martin, who would go on to win
Speaker 1: the National Championship next year. Yeah, exactly, we just had
Speaker 1: to get rid of Peyton Manning and now we're gonna
Speaker 1: move on five D thirty four yards of offense. Just
Speaker 1: so some ridiculous efforts along the way, So, right, not
Speaker 1: just what happens on the field. And and here's some
Speaker 1: computer rankings. Now it's all about lobbying and politicking and
Speaker 1: the fact that Tom Osborne had announced his retirements. That's
Speaker 1: the big thing. That's why he wins. Tom Osborn, who
Speaker 1: was one of the most respected college coaches in college
Speaker 1: football history before that game, announced his retirement. So there's
Speaker 1: some coaches went all, yeah, let me give him one
Speaker 1: more because watching both these teams, there was no way
Speaker 1: Nebraska was as good as Michigan. I mean, Nebraska an
Speaker 1: undefeated season that had a couple of uh last minute escapes,
Speaker 1: they were not as good as Michigan was. And the
Speaker 1: fact that Tom Osborne's retirement pushed the decision that way.
Speaker 1: I thought it was a little weak. Can you imagine
Speaker 1: that happening now? Oh yeah, wait, but this guy's retiring,
Speaker 1: So yeah, we're gonna give him the national championship at
Speaker 1: half of it. So Michigan has to split the national
Speaker 1: championship with Nebraska. Yeah, they had a couple of near
Speaker 1: near missus. I mean when you're talking about a game
Speaker 1: late in the season, uh end of November at Colorado,
Speaker 1: a team that Michigan had absolutely thumped. We talked about
Speaker 1: it earlier in the podcast of you know, we're talking
Speaker 1: record lows over a ridiculous length of time under under
Speaker 1: new Heil, where they escaped with the win. And so
Speaker 1: when we start comparing apples to apples, like, well, Michigan's
Speaker 1: defense rising up. Yeah, there was some gaudy point totals
Speaker 1: for Frost and Company there, but the tambo Osborne factor,
Speaker 1: numerous big ten selections, all American selections. Brian Greasy set
Speaker 1: passing records with a hundred ninete completions seven attempts. Uh.
Speaker 1: Both those records were broken by Tom Brady. We talked
Speaker 1: when he finally won the starting job at Michigan. Get
Speaker 1: out of here, Greasy. So let's play a little where
Speaker 1: are they now? Where are some of these big players
Speaker 1: from this Michigan team where Well, we had our thirty
Speaker 1: one people that went to the NFL, and we'll get
Speaker 1: to one of them. I think it's a friend of
Speaker 1: yours in a minute, duade, Patman a couple of years
Speaker 1: defensive back. He's a Partner's Capital Group of Financial services.
Speaker 1: And it will find that thread. There's a bunch of
Speaker 1: guys in in finance running off this team, those Michigan
Speaker 1: You've gotta be smart to go to Michigan, I think, right,
Speaker 1: that's what they tell me. Clint Copenhavier, district sales manager
Speaker 1: for a medical devices company. It's like he's come up
Speaker 1: with like this device will stop you from snoring. Just
Speaker 1: put it in your mouth and have it tamp your
Speaker 1: tongue down and you won't be storing anymore. Well. Also
Speaker 1: just tries to keep your heart beating. He was an
Speaker 1: outside linebacker. You mentioned Scott Drives back a little bit earlier. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's at high school in Austin. He is a teacher
Speaker 1: and a coach. You've got Dave Crispin. He's a football
Speaker 1: coach at a high school. But he's also a math teacher.
Speaker 1: So that we got some smart guys. So if you
Speaker 1: ever got fired, if you get fired from being a coach,
Speaker 1: you're still unless you get five for listen, you can't
Speaker 1: coach and you can't do math. Wow, as long as
Speaker 1: you can still do math pretty well, I suppose you.
Speaker 1: Probably he may not get to stay at that school
Speaker 1: because maybe they got a hybrid coach math teacher there.
Speaker 1: How about take Shansky, it's a good name. Uh. He's
Speaker 1: a president of financial planning outfit, so that's a good one. Uh.
Speaker 1: And then Glenn Steele, he's a GM at a metal
Speaker 1: and plastic distributor. I mean we get some collected I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys that the last name is Steele.
Speaker 1: You're gonna work in something with metal in it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean there's a lot of guys that are coaches.
Speaker 1: Marcus Knight played the NFL a little bit, was drafted
Speaker 1: by the Raiders. He's a running back coach. As we
Speaker 1: talked h at Indiana State. And then remember Charles Woodson,
Speaker 1: but he produces wine. He does wine. Now, Charles Woodson,
Speaker 1: I did not know that we should have him. Woodson,
Speaker 1: what if you remember we met him at the super
Speaker 1: Bowl and oh yeah, frew years ago. Fun. And this
Speaker 1: is very weird because apparently Charles Woodson and I have
Speaker 1: a pass which I knew nothing about. You were you
Speaker 1: were you drunk? No? No, no, no, no, got at
Speaker 1: the super Bowl party? Now, no, we were. We worked
Speaker 1: pretty efficiently and effectively and soberly. But we were at
Speaker 1: the super Bowl in San Francisco, that's right. And we
Speaker 1: were at Jay Glazer's party, that's right, at the Glazer palooza.
Speaker 1: And I met Charles Woodson because akbar Bye should be Amilia,
Speaker 1: who I knew from when I was working at NFL Network.
Speaker 1: I did the Fantasy Live there for three years. We
Speaker 1: met him at the party in ock Barns and ockbar
Speaker 1: knows everybody, nicest guy in the world. And Charles Woodson
Speaker 1: comes up and he introduces us. You know, hey, oh hey, Charles,
Speaker 1: how you doing. Hey, This is hey, this Jason Smith
Speaker 1: blah blah blah blah. And Charles Woodson shakes my hand
Speaker 1: and says, I know you. And he doesn't let go
Speaker 1: of your hand, right, No, this is this is the
Speaker 1: reverse Curtis Martin that you talked about, where you wouldn't
Speaker 1: let Curtis Martin's hand go while you told him how
Speaker 1: great he was. Charles Woodson's giving you a stare. Now
Speaker 1: he's wearing and ascott like he's got this sweet code
Speaker 1: on this whole thing, but in a big glass of
Speaker 1: wine in his hand. But he does not let going.
Speaker 1: He's locked eyes with you. He shakes my hand. He says,
Speaker 1: but I know you, And I wanted to say, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: and I said yeah, I do Fox Sports Radio and
Speaker 1: I did NFL network for three years. Probably saw me
Speaker 1: on Fantasy Lock and then I said yeah, Fox Sports Radio,
Speaker 1: I did and NFL. Now he goes, no, I know you,
Speaker 1: and he holds onto my hand and he's looking at
Speaker 1: me and I'm like, dude, are we gonna fight? I
Speaker 1: was like, what, okay, did you bash him at the
Speaker 1: back end career? His career? And why had NFL network?
Speaker 1: We never talked about Charles Woodson White where I hosted
Speaker 1: a fantasy show, we were talking about Charles. I don't
Speaker 1: think we ever talked about Charles Woodson. I don't know
Speaker 1: when on the radio I would have said something about
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson. He was like, yeah, I know you. But
Speaker 1: he was like, oh yeah, I've been waiting for this moment. Now.
Speaker 1: We finished shaking hands and akbar kind of laughs, and
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson leaves and you and I were going, dude,
Speaker 1: what the hell is that all about? No, we talked
Speaker 1: about that for a while. I was likely got bar back,
Speaker 1: what was that all about? Dude? You gotta ask Charles
Speaker 1: Woodson about that. You gotta ask about that and you
Speaker 1: never got an answer. Well, but it's it's a great mystery.
Speaker 1: Yeah it was. I mean, honestly, he does a bunch
Speaker 1: of media and whatever else. But we were looking at
Speaker 1: each other for the rest of the night, like we
Speaker 1: met a lot of fun folks and hanging out at
Speaker 1: Glazer Peloza like it's a it's a great party and atmosphere,
Speaker 1: a lot of a lot of good done there. But
Speaker 1: that was just odd. Just why was Charles Woodson? What
Speaker 1: did you say? Did you did your bag on a
Speaker 1: teammate or buddy his? Did you disrespect the back end
Speaker 1: of his career? I mean, I don't know. Look, my
Speaker 1: wife went to Michigan. You think I can I can
Speaker 1: disparage Michigan anyway and not have her go hey, what
Speaker 1: was that all about? But the thing that it did
Speaker 1: is it killed the opportunity of a selfie, absolutely killed
Speaker 1: it because dam look it's me and Woodson. It looks
Speaker 1: he's got his hand round my throat. No, it didn't
Speaker 1: escalate to that level, but if you had said the
Speaker 1: wrong thing, it might have. I'm sorry, I just didn't
Speaker 1: cajole it a little bit more. That's a good word.
Speaker 1: I like, Conde was nice in there, and I finished
Speaker 1: with five words. And now I still don't know about
Speaker 1: Charles Woodson. So, Charles, if you listen to the podcast,
Speaker 1: you're looking back your glory days of Michigan on Twitter
Speaker 1: at how about a fresca if you can tell me
Speaker 1: you know what happened and why we have this also
Speaker 1: get it on Twitter. You have any ideas for some
Speaker 1: new Special Teams podcast you want us to look at
Speaker 1: some teams from years past? Again Twitter at how about
Speaker 1: a fresca? Mike had swollen dumb. This has been our
Speaker 1: look back in the Michigan Wolverines national champions amid some
Speaker 1: controversy and a Heisman trophy and a very strange handshake.
Speaker 1: Before you go, rate and review the show. Whether you're
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