How BIG is Denard in American Sports?
September 26th, 2010 at 7:00 PM ^
Denard's receiving a lot of attention on ESPN as the early consensus Heisman favorite. It's been overwhelmingly positive, which isn't surprising for a humble, easy to like kid that's dilithium fast. He's getting a lot of props on highlights and the only non-positive thing said is usually "He's going to get hurt" after showing him torching a defense. Hope this helps.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:01 PM ^
about 6'0 195 pounds big.
September 26th, 2010 at 9:01 PM ^
but the tv cameras add 10 pounds.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:31 PM ^
only because the HD frame rate isn't fast enough to get a picture of him without it being blurry.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:03 PM ^
In the past four games our Wolverines have gotten a ton of positive press in the MSM. It could still be a lot better but a lot of media outlets are still pointing to last year's 4-0 start that ended with a 5-7 overall record with 1-7 in conference. Denard himself has been interviewed by Erin Andrews, the Big Ten network, ESPN, and has had thousands of other requests. Thankfully RR has limited his media availability to 1 hour a week. Aside from Denard, RR has also gotten a lot of positive press as well. I really think once we get a couple of wins in the Big Ten we're going to see a lot more press in a positive light. This has helped us get on the radar with some recruits that probably wouldn't have checked us out otherwise. The excitement level of Michigan fans is very high. Expectations before the season were not great by any means. A big win next week will go a long way with our players confidence against the Big Ten. The more positive press the better our program becomes from all angles. Should we continue this current pace we're going to see some big time results in recruiting and RR's job security will be a non issue. It's great to be a Meeeeeechigan Wolverine!!
September 27th, 2010 at 7:55 AM ^
The up/down media coverage will come to a fever pitch after we beat Indiana this Saturday, where everyone will say, "Now we'll finally find out what they're made of. Will it go one way, or the other. There's only two options. No in between! The tension! You can cut it with a knife! Oh god I can't take it! My heart! Take me home sweet baby Jesus!"
Then we'll beat MSU and it'll turn from "Will they collapse like last season" to, "Will we finally get back to seeing U of M on New Year's Day?"
September 26th, 2010 at 7:04 PM ^
...he's been called the songbird of his generation. That big.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:08 PM ^
The headline for today's (Sunday) NY Times CFB "National Round-up" (cuts from Associated Press) is "Injured Robinson Leaves, but Michigan Stays Positive" with the sole photo Denard being tackled before his injury.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/sports/ncaafootball/26colleges.html?_r=1
There was also a feature article a couple of weeks ago.
As for the word on the street: While walking on the Upper West Side Friday, ran into a casual friend I haven't seen in a couple of years (a born-and-bred New Yorker) whose greeting was "That Robinson kid is the most exciting player in college football!"
September 26th, 2010 at 7:18 PM ^
September 26th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^
Positive NY and East Coast coverage is ALWAYS a good thing. Will help with Heisman voting if/when needed.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:36 PM ^
I work in Hell's Kitchen and there are a couple Big Ten guys i work with. One OSU alum and one State alum. We all talk about foot ball all the time but its funny how more people (them included) are talking up our Wolverines with the way Denard is playing. I have also gotten that "You guys better hope he doesnt get hurt!" crap too but all in all I think more people are paying attention for the right reasons and not the wrong ones.
September 27th, 2010 at 12:35 AM ^
But, they are right. Note Big House silence when Denard went down in the Bowling Green game.
Of course, when they say that you could respond by saying, "You guys better hope Pryor doesn't get hurt." - or, "You better hope that Cousins doesn't get hurt."
Hopefully they'll see how lame a statement like that is. If ANY teams starting QB is hurt it is a disaster. Except one.
Michigan.
September 27th, 2010 at 8:55 AM ^
I'm surprised more people don't talk about how vulnerable the Buckeyes if Pryor goes down. Then again, that would be intelligent and why should I expect college football fans to be intelligent.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:39 PM ^
...but when I wear anything with Michigan on it here in North Carolina I have people stopping me at work, in the grocery store, wherever to talk about Denard, Rich Rod, etc. & Lots about Denard!
September 26th, 2010 at 7:11 PM ^
and that's an even better reason to be happy about him right now.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:27 PM ^
It reminds me of the attention tebow got. There is more skepticism as to if he can keep it up compared to tebow...but still reminds me of it.
September 26th, 2010 at 8:42 PM ^
I don't think the coverage of Denard has been as annoying/ overblown as Tebow. I feel like the coverage is more like "who is this guy", "lets get to know him" instead of "this is the greatest player ever", "this is why you should like him", "if you don't like him you're a bad person" coverage that Tebow got. Just my 2 cents.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:57 PM ^
I 100% agree. Tebow's coverage was nauseating. I'm talking more about the actual quantity of talk going on about him, not what is being said.
September 27th, 2010 at 12:10 AM ^
True, for now at least. I am a little worried that if he keeps this up for three years it'll quickly become Tebow-esqe. But i suppose that's a small price to pay.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:37 PM ^
with each game he plays, the anticipation of a long Denard run grows. I'm already anticipating an 80 yarder next week against Indiana, just a part of a 200/300 game he's going to have. That Heisman talk that started up might of been just the press stoking the fires of college football fans everywhere about the season, but if he keeps playing the way he has -and he will, barring injury- he's going to make a trip to the Downtown Athletic Club a certainty.
September 26th, 2010 at 7:56 PM ^
bigger and bigger on the press. I really expect that by the end of the season D Rob will front and center like the next Tebow. Especially after we beat Ohio State in their own house!! Go BLUE!!
September 26th, 2010 at 9:05 PM ^
the BGSU game, on the ticker at the bottom in the LEAD STORY category was "Denard Robinson leaves Michigan game with injury, not expected to return"
This was during the freaking game.
September 27th, 2010 at 11:16 AM ^
Then after the game the top two ESPN headlines covered Denard's "injury".
September 26th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^
I live in North Carolina and I walk my dog in a subdivision every other day wearing Michigan stuff. People I've never spoken with or never discussed football with are stopping me to ask about Denard.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:34 PM ^
because I love your avatar
September 27th, 2010 at 9:18 AM ^
What goes around comes around, M-burns. Surprised you haven't been the victim of an electric razor sneak attack.
September 26th, 2010 at 10:20 PM ^
He mercifully doesn't yet have his own ticker category on ESPN (Tebow, Tiger, Favre...).
September 26th, 2010 at 11:51 PM ^
Denard seems to be getting more popular each week because he's so damn exciting to watch, not just to us Michigan fans, but to a lot of college football fans and sports fans in general. A lot of Michigan fans, probably myself included, will say that it's too early to assume that he'll win the Heisman. I do feel, however, that if Denard keeps it up (especially against OSU), it won't be that he'll have a good chance of winning the Heisman at the end of the season, but that he will win the Heisman because he's that kind of special player.
September 26th, 2010 at 11:59 PM ^
immediately after the game last Saturday against BG, I headed to the bank for some cash. The teller-in-training, a black man with an accent, was talking with me about how nice the weather was and that I should head to the coast.
I told him that I don't go anywhere on Saturdays during football season. He asked, "Who's your team?" Michigan Wolverines, I answered. "What do you think about that Denard Robinson?" he asked. I answered that it was a well oiled machine with him in there. "Too bad he got hurt" he says. He'll be ok, I said. He'll bounce right back and still end up winning the Heisman more than likely.
The woman behind him says, about the teller-in-training. "It sounds like he knows what he's talking about" and I answered, he does. Anyway he had to start working at 10AM so he could only have caught the first quarter.
Just thought it was interesting to see what a "real deal" Denard is for human interest. Guess we all need a hero!
September 27th, 2010 at 12:37 AM ^
In a sports clothing store on 16th was a Michigan #16 jersey in the front window.
That's saying something!
September 27th, 2010 at 7:11 AM ^
September 27th, 2010 at 6:24 PM ^
He was on the front page of every huge news website (yahoo, msn, espn, si) after he got hurt.