Michigan players on the Amazon series

Submitted by snarling wolverine on

They are generally positive about the series.  

Dwumfour, Ruiz and Metellus are quoted in this article.  Metellus sets the record straight on a particularly embarrassing moment...

JOHNNAVARREISMYHERO

April 12th, 2018 at 9:11 PM ^

Was he wearing shades when he choked away the OSU game with that dropped INT? When the game is served on a platter, you have to take it.

1VaBlue1

April 12th, 2018 at 9:56 PM ^

He seemed really concerned about what people thought of him/his performance, to the point of annoying everyone he was speaking with - including his girlfriend.  Aside from that, he was protrayed as a douche that was full of himself.  Maybe he is, maybe not?  Editing has power that we don't see, so who knows what he's really like?

bronxblue

April 12th, 2018 at 10:45 PM ^

Makes sense. We've always heard he was strong headed and didn't always like Harbaugh and his constant "you are always conpetitng for your spot" mentality. I do figure some of that is editing, though; shoot this in 2016 and my guess is the story around him is a bit different.

bronxblue

April 13th, 2018 at 8:44 AM ^

I've discovered there an immense number of people on this board who read a bunch into a couple seconds of edited film or the degree of emotion shown by someone after a made shot and extrapolate the player's entire emotional makeup. It does crack me up that people deify confidence when you win and call a guy arrogant if he loses.

Yost Ghost

April 13th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Speight seemed to cross that line several times in the series. At one point even his girlfriend interjected that he wasn't exactly lighitng it up after the Air Force game when he was bitching about people criticising his yardage (169). 

Victor Hale II

April 13th, 2018 at 5:58 AM ^

Totally agree with your editing comment. For example, every post I’ve ever made here has been pure gold, full of insight and wisdom. Except for the ones that have been viewed as stupid and got negged accordingly. Obviously the mods edited all of those, for some unknown reason.

Catchafire

April 13th, 2018 at 8:22 AM ^

These are teens under a lot of pressure, it is to be expected. Image is important to teens. This documentary series should never have happened. It is like a double whammy of negativity for the players. Speight lived a terrible season and now gets to relive it via this documentary. No wonder he transferred from UM.

Magnus

April 13th, 2018 at 8:53 AM ^

Three things:

1. Speight didn't come off as a hero or anything, but I think people are exaggerating how poorly he looked. He didn't do anything terrible.

2. Even though I love Michigan, if that's the worst behavior you can find and he's the biggest "enemy," then we're in pretty good shape. I imagine there are much more unflattering characters on Michigan's football team who just didn't have the cameras on them as much.

3. It's a whole different atmosphere, of course, but think of all the enemies on "Last Chance U" and then compare that to "All or Nothing." "Last Chance U" had guys who were literally (allegedly) murderers, coaches who started physical fights with refs, on-field brawls, etc., and this series has a QB who's being (moderately) vilified for reading Nick Baumgardner articles and talking about his personal problems with his girlfriend.

MGoCarolinaBlue

April 13th, 2018 at 9:32 AM ^

Also he's correct that Nick Baumgardner doesn't know much of anything about Football.

He literally just reads this blog and then adds a little more "Michigan must do better" spin to it. Also his editors at Mlive were trash and frankly I don't think he's particularly intelligent or a good writer to begin with.

denardogasm

April 12th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^

I agree but I sort of felt the same way about O'Korn.  Neither one of them seemed to hold themselves accountable for anything.  It's just Speight seemed douchier about it and O'Korn seemed just dopey like he literally had no idea he was playing badly.  Like in episode 4 against Rutgers when O'Korn threw the pick and then told Gentry he needed to fight for it more, Gentry just walked away from him without saying a word.  He had obviously lost the team at that point. Peters doesn't exactly scream leadership to me either though, which is the most concerning for the coming season.  I didn't really get it at the time, but I can see why the coaches were concerned he's too quiet in the early part of the season.

Blue_Bull_Run

April 12th, 2018 at 11:07 PM ^

Yeah O'Korn seemed nice but just a straight up dope. Hilarious that he tried to get back in the huddle and then acted all confused, saying "Who's in?" Harbaugh responds with "huh?" And O'Korn is like "Who's going in? And harbaugh comes back "Brandon!!!" Also telling was the scene leading up to PSU. harbaugh looks at O'Korn and asks "Are you sure you want to play? Because to me it looks like you're scared because you don't want to be embarrassed in front of your home town crowd. "... Harbaugh knew all along that O'Korn sucked...

1VaBlue1

April 13th, 2018 at 7:02 AM ^

I was going to say this same thing!  Yeah, it seemed very clear to us that Peters was in for the count.  But I can totally see how JOK would want back in, and I don't hold that against him.  Honestly, if he just sat on the bench and sulked, without, at least, being ready to get back in, that would have pissed me off.  And as a coach, despite that Harbaugh was surprised he asked, it would have pissed him off, too.

Magnus

April 13th, 2018 at 8:43 AM ^

Yeah. Honestly, if O'Korn just faded into the background and melted into the sideline, I think that would be more concerning. QBs want the ball in their hands, and especially when a guy is the starter, you want him to have the mentality that he should go back into the game.

I'm not saying he should throw a temper tantrum, but I don't mind him asking after that first series whether Peters is going in.

Think of it a different way:

If Harbaugh wanted him to go in and O'Korn was nowhere to be found and unready to go in (like, say, Russell Bellomy), then that would be a much worse look.

bronxblue

April 13th, 2018 at 8:48 AM ^

Yeah, it wasn't some crazy question after a guy goes in for a series to wonder if you're due up next. Yes he hadn't played well, but earlier in the same damn year Speight had thrown two straight pick-sixes, O'Korn came in for a series and looked better, and then back to Speight. So it's not some crazy question. This place sometimes feels like it must eat it's young at all times.

Chaco

April 13th, 2018 at 12:05 PM ^

I felt like if you merged John O'Korn's seemingly unshakeable self-confidence with Brandon Peters mostly consistent competence we would have had a really solid QB.  But either way, I know that I would have done a worse job at 18-21 handling some of the stuff those guys had to handle. 

bronxblue

April 12th, 2018 at 10:42 PM ^

Yeah. As a general rule, these "reality" shows are edited to within an inch of their lives and have as many story writers/editors as your average sitcom. Doesn't mean they are wrong, but when one person is portrayed as great and the other consistently wrong, and that comes as a surprise to most people, it's usually because of the narrative being sewn by the editors.

Jonesy

April 13th, 2018 at 3:24 AM ^

Well since most people focus on QBs and the story of our team really was the QBs and Pep is the passing game coordinator it only makes sense he was a bigger focus than Drevno. Note they gave 0 screen time to any coach other than Jim, Don, Pep, and Drevnos OL dinner at his house.

Magnus

April 13th, 2018 at 8:40 AM ^

Yeah, I was surprised they didn't spend more time on Jay Harbaugh, since it seems like kind of a novel thing to have your son on the coaching staff. I think that would be an interesting dynamic to explore, but I don't remember Jay Harbaugh being interviewed or talking even once. He was always in the back of the team meeting room, and he appeared in the background a few other times.