"Michigan is a spiritual team." Jim Harbaugh
I found it interesting that a number of the leaders on the team made a point to give credit to God, and to praise the spiritual atmosphere on the team. Here are several quotes, and links:
The coaches, they’re incredible. It's a happy locker room as you can imagine, but they're down there giving thanks to God. I told you this: It’s a spiritual team. And they're happy. They’re celebrating but they’re giving thanks.
LINK: Harbaugh postgame interview, Nov. 26
This isn't anything new. Harbaugh regularly used personal time to go on service trips to Peru. When the team went to Italy, including the Vatican in Rome, Harbaugh said:
"The role that (faith) plays in my life is in the priorities that I have," he said April 26, "faith, then family, then football."
LINK: Jim Harbaugh, Catholic News Agency, Apr. 26, 2017
This came in the time he was able to personally present some Michigan shoes to Pope Francis.
Harbaugh humbly wanted to give all the credit to the team. He left the immediate field interviewer with JJ McCarthy to go fetch Donovan Edwards. When Edwards was asked about his performance, his first words were:
“First and foremost, all praises to the Lord,” he said. “He blessed us to be able to come play in this game. All of us who played in the game, we came out healthy and we got the victory. So all praises to the Lord.”
LINK: Donovan Edwards, Sports Spectrum, Nov. 28, 2022
Edwards had a lot more to say, with Detroit WXYZ-TV and in the postgame conference:
“The Lord has blessed us to be capable of a lot,” he said. “We trust in God, we trust in each other; we have love for the Lord and we have love for each other. … We give glory to the Lord at the end of the game. . . . The reason I was able to do what I did is because of the Lord. I pray all the time and I talk to God all the time. He told me this is going to be our game for us, that I was going to have a breakout game.”
JJ McCarthy, as many of you know, is very generous with NIL money. Among other things:
JJ For the Kids supports a number of children’s hospitals across the country. Originally started after an interaction with a young fan, McCarthy’s foundation was founded “as a way to make a difference in the lives of kids in my communities, in the Chicagoland area and in Ann Arbor.” The foundation has branched out to also support the ChadTough and Oxford Strong foundations.
LINK: JJ McCarthy donates NIL Money to O-Line and to Charity
But more than that, JJ is an incredibly centered young man, who spends 40 minutes a day in meditation, and 10 minutes before every game.
Somewhere between leading Michigan's offense, being a college student, navigating a handful of NIL projects, and attending various events, the 19-year-old finds 40 minutes daily to close his eyes and meditate.
"I (meditate) every single day, twice a day," McCarthy said following Michigan's 59-0 win over UConn. "Before the game, it's about getting into that present moment and finding that flow. I wake up, and I'll meditate for 30 minutes. And as everyone sees out by the field goal post, I'll meditate for 10 more minutes before the game."
LINK: JJ McCarthy's X-Factor is daily meditation
The star of the team, Blake Corum, is also spiritual. As a boy, working for his Dad's landscaping business, his father shared:
“Blake always wanted to put some of his money that he earned in the church offering,” his father, James Corum, said in a telephone interview Monday. “Everything he does on and off the field, it just makes me proud to have him as my son.”
This continues with using NIL money to help the local Ypsi Community:
A day after hurting his left knee in a win over Illinois, he used funds from name, image and likeness deals to donate 300 turkeys, green beans, apple sauce, milk, a winter hat and hand sanitizer to families in Superior Township and Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Corum is humble, and not looking for credit, or just for good PR:
“The impressive part is, he’s not just out here as a volunteer doing the work, he’s writing the check,” said Bilal Saeed, who assists Corum on community service initiatives and NIL deals.
Corum, who also donated hundreds of turkeys last year, had to be convinced that publicly sharing what he does in the community served a greater good than worrying some people may think he’s trying to get credit for his charitable efforts.
LINK: Michigan RB Blake Corum gives thanks during Ohio State week
Of course, as fans, we're going to focus on the X's and the O's out on the field. We will see the 2nd win in two years against OSU. But on the team, particularly with the leaders, their focus is on the strength they get from God, and in being humble, working together as a team.
There has been a lot of talk about the "culture" of the team. And about the culture elsewhere. I'll just say that in their interviews and comments, Jim Harbaugh, JJ McCarthy, Blake Corum, Donovan Edwards and many others are happy to spell out what that culture is.
November 29th, 2022 at 11:23 PM ^
Obviously some people bring their faith to AA and other find it when they get here. A lot of people simply do not know how to practice and express gratitude for the positive things in life without using god as the framework for that.
November 29th, 2022 at 11:42 PM ^
Brighton Ford must be getting a lot of business from this team…
November 30th, 2022 at 10:08 AM ^
I've always found the 'thanking god' for a win in football angle a bit weird where women, children, etc. are literally being raped or killed somewhere in the world during the exact same time we're watching that football game happen. It seems like those would be more important things for god to worry about and take care of.
November 30th, 2022 at 11:15 AM ^
Obviously. But of course most of us know religion is not fact based or in touch with reality. But if it’s your thing, I respect that. Just don’t force it on others.
November 30th, 2022 at 11:36 AM ^
Can we have a no religion rule on here?
November 30th, 2022 at 3:58 PM ^
We do have a no religion rule on here. But we also have a rule on here about covering what the team is saying and doing. This is why I was so careful to avoid sharing my personal religious beliefs, and to only quote the coaches and the players on the team. What they say is fair game. What I say is not.
As I also mentioned in the thread above, do a count: since the game, as of 3:54pm EST on Wed. 11/30, there have been 188 posts. This is the only one of those 188 that focuses on what Harbaugh and others on the team have shared as regards spirituality. That works out to about a half percent, .53% to be exact.
If you have a problem with Harbaugh or Edwards or Corum or McCarthy, that's fine, and your prerogative. I suppose if you wanted to, you could complain to the Regents or to the AD about Harbaugh and these players. But this is a Michigan blog, about Michigan sports, and I would contend that quoting Harbaugh and a number of the leaders on the team, particularly on their own priorities, is entirely appropriate.
December 1st, 2022 at 7:39 PM ^
We do have a no religion rule on here.
and yet you posted anyway. The fact that it is 0.53% of the posts should tell you something......people don't post about religion here for a reason, without your post it would be zero and that is the intention.....your 0.53% spoiled it for everyone else. Ban means 0%.......not banned for everyone, but with an exception for your post because you said "spiritual" in the title and then went 100% christian in quotes and players. Not to mention....yours will certainly beget others if it not called out for what it is. Everyone is going to want theirs too...just like politics.
and....you aren't/weren't that careful...I know (and respect) you as a long time poster and have always enjoyed your input, all the way back to the long boat trip stories (I think I'm remembering that correctly). I also know from your posts that you are deeply religious, christian and (I believe) are so in some manner of an official/professional capacity. So not being explicit in this one post isn't not sharing your beliefs, you share them pretty openly and often.
First issue: what you fail to realize about your post, even though you may not have stated your beliefs explicitly in the title, is that it opened the door for the many others who went there for you. There isn't a "no politics" rule on the board because of the very few people that posted interesting, non-biased political information, it is because of everything that comes afterward, just like in your post. I give you this entire discussion between all these people as clear evidence as to why the "no religion" rule exists here and why you are not a snowflake for which a special exemption exists b/c you didn't use the word christian. Nothing about this discussion is enlightening, fruitful, or beneficial and it has digressed into one only tacitly related to UM athletics and even that tacit connection is rooted in genuflection and/or conjecture on player/coach religious beliefs and habits, along with a right/wrong debate on the when and how of prayer being allowable/appropriate. People have strong beliefs around religion, there are a VERY diverse and nuanced set of views involved and most importantly, a large segment of those people are not very tolerant when it comes to talking about them. Hence the ban on religious topics on a forum focused solely on Michigan athletics.
Second issue, you completely ignored any non-christian statements by any other players.......you didn't even look, which would have gone a long way toward supporting your position as nondenominationally "spiritual". It took me 3 seconds to find a quote from last September from current player Mica Gelb, to whit:
I’ve been the only practicing Jewish player on the team in my four years at U-M,” he said.
In that role, Gelb has talked with several teammates who had never met a Jew, answered tons of questions about Jewish practices and culture, and corrected stereotypes.He doesn’t participate in the team’s pre-game prayer, although he is close by.
Spiritual. M player. Jewish. Ignored. I didn't have to look back too far for other spiritual statements from other M players like Salim Malikk, etc.
Two things about that^
One, you have a clear bias here toward spirituality as christian, whether you want to admit it or not. This is not to indicate you are anti-anything, as far as I know you on MGoBlog, you seem a very intelligent, kind, fair, open, accepting and generally great human being. Biases are not bigotries, we all have them, l have them, it is part of being human. You perceive these christian player callouts and odes to a christian god as a positive and it enhances your affinity for this team because it aligns with your own views, however I perceive these very differently and all the open pushing of catholic/religious statements by Harbaugh along with his biblical references and group prayers make me very uneasy and are a negative aspect of having him as a coach. I'm not alone here. Which brings me to my next point about Gelb's comment......
Focus on the last line. You may think that "close by" part is okay, but I don't. He is left out, and any other number of players are left out, or forced to either openly separate themselves from the team in a celebratory moment and go somewhere else while participants bond and include each other, or do what most do and pretend to go along. I have been that player, that coworker/colleague, that reader on a blog about M sports, that guest at a dinner, that witness in a court room that student in a classroom and had to make the choice about whether I make waves with the team or a judge, offend or separate from coworkers and hosts.....I had a very long and drawn out issue in a U.S. court when as a witness I wouldn't say "so help me God" and it took a while to find a solution.....every day I went to school until 4th grade I was forced to say "one nation under god." All these are fine things in religious environments....your church, synagogue, mosque, home, in groups of people who share your beliefs.....but at a public university on a team that includes people of all beliefs, gathering them to celebrate and give thanks while reciting the lord's prayer isn't okay. I don't really want to debate this issue with you, we aren't likely to agree, I only bring it up to show why my perception of the items you allude to gives me the exactly opposite reaction and makes me super uneasy. Remember, at least 40% of that locker room is non-christian.
I know this is nearly impossible for devout christians to understand, but I implore you to try and look at this objectively and try to imagine this from my point of view. Let's outline a situation and see if you are okay with it, or might you have a problem?
Imagine a world where:
- Harbaugh is a devout and openly atheist, anti-religious coach and makes continual public statements to that effect, often quoting anti-religious philosophers and texts to bolster that perception.
- He weighs in constantly on important moral/ethical issues in public forums and for example publicly states that he and his wife will gladly pay for any woman who wants to have an abortion to have one, all procedure and travel expenses paid, no questions asked.
- At practices and after games he gathers the team and has everyone recite a poem he likes called "There is No God" by Percy Shelley and he encourages and often refers to his work "The Necessity of Atheism" and encourages his staff and players to read it for themselves. Of course nobody HAS to read it, or recite the poem, they are welcome to leave the room in this celebratory moment and go be with the other "believers" somewhere else, but to be clear the guy who holds your playing time and future in his hands will be in here talking excitedly bout atheism and how the lack of a god helped us all win that game. Go ahead...coach will not think any differently of you for being a believer, despite his atheism being such a strongly held belief, go somewhere else while they celebrate and bond and come back when it is over.
That wouldn't make you even a bit uneasy?
Now.......let's imagine you come to the M sports blog that you read faithfully and go to as a nice palate cleanser from all the political noise and anti-religious messaging that is forced down your throat on a daily basis (remember in this world 63% of the population is atheist and every politician speaks platitudes about not believing in god at the end of each speech, athletes continually make a point of saying that no god helped them win today, your currency says "there is no god" on it, etc., etc.) and there is a post.....despite there being an explicit ban on atheist content....that discusses in glowing terms how anti-theistic this year's team is and lists all their anti-christian statements (not anti-christian though, poster used the term anti-theistic) and then relates all the good deeds they have done and directly implies this is part and parcel of their atheism. Atheists are good you see. The poster ignores a long history of M players doing charitable things (seriously, google "michigan football players charitable" and you'll see pages and pages of results going back a decades....they're great kids by and large) to focus on just these players and their atheism and anti-christianism specifically. The post predictably digresses into many many comments from people about their own zest for atheism and anti-christian beliefs (none of them mention anti-atheism or anti-spirituality, of course, straight up non-believers), thusly explaining that no one here is being forced to be atheist, they always have the option of leaving the room and not participating, not bonding. When someone calls out the poster and points at the clear ban on atheist/anti-christian content.....the OP points out that they never said "atheist" (though everyone else did), the title only said "anti-spiritual" and only the quotes and examples they used were overtly atheist.... and besides....this is just one of 188 posts and just a small percentage, therefore my post is okay because the word "ban" really means that just a few from my point of view are okay, but no one else.
^that is how you look to a non-christian and I think it would be extremely disingenuous of you to to read the above scenario and tell me that you wouldn't be made extremely uncomfortable by it and want it off the board.
And one last point....if your post is okay and avoids the ban on religion because it talks about what Michigan players/coaches said and did, by that logic the religion ban will not apply to someone making posts about Harbaugh's stance and public statements with regard to abortion, right? You really can't see where that will end up?