OT/Distraction: Denard Appreciation Thread
Been trying to think about football highlights over the last 15 years, and there's not many, but a large chunk of them are related to the one and only Denard Robinson. He's basically the only reason we're not 0-fer against OSU since 2003, and caused more ND tears than Jimmy Clausen's NFL career.
So here's a momentary distraction to better times.
P.S. I would have liked to add many many more gifs, but mGoBlog's 2MB cap of images limits what I could actually show here
November 18th, 2020 at 11:36 AM ^
Try one of the gif editors on line. You can cut duration, crop and most will show you the file size after you make a change. I just made a 4mb Billy Martin gif for upload here into at 1.94mb one.
I used: https://ezgif.com/
And BTW...Denard will always be one of my favorite Michigan football players!
November 18th, 2020 at 11:49 AM ^
Thought about it, but that's a level of effort I'm not about to do for this. Also, somehow everytime I use a gif editor, it comes out a bigger size than my original file. My computer can start up a fullscreen HD video on Netflix in a millisecond, but a gif somehow freezes and stutters.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
Still our most recent QB with wins over all our rivals
November 18th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
I love Denard
Got to see his full career as a student at Michigan. The man can do no wrong in my book.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
Say all you want about RR, but he gave us Denard and it was absolutely exhilarating watching Him.
The last second Notre Dame win and VTech are perhaps my two favorites with De
November 18th, 2020 at 11:48 AM ^
You didn't include his first ever snap from scrimmage? I mean, that was epic!
But his enduring legacy, for me, is that smile. Dude even flashed that smile during the Miss St bowl game! He was the only player that even tried to compete in that game. The only player that didn't quite on his teammates, coaches, and fans.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:50 AM ^
Couldn't find a version of it that would comply with mGoBoard file size caps :-(
November 18th, 2020 at 11:57 AM ^
Denard was such a joy to watch, even when the team was bad.
November 18th, 2020 at 11:51 AM ^
By far the best thing to happen to Michigan Football in the last 20 years or so. So much fun to watch. Such a great spirit.
November 19th, 2020 at 9:49 PM ^
100% agree!! +100 MGPoints AFAIC!
Amazin’ Dude
November 18th, 2020 at 11:54 AM ^
DENNIS BERGKAMP! DENNIS BERGKAMP!
November 18th, 2020 at 12:03 PM ^
Denard was FUN. He didn't always make the right play or always win the big game, but whatever his flaws were, he wasn't afraid to make a play. When he was on, he was on. And sometimes even when he wasn't. At least half of the miracle throws in UTL 1 or the Sugar Bowl were probably bad reads where we got lucky, but they don't happen if Denard doesn't have the YOLO wherewithal to throw those prayers. Win or lose, you were excited to watch Denard because on any given snap something amazing could happen. And it's an indictment on the current state of our team that I can say with 100% certainty that Harbaugh would've absolutely coached all the fun out of Denard.
November 18th, 2020 at 12:05 PM ^
I was in that corner of the end zone for that Roundtree catch. I'm pretty sure that game took years off my life. The extreme boredom (and my buzz wearing off from drinking all day) in the first half, to happy, sad, happy, sad, and then really fucking happy again in the second half. Good times
November 18th, 2020 at 12:35 PM ^
That game is literally the only live college football game my wife has ever attended.
We were also sitting just behind that catch and it took a bit to sort out what happened as I thought initially we were just celebrating the penalty.
I have never had the heart to take her to a game since as that was the most exciting moment/night/game I'd ever seen (better than anything in the 1997 championship year)...
The best part of the night is that my sister and a few of her friends (ND grads) made the commute to watch the game. That night is burned into her memory though in a very different manner.
November 18th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
Happiest “Michigan Moment” for me since college.
November 18th, 2020 at 12:07 PM ^
Here's Denard's face last week when we played back Don Criqui calling him a "poor thrower" at the end of UTL1.
Next The Teams podcast is gonna be great.
November 18th, 2020 at 12:34 PM ^
Just watching these plays I am still in awe of this dude. I true game changer
I laughed out loud at the 5:40 mark
November 18th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
As much as a certain coach is supposedly a QB whisperer, it was RR who gave us our best QB's of the past decade.
I fully appreciate and miss both Denard Robinson and Devin Gardner. Both were warriors, but every time Denard touched the ball you expected he could take it to the house. You gave us a win over OSU that will forever be cherished, possibly because it might be the last.
November 18th, 2020 at 12:36 PM ^
Hail Denard!
He was so much fun to watch. He also seemed like a really great guy on and off the field. I'd love to have a Denard 2.0 at Michigan. We need a player who is fun to watch again. I don't think we've had that since Peppers.
November 18th, 2020 at 1:22 PM ^
Have always, and will always, appreciate him.
November 18th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
My favorite Michigan football players are Ricky Leach (because you never outgrow your childhood heroes) and Denard. Man, he was something else. You never went for beer or a bathroom break when Michigan was on offense back then, lest you missed something amazing.
Funny thing, most people don’t rate his pro career worth a damn, but despite irregular use he averaged 4 yards per carry over his four years in Jacksonville. I don’t understand how he didn’t at least make it onto another roster with a stat line like that.
And he turned 30 earlier this year, which somehow makes the memories of him at Ann Arbor seem even older.
November 18th, 2020 at 2:53 PM ^
Although UTL1 was EPIC being at ND with the same ND fan when Denard broke off what was at that time the longest run from scrimmage remains a personal favorite. Domers were so quiet.
November 18th, 2020 at 2:58 PM ^
Denard Robinson was indeed a joyous beacon during a general dark down time. He played hard and seemed to be positive about his whole experience. I saw that he is working his way up the coaching ladder with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Easily one of the greatest players for the Wolverines on the offensive side of the ball. Good luck to him!
November 18th, 2020 at 3:01 PM ^
You cant teach speed but you can learn life lessons.
November 18th, 2020 at 3:29 PM ^
Perhaps in another 15 years we will look back on the Harbaugh era and forget the hell that it has become... Has everyone forgotten the fact that we all held our breath each and every single time that he tried to throw the ball?
November 18th, 2020 at 4:23 PM ^
By Gollum!
November 18th, 2020 at 7:19 PM ^
I see that you, like the OP, prefer to live in a world of fantasy. Enjoy.
November 18th, 2020 at 3:32 PM ^
Possibly the most exciting football I have ever seen in my life
November 18th, 2020 at 6:54 PM ^