Heaping Praise on "New 98"


Browsing Reddit this evening, I came across this post from redditor "helpful".
"Every time a kid chooses to play football for my school. .. my team, I become a fan. But, I have never wanted success more for a kid than Devin Gardner. A five star kid coming out of Inkster High School (a Detroit kid), he could have gone anywhere in the country, and he chose Michigan. He's never been in trouble. He graduated in two and a half years. A five star quarterback who elected to switch positions to help his team. As quarterback, he knew he was going to get beat up every week.Yet, he worked his ass off and showed up to lead this offense. I don't know what the future holds for Gardner; the coaches may choose to go with another QB next year. But, as I sat here and watched this kid, in tears, put the loss on himself, I understood one thing without question: That's a Michigan Man right there. If your ten-year-old son asks you what kind of person you want him to be when he's twenty, show him a picture of Devin Gardner. If that kid never wins another game as our quarterback, we should all praise him for what he has done here. He embodies everything that is good about the University of Michigan."
Hear, hear.

It's been an up and down season for Michigan and their quarterback. Much like the woes of the offensive line and the running game, so have been the struggles for Gardner. He started out the season very turnover prone. And just as those giveaways started to dwindle, the constantly reshuffled interior line struggled to find their mojo amid a tough Big Ten schedule.

"New 98" was taking a beating each and every game. But he never stopped playing, never stopped trying to make Michigan better. And with every tough loss, he put the blame on himself so his teammates didn't have to.

No one, at least no one I talked to or heard from last week gave Michigan any shot against Ohio State. It takes a team effort to win a game like that, but Gardner, as he does every week because that's just how he's wired, put the team on his shoulders and gave it everything he had. And he took them to the brink of one of the biggest upsets this series has ever seen. It was a valiant effort, one for the ages.  I don't question the call to go for 2. I loved it. That's Michigan Football.

I am thrilled that I am able to say I saw that game, and his performance, in person.

It's funny, after Denard graduated, I wasn't sure if I'd ever see another Michigan quarterback that I liked so much, and wanted to see succeed. But, just one season later, Devin Gardner is that guy. I hope he's the starting QB next year. I want to see what a battle tested, senior "New 98" can do.

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