Unity created this national champion

DANIELLE RUMORE Rumore Has It

PASADENA, Calif. - It was a glorious site. As the last two seconds expired on Washington State quarterback Ryan Leaf and the Cougars' chance to upend the No. 1 team in the country, the Wolverines finally had a chance to relax. The scoreboard read Michigan 21, Washington State 16. Rose Bowl champions. National champions. A perfect record, 12-0, to match a perfect season.

The players assembled on the field to celebrate together their unimaginable year.

There was Tommy Hendricks keeled over on the field, tears streaming down his face. There was hugging and smiles and tears everywhere. There were players who never have played a down screaming as loud as the starters as they donned their Rose Bowl champion hats and T-shirts. They were champions, too. There were the fifth-year seniors celebrating their last game in a Michigan uniform with their only trip to the Rose Bowl. There was Brian Griese accepting the MVP award.

On a day that could only be described as magical, Griese - last season's pooch punter - nabbing the award was the perfect example of Michigan's Cinderella season.

Who would have thought in September that this group of Wolverines would end the season with the Heisman Trophy winner, the coach of the year, a perfect record, a No. 1 ranking, a victory in the Rose Bowl and its first national championship since 1948?

Not the voters, who ranked Michigan 14th at the start of the season.

Not the fans, who anticipated a fifth straight four-loss season.

Not the critics, who said Michigan's glory days were over.

No one thought it was possible. No one, that is, except the Wolverines.

They all said this team was different than previous ones, and they were right. Not more talented - no, the 1994 team probably grabs that honor. More focused? More committed? Yes, on both counts. For the first time in a very long time, Michigan played as a team, as one, from beginning to end. And that was the difference this season.

"I think our team believed in ourselves," linebacker Dhani Jones said. "We played as one, as one great being. We were just one team at one time."

This 1997 Michigan football team was about heart and soul, unity and focus. Coach Lloyd Carr used special motivating tools to get his team ready each week, to keep their minds on one game at a time and on the goals at hand. And he brought a team together, filled with superstars and walk-ons, dreamers and believers, to build history in just his third season as a head coach beyond the high school level.

There was Griese, a former walk-on, leading his team to victory with three touchdown passes. In the most important game of his life, Griese stepped in and stole center stage from Leaf, a Heisman Trophy finalist who just might be the NFL's quarterback of the future.

There was Charles Woodson, the team's magnificent superstar, spotlight-grabber and Heisman-winner, making one last dazzling interception in the Rose Bowl game to keep the Cougars from going up 13-0 early on.

There was linebacker Eric Mayes, the walk-on turned captain and starter. He was injured, but he dressed for this game and never relinquished his duty as co-captain, never gave up hope.

There was Jason Vinson, the walk-on punter who fought for three years to grab and retain a spot on the squad. He, too, believed and became a starter.

There was fullback Chris Floyd, a senior, who volunteered to play on special teams. Carr has said for some time that he was amazed a senior would volunteer to play on kickoff teams, a job typically reserved for unproven, younger players. Carr said that kind of spirit

and selflessness was the defining mark on this team.

And boy, was he right.

There are other stories, tales of walking on, tales of being named All-Americans, tales of getting hurt and coming back. The Wolverines put individual achievement aside, played together as one and now have Rose Bowl rings to prove it worked.

It all comes down to what Jones said - "one great being." The Wolverines came together in spring drills and outlined their goals for the season.

This time though, they put in the work, dedicated the time and prepared almost methodically to turn the goals into more than mere words.

And they were rewarded on Jan. 1 as they found their way into the history books.

The San Gabriel mountains formed the beautiful backdrop around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The palm trees circled the stadium and seemed to reach high into the sky, as the warm temperature basked on the bowl game of all bowl games. Beautiful? That's an understatement.

The past wasn't always as beautiful, as the Rose Bowl proved to be Michigan's personal hell - nine losses in the school's 12 prior appearances.

But not this year. Nothing could quell the beauty of this game, of this season, of the unity on this team.

"A lot of people counted us out every game," Floyd said. "A lot of people at the beginning were calling us mediocre. We set our sights and we set our goals and we never looked back."

- Danielle Rumore can be reached via e-mail at drumore@umich.edu

WARREN ZINN/Daily
Free safety Tommy Hendricks is reduced to tears as he hugs tight end Mark Campbell after the Wolverines' emotional Rose Bowl victory.

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