Champion product of team unity

The players assembled on the field to celebrate 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 have never 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 for Griese - last season's pooch punter - nabbing the award was the perfect example of Michigan's Cinderella season.

Who would have thought back 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?

Danielle Rumore Rumore Has It

Not the pollsters 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. Not more talented - no, the 1994 team probably grabs that honor. More focused? More committed? Yes, on both counts. And 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."

The 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 time and the goals at hand.

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 grabbed the spotlight from Leaf, a Heisman Trophy finalist.

There was Charles Woodson, the team's magnificent superstar, spotlight grabber and Heisman winner, making one last dazzling interception.

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

There was fullback Chris Floyd, a senior, who volunteered to work on special teams. Carr said he was amazed a senior would volunteer to play on kickoff teams, a job typically reserved for unprovens, younger players.

And boy, was he right.

There are other stories, tales of walk-ons, tales of All-Americans, tales of getting hurt and coming back. The Wolverines put their differences aside, played together 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 history.

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. Beautiful? That is 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 17 appearances.

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

"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 is a former Daily sports editor.

09-08-98