JJ Grant – Co-Captain of Bo’s last team on Legends of the Big House!

[Before he became an All-Big Ten captain at Michigan, J.J. Grant was one of New York’s most gifted athletes. A Parade All-American in football and a record-setting champion in the shot put at Michigan. Number 95 brought that same power to the heart of Bo Schembechler’s defense, helping the Wolverines win back-to-back Big Ten titles, beat Ohio State twice, and go unbeaten in conference play over his final two seasons.

Now J.J. Grant tells his story on Legends of the Big House. Hey everybody, Doug Cohen with Hail Media here with another edition of Legends of the Big House. Really excited about my guest today.

But before I even get into that, just want to also give a little shout-out to our sponsor, OLIPOP. Love OLIPOP. Less sugar than traditional sodas, which makes me feel better about drinking it because I do like pop. But I don’t like all the high fructose corn syrup and junk that’s in it.

So, pretty fired up about OLIPOP. And today we’re going with Vintage Cola. You may or may not know, but I’m in a band called Vintage Playboy. So, Vintage Cola is appropriate.

So, let’s crack this open and give a little sip. That’s good. So, today our guest, my captain, at least my sophomore year, J.J. Grant.

J.J. is definitely in the category of legend of the big house. The guy is tied for 18th all-time in career tackles. He was second-team All-Big Ten. Should have been first team All-Big Ten if you ask me from Liverpool outside of Syracuse.

And we’re going to talk about J.J.’s career and catch up with him, see what he’s up to. Got a lot of great questions for J.J.. I’m excited. So, let’s get to it.

All right, everybody. As promised, here is my captain, my man, my friend, my teammate, Mr. J.J. Grant.

J.J., welcome. How you doing, buddy? I’m doing wonderful, man. DC, it’s good to see you, bro.

It’s good to see you, too. This is this is going to be a great catch-up for us as well as, you know, podcast interview cuz it’s been too long. We should be in closer contact than we are, man. I know lots of Oh, absolutely.

So, as I said in the intro, I mentioned, did you know that you are tied for 18th in all-time career tackles at the University of Michigan? I had no clue. I honestly didn’t think I was up there that high cuz you know, injuries and other things. I just didn’t think I was there.

Right. I’m So, I’m not forgotten. All right. Cool.

Not forgotten. It’s pretty impressive in my book, man. You’re tied for 18th with Dhani Jones. Hey, that’s remarkable.

Man, you’re also tied for fourth all-time with Khaleke Hudson and Devin Bush among linebackers for pass breakups with 14. Now, I knew my number, but I didn’t know where it ranked. And I get teased a little bit from family. They say that’s why you played defense because they should have been interceptions, right?

You’re right. You’re right. Well, listen, we got a lot to cover and I think people are going to really enjoy hearing about your story and I know there’s people from our era that are going to be like really fired up that oh J.J. Grant that’s the guy they need to have J.J. on.

So, let’s go back to childhood. Your parents set great examples for you. I’ve seen pictures of your dad. You’re your dad’s mini me.

You look exactly like your and talk about growing up in the Grant household and sports as a kid and when you got started, what sports you played when you were little. Talk about that a little bit. Mom and dad were great in terms of just getting me involved in any and everything. I did everything from football, basketball.

I did the all the AAU track during the summer. And I grew up in Ohio. I was born in Youngstown, lived in Portsmouth, was there till I was 12. So, I was involved in everything.

Dad played football at Bowling Green University. He played with Jim Harbaugh’s father. So, he knew Harbaugh. And then I got to play with Jim up there with us and dad and him would talk back and forth periodically.

But it was a neat little trivia that me and him had in terms of playing with both Harbaughs in both generations. So Wow. But I didn’t know that. Yeah.

And in terms of my growing up in sports, he had me as a mascot for pee-wee football team at 6 years old and just I fell in love with the sport immediately. Immediately played youth sports all through youth played middle school football in Ohio just in Portsmouth Ohio from there job took him to upstate New York so that’s when we moved to Liverpool and from there I got involved with track and actually fell in love with the throwing events had an opportunity to do some things that you know I’m really proud of in terms of those things state championships and was able to participate in some events that I know I wouldn’t dreamed of, you know. So, it was just amazing aspect in terms of getting involved with a lot of things, letting me feel what I felt comfortable with and mom and dad the whole way were just, you know, go for it. So, that was an awesome situation for me growing up.

That’s awesome. So, yeah. And your accomplishments in track, you were what, three-time state champ in the shot, right? In New York.

Correct. Correct. I mean, that’s pretty impressive. New York State Athlete of the Year.

I did a little homework on you, my man. Ah, okay. Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame. Pretty well accomplished in your hometown at the high school level.

I asked around a little bit and it seems to me that a couple of the guys remember that things got a little bit heated in your recruitment. There were people that wanted you to stay home and go to Syracuse. Is that right? Did it get a little nasty?

Absolutely. Absolutely it did get a little nasty. The funny thing about it is at this time my father’s working with Miller Brewing Company. Okay.

So the Miller Lite All-Stars were big. Ray Nitschke and Dick Butkus and those guys and he was HR. So what would happen is as an HR rep at one of the main breweries we’d bring in the All-Stars. And so with that anytime you know one of the football guys came in Pops would grab me and I’d go with them to the plant.

So Ray Nitschke comes into town and I’m riding in the car with him, walking through the plant. Just a great day. At the same time, I’m a senior in high school. So I’m being recruited at that point and one of the workers asked me, “Jay, are you going to stay at Syracuse or you going to be one of those traders that leaves?” Ray Nitschke stood up for me and he goes, “Hey, I’m a Chicago guy that ended up in Green Bay.

I got two Super Bowl rings. If I just kept my behind in Chicago, you would have never seen me. So, ease up on the kid. And I was amazed.

I was walking on cloud nine once he stood up for me like that. But it got interesting. A lot of people wanted me to stay in Syracuse. There was also some people who with my background in Ohio State wanted me to really go to the Buckeyes.

All right. Growing up in Ohio. Yeah. Yeah.

So, but yes, there was a little bit of tension in terms of the recruiting process. I came out my senior year as a Parade All-American. So it was a lot of people watching to see what I was doing. Yeah.

Well, and that was without any social media. So if you can you can only imagine you know what you might have had to go through if people were able to sound off online about it. Exactly. Exactly.

Yeah. Yeah. And you know who says that they were a big part in your recruitment is Jamie Morris. Jamie was Jamie was J Mo was that connecting piece that made it real easy in terms of the transition.

He was my host as far as my recruiting trip, but I also knew his brothers. I knew Joe because he went to this Syracuse University and so I got to see him at camps and then Mike, his brother, also played at Syracuse, right? And so I knew him. And so when I came for the visit, it was really easy to get along with Jamie.

You know, his personality is about the size of jumbos. You know, once we started talking, it really felt like home, man. It really did. So, tell me a little bit more about the coaches and the process.

Who was the lead recruiter, if there was one for your area? Who really sold you on coming to Michigan? How did that end up going down? It’s a good question.

What happened was Jerry Meter was the lead recruiter, and Jerry is well spoken, hands himself very professionally. If he doesn’t have the answer, he’ll get it for you. Y and that’s what my parents love that aspect of, okay, he’s not going to just tell me anything to try to get me in the door. Also, with my track accomplishments, coach Jack Harvey, the track coach, also was in contact with me as well.

He was able to come to one of the meets that I participated in, which is the Penn Relays in Philadelphia. I was already committed, but he came to the house. So, Michigan did everything they were that my parents needed in terms of getting familiar with them very quickly to feel comfortable with the decision. At the time, I’d asked my head coach, George Mangicaro, who was my head coach at the time.

I said, “Can you find me some information about Michigan?” So, he found a little bit about information. Jerry reached out and then at that point, it escalated. And to Michigan’s credit, they stood out head and shoulders. These are the schools that I visited.

Syracuse, North Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio State, and Michigan. For me, my mother was instrumental in terms of making sure that I thought outside the box. She’s a teacher, phenomenal education background. So, she had me thinking, okay, let’s get past the football piece.

If anything happens to you, where do you want to spend your next four or five years? Where do you want to walk around the streets or walk around the school or interact with people? What weather do you want to deal with? Which Michigan overcame the weather because my recruiting Tripp Welborne I want to say the wind chill was 40 below.

Yeah, exactly. But you know, she made me think about those things, the education piece, the school outside of sports, and with also the fact that was a stickler. He didn’t let you just do anything you wanted. You know that.

But at the same time, him being open to me participating in track after my freshman year during the spring, that was huge. So all that fell into place. But Jerry Meter, Jamie, and I always bragged that I don’t know how, but I got Bo and Jack Harvey to come to my house. Once they came and met my mom and dad, it was a lock in.

I do tell one funny story in terms of my father who like you said it was kind of heated in terms of recruiting and a lot of people in terms of alumni and stuff in Syracuse were like we can make it worth his while to come here. I’m not saying they were doing anything illegal but just trying to get me interested. Yeah. And I told dad no he’s like are you crazy?

They want to pick you up in a helicopter and take you to meet Cuomo and all this. I’m like I want to go to Michigan. And so we get home and mom before he says a word, she goes, “Stop.” Because one of the things they mentioned was, “You come here, your mom might have a great opportunity to get a masters here. That’d be awesome.” And I kid you not.

And she goes, “I’m my own person. I’ll get my masters when I want to. You go to school where you want to.” Okay. And my dad was like, “But she was like, “But my behind.” This is this is where it ends.

Wow. So, she gave me that freedom to be where I wanted to. And honestly, to dad’s credit, I mean, after the second game we played Notre Dame home, he told me you picked the right place. You really did.

So, it was a it was a great experience. That’s great. That’s great on your mom. I like that idea of saying, “Hey, if something were to happen to you, Yeah.

People don’t really think of it that I think people think about, you know, what are the academics like in addition to the football, not if something happens to you in your first year, where would you want to be without football? Exactly. For the next few years after that, that’s very thoughtful way of looking at it. I like that.

Yeah. She gave me she that gave me the freedom to really open up and see what I really liked. I mean, and to add to it, you know, Tennessee at the time was recruiting me. Track coaches love the fact that they had that football track vibe at Tennessee.

Yeah. But at the same time, there were some academic things in terms of probation that Tennessee was going through. After the visit, you find that out and okay, well, they’re off the list. It was really being open to everything outside of football.

It really helped. Now, were you on the track team at Michigan? Were you shot putting when I was there still? Yes.

So my first year I didn’t do spring. The agreement that we had with Bo and Barb and everything. Bo mentioned he goes, “Hey, coming out of freshman year, you got to do spring. You need that spring, right?

You need that spring. Want to get established on the team and where you fall, but after that you can go to track.” So my second year I did spring and summer track. My third year football. I had a shoulder injury.

Remember I tore my pectorator. I was playing in a harness. It happened right before Notre Dame. Yeah.

So with that, I didn’t do spring. Tried track but didn’t feel correct. And from that point on, it was just football. Okay.

That’s what I thought cuz I didn’t remember you being on the track team cuz I got there in 88 and I Right. Right. Okay. Yeah.

87 is when I tore it and so I played in the harness and then from then on I played with track to see if I could get it back to where but it was just wasn’t the same. And how was that? How was competing in track and field at Michigan? What was that like for you?

I didn’t I don’t amazing. I’m at track meets. I’m with world-class sprinters. I’m one of the goals that unfortunately I was able to reach but I mean one of my goals was I’d had always been to reach the Olympics if I could.

And the one thing that track gave me was the aspect of being able to focus on the smallest things to adjust, increase, and improve. It’s the matter of the right angle in terms of your throw, the positioning of feet. It helped me to focus on terms of getting better individually where Michigan men in terms of the team and football and bow. That was just that binding together that was really the greatest part of the whole Tripp Welborne.

Yeah. Well, we could get into a whole another conversation about this, but just in terms of being multisport, I mean, so many kids today specialize and the idea of that speed to power across that circle with a shot put. Those are the types of using your muscle groups in slightly different ways, but that still apply to the football field. Being able to get across that circle and launch that shot put like that’s something that I got to believe in your training just helped you use those different muscle groups in that explosive way playing linebacker.

Oh, absolutely. The understanding of knowing where you put your feet in terms of the shot put. The torque of your body knowing that the legs are going to explode you through but yet you know being able to follow through with that arm and as you have it swung out wide straight bringing it tight. So that centrifugal pull pulls that other side quickly to the front.

All those things really help you approach lineman in a different way. Yeah. Being to explode in terms of taking the ball, being able to change directions. Those little details help me in terms of studying sports as well, looking for different things.

Yeah, your coach and I’m maybe jumping around a little bit, but your coach Bobby Morrison, you remember with the we put a whole defense in on the position of a guy’s foot versus Wisconsin. I mean, just those little things really helped me and then to understand the things that he was teaching us in those days. So, he was really meticulous about Oh, man. Different techniques where you had to work two yards up field and two yards over.

Like this technique was 2 by two an alley technique. This technique was working 3×3. It was like so much so much to think about. I know.

Crazy stuff. So, all right. You talk a little bit about how you were able to use that to come up and punch a guard coming out to block you as an inside linebacker. Talk to me about when you got there your first fall.

First of all, did you have a welcome to Michigan moment where you were like, “Oh my goodness, this is real.” Like you might be in for something that you might not have realized you were in for. Did you have that kind of moment or did you really kind of hold your own from the get cuz there were a couple of starters that were guards that were only a year ahead of you like John Vitale and Mike Husar and then you had other guys like Hammerstein and Tabachino playing in the interior line who were grown men and you know you’re true freshman having to play against guys like that. Not that Vi and H were slouches even. So, what was that like when you first had to go up, you know, maybe on the demo going against those guys as a freshman?

Talk to me. Yeah, I’m ready for this question. All right. Talk to him.

It’s a It’s a two-part answer. So, here’s the thing. When I first come up to them the big house, you know, that first week you’re getting there. This is when my dad’s bringing me up.

Okay. So, I’m looking and the first thing you do, you’re always looking. You’re sizing up people. Okay.

What do they look like? All right. So I get to the stadium. I’m looking there and I’m just like a dad’s with me.

He’s like, “Wow, this is awesome.” First person I meet, a recruit from my class, guy by the name of Mike Jones. Now, if you remember, Mike played tight end, but he was recruited as a quarterback. Mike was 6’4 and he came in that summer probably around 280. And I’m sitting here and I’m like, this is a quarterback.

And so it made me think, okay, what the heck did I get myself into? And the next person was Mike Reinhold, which I think Mike Reinhold started as a linebacker and moved to D-line.. So I’m looking at this large size of these positions. I’m like, “What the hops?

I don’t know if I’m in the right spot.” Yeah. So when we get started, everything’s good. I was like, “Okay, I’m settled in. I can’t remember what g what practice it was, but the person who said hello and welcomed me for the first time, remember Jack Walker?

I don’t I didn’t know him. I know the name. Okay. Okay.

Jack Walker was offensive lineman the probably maybe two years before me. So, we’re doing seven-on-seven scrimmage, you know, front line. And he gets a I think it was a reach block. He stepped back and then came at me.

And I don’t know what I thought I was doing, but I said, “I got him.” I stepped into it and he nailed me and drove me back. Put me on my butt. It was the most. It was like, wow.

I mean, you know, short of wanting to say that was impressive, I was also mad at myself, like, what the hell? So, I get back in the huddle. Lloyd walks up to the hutter. Lloyd goes, “You all right, Grant?” And I just nodded.

I ain’t say a word. And I got through that practice and that caught me right then. It let me know that we don’t nobody care about Parade All American or M New York. No, we don’t care about that.

And it woke me up. So that was Yeah, that was my first. That’ll do it. That’ll do it, man.

You know, you’re not the big dog anymore when you show up there, boy. No. Yeah. Not at all.

Yeah. Everybody’s got a moment like that. Just about everybody. There’s one or two unicorns come along here and there who the moment they step on campus, they’re the man, but that’s rare.

That is rare. Yeah. No, that’s great. Okay.

Oh, and also tell me about this. Do you remember your first workout with Mike Gittleson? Oh, I can’t remember exactly the first, but I know one where, excuse me, Mike, let’s put it this way. Mike had a unique way of getting us in shape, didn’t he?

Unique word. I tell I tell many of people that I’ve met and they ask questions. I said, “Mike,” I said, “The biggest the biggest thing in terms of our conditioning was we were ready to go no matter what, no matter how long.” We I said, “We would go on tour during the summers.” And they were like, “What do you mean on tour?” Like we would run through the city and you would swear we would just We were on tour. We’d stop somewhere, do about 100 push-ups.

Push-ups. Yeah. And it had to be perfect, you know. It ended up being a hundred only because he asked for 10, but somebody couldn’t make it to 10.

We had to start over. But yeah, I talk about those finally to people. I remember one workout where we did Wrestlemania. Wrestle Tagamania.

Tagamania. Yes. Oh man, somebody I can’t remember who it was. Somebody tore my behind up.

They had me on a leg press for like a 100 reps. It was a It was like body weight. Wasn’t anything drastic, but I was wore out, man. I was walking funny for about two days.

But just the intensity that Mike brought to Yeah. Just the realization of, you know, we want to go that extra step. Fourth quarter, I don’t care what they got, what where they’re doing, how big they are, how strong they are, they can’t keep going. That’s right.

And there was always that feeling about our team. There’s always that feeling about our condition. You know, some of the greatest photos I got is from one of those workouts. That’s right.

We go on tour and take pictures by the rock and all that stuff. Yeah, that’s Mike Gittleson is amazing. He was way ahead of his time. And people always asked me, “Well, how much did you bench?” I said, “I have no clue what I benched in college.” Never maxed.

Exa Exactly. I never maxed. And they would say, “No, no, no, no.” I said, “There’s only one person I remember that maxed and there’s a guy by the name of Bob Tabachino and he would do it on his own.” Basically, it wasn’t like it was mandatory. He just had a chest the size of a barrel.

Yep. You know, and would push it out. But I said, I never max. I said my greatest strengths were, you know, when we had to roll up a 25 lb plate on a PVC pipe with rope and hold it up still and, you know, just the whole nine.

I mean, Mike pulled out all the stops and it was always amazing. Yep. All fat bar curls, negative opinions, Coach Buddy. Did Coach Buddy show up while you were still there?

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.

Crazy stuff. I want to get into a little bit about those seasons and getting into when you start playing and everything, but the other thing I also have to clear up and this came up. So, we’ve got another show on Hail Media called Blue Bloodlines, and it’s where we have multiple generations of guys who played. So we had Tony Gant who you played with for two seasons I believe and his son Allan who played at Michigan as well.

So they’re on asking each other questions talking about their experiences and one of the things Allan said is that there were people in the building. He mentioned Schmidy talking about always calling him Grant and would never call him Gant. Couldn’t get his name right. And Tony said, “Well, that came from when they called me Grant because of Mudcat Grant.” Because Mudcat Grant was one of Bo’s favorite pitchers who pitched for years and years and was I think the first African-American pitcher to pitch in the World Series.

Like the guy had an incredible career. And there was like a picture of Bo with Budcat Grant. So Bo used to call Tony Mudcat Grant even though he was Tony Gant and I never knew that because Tony played with my brother Jeff. I just knew that you were Mudcat.

Mudcat Grant. So the question to me is was Bo calling you Mudcat. Did you become Mudcat when Tony left? Cuz Tony was over there with you for two years.

Like I always knew you were Mudcat Grant, but I didn’t know that Tony Gant was also Mudcat Grant. Clear that up for us if you would. So I’m not I didn’t realize he called Tony Gant that. That’s hilarious.

But what happened with me the day I came up to report my dad’s behind it. My dad’s name is James Graham. I’m James Joseph. I’m J.J..

Right. I walk in. Boy tells Bo, “Hey, Grant’s here.” He steps his head, he sticks his head out his office and starts to walk toward me, and he goes, “Mudcat Grant, I’m 17.” I’m like, “Who in the world is he talking to?” I look over my shoulder, look at my dad, and my dad’s laughing like crazy, and I’m like, “Who’s that?” And he’s and he gives, you know, he gives a rundown. You know, Bonu is baseball.

Yeah. One of them down, you know, great picture, so and so stats, erra, bam. I’m like, okay, I play football though, coach. You know, that’s where I’m at.

So, I’m thinking it’s a one-time lad. So, then we go through my folks leave, we start practice, we get to pitcher day. Yeah. And in pitcher day, Bo calls me out.

I need James Mudcat Grant right there. And he points where he wants to get a newspaper laughing the paper reporters. I’m looking. So I go up and get over and it’s stuck ever since.

Man, it is stuck ever since. That is great. Anytime I see anybody from Michigan here, the first thing they see, Mudcat, what’s happening? Always Mudcat to me.

And I never knew why. I never knew why until those guys brought it up on that podcast. I’m like, what? That’s great.

I was I was born away. My father My father My father was cracking up so hard it was ridiculous. That’s classic. So 1985 true freshman team goes 10-1-1 finishes up number two ranked in the country and I also wanted to ask you about so once again another question before we get into when you start playing.

We’ll get to all of that. But Mike Mallory and Andy Moeller were the starting inside linebackers. So the upperclassmen mean a lot to you when you come in as a freshman. And I would guess that those guys being the sons of coaches probably took you under their wing and taught you a lot as a freshman being the senior starters on that team.

Absolutely. And both of them extreme tacticians. And I mean that in the sense of how they studied, what they expected to see on the field, and how they approached it. Those guys taught me what it meant to you know, study film and then know where your other teammates were supposed to be in reference to you so you could attack and take your responsibility.

I never felt like anytime I saw them make a play, it was out of the realm of the defense. Yeah. It was they made a read, they went to that read, they saw something, they stuck to it and went to it quickly. And that really taught me in terms of you can make plays within a defense.

It’s just a matter of learning your process, learning your where your teammates are, your responsibility, and feeling comfortable enough to aggressively take that approach. Those two were amazing. U as well as the I got I got to mention Andree McIntyre. Andree the law was a huge part of that process for me of that learning process.

Yeah. And just keeping it real. I mean, as far as those linebackers, those three guys were amazing. They really were.

And I had and as well as you, I mean, I had some great teammates that were there to help. We communicated well. We had good groups. We had intelligent groups.

Yeah. That knew football. And so that makes a big difference. No doubt about it.

Getting taught how to play within the framework of the defense on the field and within the framework of a team just culturally. I think we had that in spades, I think, from day one that I noticed from when I got there. And for me, it was you guys, you know, that were the upperclassmen that kept that going. You and Dwalk being the captains my sophomore year and then Vitale Mesner my freshman year.

You know, we had we had guys that led by example. We had we had leaders in the locker room and that’s why we won. We get to your redshirt freshman year, 1986, 11-2, Big Ten champion. So, you get your first ring, right?

Yep. Yep. And you start getting some playing time, right? A lot of special teams.

Did you play a lot of linebacker that season? Not an absorbent amount. No. Okay.

A lot of special teams. I got in late in games. A couple situations where it was looking like I might have to play immediately. At that point it was like with Mike Mallory having the hamstring issues that he had, Andy Moeller and Andree were the starting inside.

The Schulte brothers, along with Scarcelli and Steve Thibert. Also Dieter Heren, those guys were outside, but inside were kind of thin. So I was always at that second tier that I might have to play. There was a couple games that I got in.

Iowa I think was one of them, Wisconsin, a couple other games where I was starting to get some more playing time, starting to develop and feel comfortable with things. And so they gave me some opportunities to, you know, to go out there and show myself. So yeah, it was it was a solid year. It was a learn good learning experience.

It stepped me up good for the next year. That’s pretty cool. Well, and you got a chance to beat Ohio State. You got to play in that game.

Get your first taste of that. And then you got to play at Hawaii, which was pretty cool. Now, that was amazing. Yeah.

Anytime you get to go to Paradise, you know, for nine days, if you want to see the hardest week of practice, you should have seen that week before to see who could make the travel squad. People were trying to be impressive as hell that week. Oh, just cuz everybody wanted to be able to go. Exactly.

Since it was a regular game, you know, you travel squad was only 60 people officially. And Bo, although some people went, he Bo was a stickler. He kept to the rules. So, yeah, the intensity ramped up for that.

Yeah. I didn’t even think about that. And for non-conference games or for Hawaii, they didn’t expand the travel roster. They weren’t allowed to.

If it was expanded, it wasn’t full expansion. I want to say it was seven to nine days we were there. Wow. Cuz it was the last game.

We didn’t go. And that was a good Hawaii team, right? Wasn’t that the NOA brothers? I want to say it was.

Yeah, they had a good squad. Niko Noga and if it’s the if it’s was the game I remember I think Monte Robbins kicked the longest punt in history of Michigan like 82 yards or something. Currentman down on the one-yard line or something like that. But yeah, it was it was a good athletic team that we played.

But yeah, the seven-on-seven and the front line and yeah, that was intense that way. I bet. I bet. And then you get to go to the Rose Bowl.

Didn’t win that Rose Bowl. Probably should have won that Rose Bowl, but I’m sure that Tripp Welborne was probably pretty special, too. First time out there. Oh, amazing.

First Tripp Welborne to see the Rose Bowl. That aspect of the Rose Bowl stadium sunset towards the end of the game. There’s nothing like it. So, but yeah, we felt as though we should have won that game.

U we had the ability to, but Arizona came out on top. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Arizona State. Arizona State. Yeah. Right.

Right. Hey Michigan fans, we will be right back. But first, a word from our sponsor. For generations, Knight’s Steakhouse has been an Ann Arbor tradition.

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Great food, strong drinks. Ann Arbor tradition. All right. So, third year 87.

That was the year before I got there. And I know there were a lot of injuries at inside linebacker. A lot of guys rotating in and out of there. I know you got a chance to start several games.

I know Neil Simpson was playing some inside backer before they moved him to outside. Like there was a lot of guys that kind of got forced into action and that was an interesting season. We didn’t win the Big Ten championship, but we finished strong in that Hall of Fame Bowl that we broke down. Talk about that season for you.

And also, I’m going to throw in something that I remember hearing about how early on for you when you started playing a lot that you got coached hard that like you had some times where coaches were really on your case. When they always say like it’s the day that the coaches stop yelling at you that you’re supposed to worry, they were coaching you hard cuz they expected and eventually got big things out of you. But was that a tough was that a struggle at that time? Cuz I think you got you got hammered from what I heard.

It’s it was a tough period. It was a tough period as well as it was a mental challenge. It really was. That season we lost to I think it was Notre Dame, Indiana, Michigan State, and Ohio State that year.

But for the aspect of the opportunity to play that if I remember correctly that was the year that I tore my pectoral that was going into the Notre Dame game. It was a tear that I was asked do I want to have surgery or play with a harness? You know young guy in his prime he feels like put the harness on. I want to play right and I did.

But I didn’t that step of going right to where Andy Moeller and Mike Mallory were in terms of the calls and everything. I did okay, but I wasn’t quite there. Yeah, I was. And so you know I got coached hard during that period.

It was first year that coach Carr if I remember correctly was the defensive coordinator at that time and we were in a position where you know Mo was gone, Mike Mallory gone, Andree McIntyre, if I remember correctly was gone as well. We were a young group. We went through some growing pains. Neil Simpson played some.

He had injuries. We had Keith Cooper from Detroit. He played some inside. We had a bunch of guys that went through it.

And I was in there as well, but I think Right. The Michigan State game was my gut check. That first half was brutal for me. I did not play up to my potential or my expectations or my hopes whatsoever.

The second half I played better, but on film it didn’t look good at all. And you know Bo doesn’t pull any punches. Yeah. And he let me know.

And there was the first time that I felt like guys on my team were wondering if I was okay. Even I remember Mark Messner giving me a look like, you know, hey, we got your back. We know you can play. Just lock it down.

But he asked me point blank, you need to look in the mirror and decide if you want to be here or not. And we went through that rotation of players. I’ve played I started some, sometimes I didn’t. I went back in and towards the end of the season, you know, I had a good Hall of Fame game.

Yeah. And, from then on it, things steadied out. But yeah, I had to, I got coached hard. Carr coached me hard.

Herrmann coached me hard, although Herrmann would talk to me a lot more than most. Carr would talk to me, but it just felt as though I was trying really hard and sometimes getting in my own way. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Well, that’s a tough that’s a that’s a gut check, man. When you get that question when they when they when they sit you down point blank and say you got to decide if you want to be here, that’s a tough that’s tough. Oh, yeah. It is truly the you feel like you’re on the top heel of that roller coaster right before it goes down.

Okay. I’m starting on University of Michigan Big Ten football playing at a brutal game. My head coach legendary says you can decide if you want to be here. And there’s a lot of things going through your head at 19, you know, 18 19 years old questioning yourself.

And so it was it was a tough period. It was my parents just told me to you stick with it, focus on your studies and focus on take care of yourself. Just be the best representative that you can of yourself and put it on the line. So that year was a rough year.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean, and listen, that’s the type of stuff when you go through that those are the things that only guys that have been there and gone through it know what that’s like to go through it. And you know, you got Monday morning quarterbacks, you got armchair quarterbacks, you got people in the stands yelling, booing, talking trash about you, and people don’t get it.

But when your teammates get it, especially when you’re at that time and your teammates are the ones that are picking you up, man, they got your back. Listen, you came through it, you finished strong that season, and you definitely took that momentum into the following season cuz like I said, I had heard some of those things. I didn’t see it cuz when I got there as a freshman in ’88, I didn’t look at you as anything but a guy who was a confident, really good player, leader on that team. Like there was no question in my mind.

So the fact that you came through the way you did and you had two really strong seasons to go where you accomplished a lot. That’s when Jim Herrmann takes over as the full-time inside linebacker coach, right? Yeah, Carr is strictly doing defensive coordinator work at that point. Yeah.

And Herrmann is Herrmann’s got us full time, right? I mean, he did most of the time the year before, but he was full-time inside linebacker coach. Yeah, that was a magical season, that ’88 season. Now, it wasn’t all magical for you because you ended up getting hurt.

And I remember your injury in a way that most people probably wouldn’t because that Minnesota game when you went down, that had to be one of the worst weather games. If you were there, you know it was it was it started late and it got dark and it was raining and it was like it was probably like 40° and raining and it was miserable. Yeah. And when you got hurt as a true freshman, I didn’t know.

I g I gave up my coat. You know, they had those huge coats that we would wear over our shoulder pads. And I gave mine up so you could have one to wear when you came out of the game. And I was freezing my I, you know, I went back.

They got all the games on the Bentley online now. You can go back. And so, and you know, as I was kind of preparing for this, I went back and I looked at that game and there I am. Everybody’s in coach except for me.

And I’m like, there I am freezing my ass off cuz I gave my coat up for J.J.. I greatly, greatly, greatly appreciated. I’m telling you. I mean, what was that was a fantastic season and a fantastic team other than your injury for you that sucked.

But we shouldn’t have lost a game that season. And we started off with those two just ridiculous heartbreakers. And when we got down the stretch and you had that injury in that Minnesota game, like what was what was that like for you? And how did you feel your season was going up to that point and the rehab?

Like talk about that season. That season was a huge season for me in a sense of mentally I finally felt is after the Notre Dame game and you know those two losses at the beginning of the season I never felt more in tune mentally in terms of play and how we lost those games. I still can’t look back and say there’s no way. Yeah.

And for those listening, we lost by two points to Notre Dame and one point to Miami. And they were one and I mean ended up being one and two in the country. We and we had opportunities. Mike Gillette is a phenomenal kicker.

Yeah. But unfortunately he missed that field goal at the end of the game in Notre Dame and Miami. I blame it on all of us because we even the coaches because we went we went prevent and took the physicality out of the Miami game and we were hammering and should have won both of those games. But at no point did I feel more confident in terms of how I was playing and what I was seeing and believing in it in those first two games.

And going through that season, felt strong, felt mentally sharp, and felt like, you know, making calls, making checks, reading the offenses was a piece of cake at that. The m the Minnesota game for me, it was just a rotten break. I even remember, I want to say that I was the play was an outside play. I was engaged with either a guard or attacker going to the outside.

And at that time, the running back tips me, but he tips me low and hits my leg and I tear my ACL. And I remember being on the field custody at the referees like this illegal play. He can’t hit me while I’m engaged. And I’m just living about it.

But it was the odd thing about it was I remember my dad telling me that it was the first it was the first game he wasn’t able to be at and mom weren’t there. They had been at everything else and they got a call from a friend of mine who I grew up with. Somehow they were able to watch the game. Mom and dad weren’t able to see it live because the Minnesota game wasn’t as a televised game and let them know that I got injured..

But I just remember that it was a, like you said, it was a dark, cold, wet day. I mean, there, and don’t get me wrong, yes, there was colder days, but it just was emphasized by the mere fact of how dark and wet. Yes. And cold all together.

Yes. And, you know, adding to it a little bit of wind in Michigan and voila, you got you got horrible weather. Offense. But that was that was a rough spot for me that Minnesota game.

I always felt like if u I would have been able to stay healthy with that I felt like athletically my life may have turned different in terms of you know getting a shot at the next level or something like that. It was heartbreaking and it was a bummer but it taught me a lot about myself. It did cuz you know I had to get back for that next year. Yeah, I didn’t get to play in the Ohio State game that year.

And I watched that, you know, guys were battling at the same time. That second half of that game, we were strong, you know, and you wish you could be there to help and I just couldn’t. So, but yeah, won the Rose Bowl against USC. That was amazing.

But again, that was a piece that I wasn’t there for. So, you know, it’s a what if section once again you came back from that, too. You were ready to roll because you were elected captain the following season. And to me, I think most of us would agree that’s one of the biggest honors that you can have as a Michigan Wolverine is to get elected captain by your teammates.

Talk about that. When you found out that you were elected captain, well, found out through Bo. The funny thing about it is my dad knew before me. Oh, is that right?

Yeah. They called my father and told him hopefully he handles things well this year and he told him I was going to be captain and knowing how my father was, he responded just like I thought he would. But he was excited but he also was because you know don’t worry I’mma stay on his behind coach. We’re going to get it right this year.

And he did he was he was very enthusiastic and let’s say vocal that year. Yeah. But when both you know when I found out I was I was humbled but ready to go put in a hard off season of rehab. It was the first time that I felt like I was doing things in my rehab outside of my rehab.

What I mean by, okay, yeah, they had my responsibilities of these leg lifts, etc., Etc., But I’d go home at night and there were times where I go out for a soft jog. You know, I remember running up State Street to the union, things of that nature, just trying to do everything I can to get ready. It paid off. It did really paid off.

You know, with everything from the voting of being a captain to how play went. I kind of started off a little rough rust, little tentative. Everyone’s tentative when they have that major injury and they’ve got to trust the limb. Yeah.

But I felt like I got back into it fairly quickly and I ended up having my best game against Michigan State. It’s on my list to talk about. I felt I truly felt like I was back at that point. I didn’t realize it for some time cuz unfortunately I got hurt in that game.

But, you know, I look back on my stats and everything. It was a it was a great game for me. I got CBS played the game and we won. It was the greatest game I played I think as a Michigan player in terms of just stats and doing what I was supposed to do helping lead the team.

Had a goal-line stand during the game. I’m able to get a interception. Should have had two, but it was an odd freak of nature play that took me out in terms of fourth and one. And as a linebacker, you know, you just want to get low and get into it.

And all I did was step towards the pile. The whole pile came back to my knee and it’s a frustrating moment. You know, it’s funny. I don’t I don’t even remember you getting hurt in that game.

And you talk about redemption from the last time you were up in East Lansing to have had such a rough go to come back and have that game there your fifth year. For me, that’s one of the games that I’ll never forget in terms of the time that I was there when a dude just went off. A lot of players have had those types of moments. I don’t know if yours has the legendary status that it should cuz you know people will talk about Tshimanga Biakabutuka going for 313 yards against Ohio State and I know that’s special and I know that’s Ohio State and I know it’s 313 yards so I get it.

Yeah. But J.J. Grant against Michigan State in East Lansing in ’89. They still had a pretty good team at that time.

They had the all-American inside linebacker Percy Snow. Y and you showed him up that day for a long and Tripp Welborne played a wonderful game. He’s a good football player. He’s a good football player.

And here’s J.J. Grant with a great interception. J.J. played a tremendous game out there Saturday and unfortunately I’m afraid it might have been a costly game for us. We may lose him for a while and u and that’ll hurt our defense.

There was no doubt who the best linebacker on the field was that day and it was not Percy Snow. It was J.J. Grant. So for me, that’s one of those legendary performances that we still talk about and I’ll never forget.

So I definitely wanted to get your take and I don’t remember you getting hurt. I don’t even remember you getting injured in that game. Well, and that’s funny thing about it. It was it was fourth and one late in the game.

Two plays previously before that. I had a second chance at an interception which I missed. That’s my pass breakups. Say hey.

Hey. Yeah. Right. But I had a chance for an interception.

Got through my hands. They got fourth and one. The power comes back on my knee. Probably like two minutes left in the game maybe.

But where I was mentally during that game was place I hadn’t never gone to. I remember Tripp Welborne saying tell telling the story about the goal-line stand of that game and that play I’m pointing I’m telling him we got a iso here is iceo here I’m yelling at him I said I got the fullback here and he was on my left if I remember correctly on my left hand side and I take on the fullback he nails Blake e I think it was Blake Ezor yep the running back and we stopped him on that goal line but everything was just so clear I was I felt like I could you know go under block if they were getting down in front of me. For people who don’t know the word underblock was they get out in front of you, you go underneath them and keep lateral. I could go under, I could go over.

I was just reading things so clearly. Yeah, I felt like it. So ball came back congratulated me on the game, checked on me in terms of how I was doing. I got player of the game.

Just everything worked out perfectly for that game. Yep. That’s awesome. And then you the last two minutes.

What’s in the last two minutes? Well, hey, I think maybe it was worth it. You would sacrifice probably those last two minutes for the game that you had and to get that win up there at this point. Absolutely.

Right. I mean, easy for me to say I’m not the one that got hurt, but No, no, no. And when you mentioned the fact of the previous game where things came into question in terms of my ability, in terms of my just manhood, in terms of, you know, do I deserve to be here with when we lost to Michigan State, Lorenzo White, amazing running back for them. I think he had like 120 yards of first half.

Yeah. Yeah. And to come from that to this game with a goal line stance and interception and all of that. Yeah, it was full circle in that aspect of it.

So, I would definitely take it again. You know, maybe I call-timeout, right? You know, then again, Bo would have probably took me out at that point and I wouldn’t the field again if I called. Right.

That’s right. Well, absolutely, man. You deserve to have that moment and then you got a chance to get a full-blown starting playing in the game win against Ohio State which must have been really satisfying because at that point personally just as a member of the team you were 3-1 against Ohio State but you didn’t get to you know you played in a loss you played a little bit special teams in the first win and then you got hurt before you got a chance to play him in 88 so this was your opportunity to start against Ohio State get a win against Ohio state playing the whole game. Yeah, that must have been pretty cool.

That was cool. It was It was amazing feeling. And for it to be the last regular season Michigan game playing in the Big House, the game televised. Keith Jackson calling plays.

It’s an amazing feeling to be in that spot. And we played well. We got the win. I had a chance at the end of the game to make it interception.

I still didn’t. I got my you know I was worried about raising my past breakups so that I would stay on but it was an amazing feeling and it was one that felt a lot of times you come into you come into a game on the road you’ve come in locked arm and arm that game felt like arm-in-arm as the last one and just realizing that we made it through we’re going to the Rose Bowl and we’ve had a successful season not knowing up to that point that would be the last game that Bulls should be coached. I know still shocks me to this day because there was never a sign of oh you should be coach or anything of that nature. There wasn’t a weakness in terms of his strategy in terms of his intelligence in terms of his approach to the game whatsoever.

I agree. So when that decision was made it was shocking. I agree. His last two teams were two of his best.

Yeah. Yes. There’s no doubt in my mind we were we were loaded. We were rolling.

Couple of little breaks didn’t go our way, but those two teams were great teams. I’m sure you remember that meeting at Crisler. Yeah. The odd thing about I do remember the meeting, but I went numb after he said it.

Yeah. Because at that point, it’s like he said it and then it’s really had you start thinking things are coming to an end and it’s it really put an end to things. And so for me it was wow. This is it.

I’ll never forget you know Bo I’m always thankful for everything that he has done for me just the aspect of being able to say that I was a captain under him is probably one of if not the one of my greatest athletic accomplishments. Absolutely. Again it would have been nicer to send Bo out with a win in that Rose Bowl. We should have won that.

It’s another game we should have won. I want to say it’s still a good Tripp Welborne when you lose the game, but going to the Rose Bowl is a great thing regardless. Oh yeah, absolutely. And you know, Bo is in his element when he is at the Rose Bowl coaching, but also directing the press just interacting with everyone.

Yeah, he’s amazing in that in that realm. So, the fact that, like you said, those two years, we went back to back. We were undefeated in conference. The only losses that we had think about it number one and number two ranked teams in the country a tie to Iowa.

Yep. And then a loss to USC in the Rose Bowl. Yep. And a bad two years.

Say what you want about whether or not it’s, you know, making excuses. You don’t want to make excuses, but that ’89 season, Notre Dame had a two-week jump on us. They scheduled a kickoff classic game against Virginia that was two weeks before our opener and then we lost our quarterback first series of the second half. Yeah, we still should have two kickoff returns is what they beat us on.

Two plays. Yes, we And to that point, we were dominating them defensively. Their offense, there was no on Yeah, they scored two touchdowns on kickoffs, but outside of that, there was no there was no offense going for them that year. We were loaded.

We had a solid squad. We really did. Yeah, we did. So after that, so you finish, you graduate.

What do you do? Cuz listen, with football alumni of Michigan, like with FAM, a lot of what we talk about with a lot of guys when they’re done and you’re no longer a football player, which has been your identity for so long. What do those immediate years look like for you coming out? Did you did you try to pursue it any further?

Tell our audience what your initial time was when you finished up and then you’ve got a couple of great kids, you’ve got great family, great wife, you’re living down in Cincinnati now. Like talk about that. So coming out of Michigan, everybody thinks about that opportunity. I think God gave me a quick glimpse of okay, this is might be the last football.

I was hesitant to work out for somebody. Then I did and I pulled my quad running on 40 and that was like weeks after the Rose Bowl. So then I go home. I had one class I had to come back to finish up.

So I go home, got in great shape just by, you know, working out consistently, eating right, and I was also working a job that was working my behind. Was working at UPS unloading trucks and I found myself I’m in pretty good shape. Come back even asked me you want me to get you in a camp or anything? I’m like I thought about it didn’t really pursue it because it was late.

I mean different camps had already started and stuff and by the time I thought about it again a year later I wasn’t ready. It was just a matter of timing for me. Not to say that I have made a team or anything, but I just felt it was just a timing thing for me mentally and my body as well. So, you move on.

I pursue radio and TV a little bit. I’m trying to stay close to the game. Worked with Doug Karsch for a while in terms of WTKA, working from there, and then also worked shortly with Rob Parker and those guys at the ESPN in Detroit. So I pursued it, ended up having a wonderful son.

So I was like, you know what? I need real money and real job. And that put you on your course in terms of, you know, your 9-to-5. I have a son, Derek, who is doing wonderful down in Atlanta.

He’s a head bartender and a chop house, great steakhouse down in Atlanta. Does wonderful job there. And then my daughter Jamie is doing great things at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She’s about to be a senior or finishing up close to and so I’m just very proud of them.

Thrilled that they are doing well. I’m presently married in my second marriage. Wonderful woman by the name of Jacqueline Grim and she has been amazing helping me just get things in order in terms of work and life and loving life and loving the Lord and just being more intentional in terms of getting back to Michigan. So, u I did get to take her to a Michigan game.

We did win that game, so she’s a good luck charm. She’s allowed to come back. But overall it’s been a nice ride. I did the TV and radio went into warehouse management after that.

Work with Miller Kors and a couple other companies Nestle Perina then got into automated warehouse where putting in automated storage and retrieval systems. The robotic aspect. I’m kind of the bad guy, but the robotic aspect of warehousing and presently I’m a project manager for a company called Hi-Tech. We install those systems and do different programs and installations for everybody from Amazon to Home Depot and things of that nature.

But it’s been a solid ride. I’m having a great time. Looking forward to seeing some of the young Bucks this year that Michigan and just seeing you guys checking you out when we get up there. So, that would be great, man.

Absolutely. Still winning, man. You’re still winning. Trying to trying to.

I had no doubts, man. It’s great stuff. I’m going to get your take on what you’ve seen so far from Coach Whittingham and what your expectations are for the team coming up. Let’s talk about that for a minute before we go into the speed round.

What do you What do you like? What do you see? I like the approach he’s taken in terms of moving forward with this program. I really do.

He’s always been, at least from the outside looking in when he was at Utah and everything, a guy who wanted tough, hard-nosed, physical football players. His Utah teams were able to run the ball. They took that approach. They attacked people.

And I feel as though he’s bringing that to Michigan, bringing it back into form. I mean, you know as well as I do, anytime that we had Ohio State and struggled is when it became an athletic game, a soft outside game. But anytime they even attempted to be physical with us, to be in the trenches whatsoever, we’ve been extremely successful against them. And I think that we bring that back this year with the way that coach Whittingham has approached it.

I think everybody has a wonder in terms of how the line’s going to fill out in terms of the young guys. But we’ve got an amazing running back in Jordan Marshall. Hard-nosed, he’s a true Michigan man from Cincinnati. We’ve got an outstanding young man at quarterback.

Andrew Marsh is a phenom at wide receiver. So, we’ve got some tools, some abilities that those guys bring to the table that can be dangerous for teams. Yeah. And I think that our defense is extremely athletic.

I’m always watching to see who’s 95 and if I remember I think it’s Pierce. Yeah, Trey Pierce. Yeah. So, you know, I’m always being who’s got 95 on.

I got to check that. I think we got a solid defense. I think we can do some things. It’s just a matter of how they feel about themselves.

Really, it really is. This is a season of It could be special. It could be. I agree with you.

I think anybody that doesn’t think so is in for a surprise. Yeah. Absolutely. That’s what I think.

Speed round. Let’s do some quick hitters. So we got a receiver on the team this year. JJ Buchanan.

So J.J. McCarthy, JJ Buchanan, J.J. Grant. Rank the JJs.

Oh, wow. That’s a tough one on the first one, man. I got I gotta be biased, man. Come on.

I got to get I got to put Grant up there. I love it. I wouldn’t got to book I gota book Grant then I gotta go McCarthy. I haven’t seen the other J.J. yet myself so you know I got to go to I gota be a little biased.

I love it. I love it. Favorite place to eat in Ann Arbor. Oh Spots.

Spots. There you go. Okay. Yep.

Spot because it was anytime during the day. Don’t give me some wrong. There’s some amazing places. I can’t remember the breakfast spot closer to on the north side.

Oh yes. Closed. No, no longer there. Oh, they closed Angelos’s.

Yep. Yep. What about Blimpies? Blimpies is still there.

They moved it, but it’s still there. Yeah. Okay. Okay.

Love Blimpies, but spots had special any time of the day or night. Great call. Great call. Toughest class.

M I got rid of math class because of was it calculus? Yeah, I Yeah, I got I got out of that quickly. Expeditiously. There you go.

Out of that. I don’t blame you. Favorite class? Ojiwa.

Ojiwa. Oh, Jim. Okay. This and just so you know, this is the first time that I’ve been able to Anne Kazi.

Oh, what is your name? Oh, wow. Okay. So, J.J., so you did go to a class for Ojiu.

Hey, I was there. I was there. All right. All right.

Well done, man. Well done, J.J.. Okay. Did you have the same roommate all five years?

No, I had my freshman year was Jeff Brown. And then Anthony Mitchell from Smoke. Yeah, Smoke. So, those are my two.

And I had Derek Walker for like a summer. Okay. Summer school. But yeah, those are my roommates.

Who’s the funniest teammate? M we had a couple but if you remember we had it’s hard to pick one because we would do all hot off the presses during the summer coming in the season and man if everybody had all so many different types of just characters they would draw and things that we were cracking up five minutes before Bo coming in he was like what the hell’s going on in here young man crackers all right so I would lean towards Anthony was pretty up there. Yeah. But yeah, it was it was amazing.

I can’t pick out one. All right. Craziest teammate. Oo.

Craziest. Mike Jones was pretty crazy there for a minute. I never really looked at anybody as crazy. Okay.

We’re all We’re all a little crazy. I think we all crazy. Do what we did. We were all a little crazy.

That’s fine. Who’s the strongest guy? Strongest teammate. I think we already mentioned him.

Bob Tabachino. Yeah. Bob Tabachino. Yeah, he would he could bench press a car.

Yeah. Yep. Yep. Yep.

Last teammate you’d want to mess with? Oo, I had a couple of them through the years. So, Hammerstein, either one of them, him or his brother. Yep.

Yep. Tabby was strong as heck. I wouldn’t mess with him. Only because I knew them.

Like you know who’s sorry but at the same time I wouldn’t mess with right you know he’s a lovable teddy bear but at the same time I wouldn’t mess with I’ve seen what he done on the field I ain’t messing with that dude there you go so I would agree with that and I also I went back I was trying to figure out what year it was I determined that it was 1986 that you set the world record for the biggest neck roll in the history of football team pictures and I want to I want to know where you got that thing. And was it really a neck roll or was it like one of those swimming pool noodles that you just converted into I appreciate the fact that you were on a show where you have to be censored cuz I know what they used to call it. But and I always asked I still think back to what was Russ and Paul Schmidt thinking when they get this thing put this thing on my shoulders and seriously had me wear it. I have no clue where they got I’ve never seen another one like it.

I’ve never seen I’ve never seen one like it. Never. Bro, bro, I was I and I kid you not, when I was injured, being on those crutches, you get your arms strong and I felt like, okay, my arms are big. It was bigger than my arms cuz I was crutching and working out.

That thing was huge, man. I’d be here like this. I had to turn this way. Classic.

Classic. Classic, man. All right. Well, that’s all I got.

That was That’d be a good one to end it on. Classic one to end it on, man. One to end it on with J.J.. Listen, man.

Thanks a lot for doing this. I wanted to make sure you got your props. I want to make sure you got your flowers cuz to me, you were definitely a legend of the big house. You were my captain my sophomore year.

You were a great one, great teammate, great friend. And go blue, man. Thanks for joining, man. I appreciate you having me.

Hey, I love the fact of how hell media is spread and growing. You’re doing a phenomenal job, man. I greatly appreciate you. Keep up the good work and I hope to see you this season.

Absolutely. Thanks, buddy. Go Blue. All right.

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