Thursday, October 31, 2019

Michigan Halloween: Sad News and Class

2020 QB commit JD Johnson got some bad news this past week.  JD has a heart condition where he has to retire from football immediately.  Per ESPN: the heart issue is called coarctation of the aorta, which was diagnosed when Johnson was 12. He was scheduled to receive an expansion adjustment to the original stent, but upon evaluation doctors found complications. Johnson then learned that playing a contact sport could rupture his aorta or limit the blood to his brain.

After news like that JD had to make one of the toughest calls of his life to Coach Harbaugh and let him know his dream of playing QB for the Maize and Blue will never happen.  Coach could of done many things, like wish him good luck in college and hopes his condition gets better.   Coach didn't do that, he did the right thing.  He told JD that he still is going to a Michigan Man, that is scholarship is still valid, and that he can participate on Michigan's staff anyway possible so he still can still be close to football.    That is class folks and reason parents send their kids to Ann Arbor to be coached by Jim Harbaugh.   I'm very proud of Michigan's football program today.   Some days it's about wins and losses, other days its not.

  • With the above news Michigan has now offered 2020 4 Star QB CJ Stroud.  CJ was the MVP of the Elite 11 and is the top rated un-committed QB left in the class.  CJ's top schools right now are Ohio State, Oregon, Baylor, and UCLA.  Getting in late recruiting on a 4 star QB is  usually not a successful strategy.  Jimmy's always likes at least 1 QB in each class even though the QB room is currently full and a 5 star is coming in 2021.

Happy Halloween!  I love the kids that dress up as Jim Harbaugh, but this was one of the best Harbaugh costumes I could find on the internet! 


2 comments:

Voice of Reason said...

Bob,

One question, is this a medical scholarship as if a player can no longer play but can finish their education or is this a regular scholarship that counts against the 85? IMHO!!!

Thanks

Scott K said...

here is another example of why we struggle to compete with ohio state, alabama, etc, etc, etc....

This kid would have been dropped like a hot potato. "Damn, sorry for your luck young man. I wish you the best."

That's not how things are handled at Michigan. Austin Hatch, Grant Newsom and now JD Johnson, all handled with class, compassion and respect. Matt Falcon was still going to be on scholarship after Jim told him he wouldn't be playing football, he chose to go to WMU and play (which turned out poorly for him).

PROUD TO BE A MICHIGAN MAN!