Here you can see that Michigan Wolverines QB Devin Gardner met both Man United Assistant Manager Ryan Giggs and living legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Gardner also caught and threw passes with Los Blancos, and posed for a picture with Gareth Bale.
Real Madrid trains for match at The Big House; Devin Gardner strikes a pose with Ronaldo. https://t.co/ib8TYQ3Si0 pic.twitter.com/Dus0ipydMT
— theScore (@theScore) August 2, 2014
Last year Devin Gardner broke U-M single-game records for passing yards and total offense yards by piling up 503 and 584, respectively, in the 63-47 victory over Indiana last year. He finished the season 208-of-345 passing for 2,960 yards, the second-highest single-season total in U-M history, and 21 touchdowns and rushed 165 times for 483 yards and 11 touchdowns. In his career, Gardner is 301-of-504 passing for 4,440 yards and 34 touchdowns. He also has rushed for 658 yards and 20 touchdowns.
During the fall of 2009, he was rated as the No. 1 dual-threat high school quarterback in the United States by Rivals and the No. 5 quarterback by ESPNU. So has he lived up to the tremendous hype that accompanied him?
This year is his last chance.
“It all starts with Appalachian State. You never get a second opportunity to make a first impression,” said Robinson at Big Ten Media Day, sounding exactly like the famous Selsun Blue commercial.
Devin Gardner is not really overrated, unless you’re believing/espousing the Heisman non-sense. He is not underrated, unless you’re one of those crazed fans who rips Gardner all the time. Believe me, there are many. Simply put, Devin Gardner is just- rated.
After switching from quarterback to wide receiver at Michigan at the beginning of the 2012 season, Gardner switched back and took over for starting quarterback Denard Robinson after the latter injured his elbow. This year, the most high profile position in sports; at possibly the second most high profile college football program (Notre Dame is #1).
Michigan football means a lot to the Detroit area. The Wolverines are like another professional team. Located just 40 minutes away from downtown, and with the largest seating capacity in the entire United States, Michigan football is a big part of Motor City culture. Devin Gardner is the face of that college football program.
“You’re really being watched and you’re held to a higher standard than anyone else,” Gardner said about being QB1 in Ann Arbor.
Gardner became just the second quarterback in Michigan history to account for six touchdowns in a game, Steve Smith having accomplished the feat twice in 1981 and in 1983. And that’s saying something since Michigan has been playing football since the 1870s.
“You’re tough, you’re good at school, you do what you’re supposed to do. You don’t make dumb mistakes,” Gardner said when I asked him what it means to be a “Michigan Man.”
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)