Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Stevie Brown

Tag: Former Michigan Athlete of the Week

27Sep 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Stevie Brown

Brown celebrates his first career interception

Believe it or not, Stevie Brown is in his third NFL season and making a few plays.  Brown recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter of his team’s 37-6 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers last week and returned it 44 yards.  He is listed as a second string safety on the New York Giant’s depth chart and is apparently getting somewhat comfortable with his new team after spending last year playing for the Indianapolis Colts and his rookie season for the Oakland Raiders.  Brown has five tackles, one pass deflection and one interception through three games this year.  His Giants are 2-1.

Honorable mention:  Tom Brady moved past Joe Montana into 12th place on the NFL’s all-time passing list during his team’s 31-30 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football.  Brady threw for 335 yards and one touchdown in the game, but that didn’t stop the Patriots from dropping below .500 for the first time since the opening game of the 2003 season.

Miscellaneous:

  • Brandon Graham still isn’t lighting the world on fire, but he is showing some signs of life.  Last week he recorded four tackles and half a sack in an Eagles loss.
  • David Harris is continuing with his tackling machine like ways this season and tallied nine in the New York Jets overtime victory in Miami on Sunday.
  • Mario Manningham has 12 receptions for 113 yards through three games; he is the 49ers third leading receiver behind Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis.
20Sep 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Charles Woodson

Straight chillin’
In a pregame interview, Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler sarcastically wished Packers defensive backs “good luck” covering his wide receivers in their match-up during last week’s Thursday Night Football.  Cutler ought to know better than to challenge one of the greatest defensive backs of all time.

“We understand that Jay is excited about his new weapons,” Woodson said. “But it’s the same old Jay.  We don’t need luck.  We just need to be in position.  Jay will throw us the ball.”

Woodson and his mentees must have been in position quite a bit Thursday night, picking off Cutler four times in their 23-10 victory.  Woodson ended the game with one interception (the 55th of his career), five tackles, a pass breakup, and most likely nothing but a smooth look toward Jay Cutler that said, “I KNEW U WERE PATHETIC BEFORE THE GAME EVEN STARTED DUDE.”
Honorable Mention:  In only the second game of the regular season, Mike Martin started at nose tackle for the Titans and apparently showed well, recording his first NFL sack and registering four total tackles.  Martin started due to an injury up front and is still listed as second string on the official roster, but that shouldn’t prevent him from continuing to see plenty of playing time.  
Miscellaneous:  
  • Tom Brady is not the Former Michigan Athlete of the Week.  The Patriots were stunned by the Cardinals, 20-18, and Brady finished with a QB rating below 80.
  • Larry Foote recorded seven tackles and Ryan Mundy recorded five in the Steelers 27-10 win over the New York Jets.
  • Brandon Graham continues to NOT light the world on fire.  Two solo tackles are the only non-zero items on his 2012 boxscore besides “games played.”  
  • After coming off an early season-ending injury, Mouton started the 2012 season inactive for the Chargers.  He is listed as second string on their depth chart.
  • Braylon Edwards had five receptions for Seattle the first week but none last week.
  • Stevie Brown continues to collect an NFL paycheck.  Now in his third season, Brown is a backup safety for the New York Giants and has recorded five tackles this year. 
13Sep 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Larry Foote

The Pittsburgh Steelers lost to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football in the first week of the NFL season by a score of 31-19.  Pittsburgh’s defense as a whole didn’t live up to expectation, but Larry Foote delivered a strong performance, tallying eight tackles, one sack, one forced fumble, and a pass deflection.  The eleven year veteran again started at “Buck” linebacker for his team–which is just another term for “Will” from what I gather–despite being “questionable” headed into the game.  Also the home to former Michigan athletes Ryan Mundy and LaMarr Woodley, the 0-1 Steelers face off against conference rival the New York Jets next week.

Honorable mention:  A strong case could be made for Charles Woodson, who recorded 1.5 sacks, a handful of tackles and a forced fumble in a 30-22 loss to the 49ers Sunday.  But I’m going with Mike Martin for earning playing time in the first week of his rookie season and getting his first three career tackles. The Titans got shellacked, 31-13, by Tom Brady and the Patriots.
Miscellaneous:  

  • Junior Hemmingway bought a Ferrari Spider for his girlfriend and was then cut by the Kansas City Chiefs.  Then the Chiefs signed him again.  Then they cut him again.  [EDIT:  Junior tweeted out, “I just bought a Ferrari Spider for my girl.  I told her to drive it like it got eight legs!”  But I guess those are lyrics from a Lil Wayne song.  Thanks to the commenter for the heads up.  I do not listen to Lil Wayne.] 
  • Adrian Arrington was released by the New Orleans Saints [Update:  Arrington re-signs with the Saints and is placed on the Injured Reserve].  
  • Tim Jamison signed a two year contract extention with the Houston Texans.  
  • Ryan Van Bergen did not make the Carolina Panthers final roster cut.  
  • David Molk is listed as the second string center on the San Diego Chargers depth chart.  
  • Stephen Schilling is no longer with the Chargers and now a free agent.
  
28Jan 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Mario Manningham

Mario Manningham caught a touchdown pass for the third straight week, this time on a 17-yard reception in traffic on third-and-15. Coach Tom Coughlin called it an “incredible football play,” and the score gave the Giants a 17-14 lead with only 8:41 remaining, eventually leading to their 20-17 NFC Championship game victory over the 49ers. Manningham lined up as the outside receiver on the play, ran up field, slanted in and shielded the over-the-top defensive back with his body as he leaped to haul in the touchdown pass. You could try to visualize that, or you could just watch it here.
Honorable Mention: Whether or not you still hold a grudge towards Jim Harbaugh, one thing is undeniable: he can coach. This year he took a hapless 6-10 San Francisco team – and a franchise that hadn’t had a winning season in eight years – all the way to the NFC Championship game, coming up only three points shy of a Super Bowl birth. As stated in the title of an interesting thread on the MGoBoard, congrats to Jim Harbaugh.
Miscellaneous: Carson Butler returns to the New England Patriots’ practice squad, making eight former Michigan athletes who are represented in Super Bowl XLVI, which is among the most of any college. Scot Loeffler, quarterback at Michigan from 1993-1996 and quarterbacks coach for Michigan from 2002-2007, was hired as Auburn’s offensive coordinator, giving Michigan fans “a strange reason to root for Auburn.”
19Jan 2012
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Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Tom Brady

Whoa, Nellie! Tom Brady shredded the Denver defense and set a playoff record with five touchdown passes in one half. He added one more TD just minutes into the third quarter, tying another NFL record for passing touchdowns in a playoff game with nearly an entire half of football left to play. Fortunately for Tim “He Just Wins Games” Tebow and the Denver defense, Brady exercised his inner virtues of mercy and compassion and decided to focus more on his punting skills than his touchdown tosses for the remainder of the game. The final score read 45-10, and Brady finished with a Patriots playoff record of 363 passing yards (76.5 CMP%), six touchdowns and a 137.6 QB rating to go along with his booming 48 yard punt. Zoltan Mesko must be proud.
Honorable Mention: Mario Manningham caught a touchdown pass for the second straight week, this time on a four yard catch in the back of the end zone, as his Giants rolled the 15-1 Packers by a score of 37-20 to advance to the NFC Championship against Jim Harbaugh and the San Francisco 49ers. Manningham finished the game with 3 catches for 31 yards (10.3 YPC) and the aforementioned touchdown.

Miscellaneous: Adrian Arrington caught one pass for 14 yards but was targeted six times in as his Saints fell to the 49ers. Jim Harbaugh can coach.  Both David Baas (New York Giants) and Jonathan Goodwin (San Francisco 49ers) started at center for their respective teams and will face off in this weekend’s NFC Championship.