Thursday, January 3, 2013

Former Michigan Athlete of the Week: Stevie Brown

"Many years from now, I will be awesome." - Brown, '08
Another interception, another 40-plus yard return, a couple more items to throw on the already large pile of evidence that suggests Stevie Brown is a good starting safety with a bright, highlight-filled future.  Brown wins the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week award for the second time this year as he and his Giants wrap up their season with a blowout over the Eagles.  Brown finishes the year with eight interceptions (2nd in the NFL), 307 interception return yards (1st in the NFL, Giants' single-season record), 76 tackles, two fumbles forced, two fumbles recovered, and 11 pass break-ups.  Expect those numbers to earn him plenty of dollars and attention from teams around the league when he hits the free agent market in March.

Honorable mention:  Tom Brady threw for 284 yards and lead the Patriots to a 28-0 win over the Dolphins.

Miscellaneous:
  • Following a nine-game absence, Charles Woodson is medically cleared and expected to play in the Packer's playoff game on Saturday against the Vikings.  He joins Leon Hall (Bengals), Alan Branch (Seahawks), Jonathan Goodwin (49ers), Tom Brady, and Zoltan Mesko (Patriots) as U of M's representatives in the playoffs. 

2 comments:

  1. His development is off-the-charts crazy and vaguely Brady-esque (in the sense that a good share of it came after college). If you had to break it down by percentages, how much would you attribute to coaching (as opposed to physical and mental development)?

    To put it another way, if he'd had the country's best secondary coach (whoever that may be) for all four years, do you think he would have been an All-American at Michigan?

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    1. I don't know that he would have been an All-American. Some guys just don't "get it" until later. I mean, Brown last played college football in 2009. It's taken him 2010 and 2011, when he had very little impact, to reach the level he's played in 2012. And he had pretty good position coaches/coordinators in 2006 and 2007. I don't like Tony Gibson, who only coached him in 2008, but other than that, his coaches have had a pretty good track record.

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