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Harbaugh used a letter from a Marine to inspire Michigan players before Florida game
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All offseason, everyone talked about how young, inexperienced and immature the Michigan football team was heading into the 2017 season. But some people were really tired of hearing about it.
One man in particular, Anthony Riddle, who is a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps from Jackson, was especially upset with all that talk. So he penned a letter to head coach Jim Harbaugh, dismissing all of the Michigan naysayers.
“This is in response to all the naysayers out there that think that Michigan football is too young, too inexperienced,” Riddle wrote. “Your young men have worked their tails off in summer. They have battled each other for roster spots. They have battled each other for starting jobs. They have sweat and bled together.
“You tell your men that every down they play could be their last. Every down that they play, they’ll never get that down back.”
Harbaugh didn’t disappoint Riddle, using the letter as motivation for his players prior to the Florida game.
“He talked about in the letter how he was 18 years old and was fighting overseas,” Speight said, according to MLive.com. “Just to hear that letter and say, ‘OK, there’s 18-19 year old guys going over there and defending our freedom, why can’t we step out onto the field and play a simple game of football?”
Obviously the letter worked, as Michigan knocked off Florida 33-17. We’ll see if that motivation carries this Michigan team through the rest of the season.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB