Michigan Friday: No. 21, Desmond Howard, Makes It to the Hall of Fame

No. 21 in your program and one of Michigan's most dynamic playmakers ever, Desmond Howard was voted into the College Hall of Fame yesterday.

As we all know, Desmond won the Heisman Trophy in 1991 when he was basically a human highlight reel.

As I think back on that season, it seems like he did something special pretty much every week. Clearly, the highlights were his diving catch against ND and his famous Heisman pose after returning a punt against Ohio State, where we heard Keith Jackson's famous call, "Goodbye and hello Heisman!"

I know Michigan runs a ton of WR screens these days, but there was nobody better at running those than Desmond Howard. I remember a game against Indiana or something, watching him run those and thinking, "That play just isn't fair—they can't stop it!"

I know there is a debate on whether numbers should be retired or not. (Some folks are in the camp that, yes, we should do it; others say it's huge for recruiting if a guy has a chance to wear No. 1, No. 2, No. 7, or No. 21). Either way, Michigan needs to do something to recognize our great players of the past: Wall of Fame, Ring of Honor, something.

After Michigan, Desmond went on to have a 10-year NFL career with six different teams. He was drafted No. 4 overall to the Washington Redskins and finished his career with the Detroit Lions. The highlight of his professional career was of course his MVP in the Super Bowl during the 1996 season, when he took a second half kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown.

Desmond after football has also found success as a college football analyst on ESPN's College GameDay and even assisted Bill Martin and the University of Michigan in finding a new football coach after Lloyd Carr retired.

Desmond is a class act, and this is a well-deserved honor. Not bad for a kid from Cleveland that took a chance on heading north for his education and wearing the Maize and Blue. Go Blue!