Michigan Football Quarterback May Follow In Brady’s Footsteps

On the first day of this millennium, Tom Brady and his Michigan Wolverines faced the Alabama Crimson Tide in a thrilling Orange Bowl — it was Brady’s final game in the Maize and Blue, and it came down to the wire. All said and done, in one of the most iconic games of the Lloyd Carr era, Michigan beat Bama 35-34, marking the Wolverines’ latest victory against the Tide and one of the team’s most recent New Year’s Six bowl wins. In just over three weeks, Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy will lead his team against Alabama once again, this time, in the Rose Bowl game, with a shot at the national title game at stake.

Michigan football quarterback JJ McCarthy looking to follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady

Earlier this year, during Michigan’s impressive 49-0 win over the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing, JJ McCarthy surpassed Tom Brady in all-time passing yards.

McCarthy has since passed Todd Collins, Jim Harbaugh, Elvis Grbac, and Shea Patterson, moving into No. 5 on the Wolverines’ all-time leaderboard.

But that was not enough for JJ McCarthy — he also claimed a third straight Big Ten title ring and a College Football Playoff berth (Rose Bowl) against Alabama to match. That said, despite having played Bama in 2012 and 2020, Michigan remains winless against the Tide since Tom Brady was at the helm and led U-M to a thrilling one-point win over Alabama in the 2000 FedEx Orange Bowl.

Michigan looking for first win over Alabama since Brady was quarterback

JJ McCarthy has long talked about following in the footsteps of Tom Brady, the world’s greatest football player of all time, who has won a record seven Super Bowls and more throughout his playing career. In fact, ahead of the 2022 College Football Playoff, JJ McCarthy said he wants the ring that Brady never got: a national championship.

Rose Bowl presents crucial CFP opportunity for the Wolverines

The 1999-2000 season was the final time that Tom Brady was the quarterback of Michigan football. This season could be JJ McCarthy’s last year in the Maize and Blue. While Brady never won the big ring — a national title — McCarthy seems intent on doing so, though he must first follow in the footsteps of Tom Brady and down Alabama in a crucial New Year’s Six bowl game.

Beating the Crimson Tide in a playoff game will be a lot to ask of JJ McCarthy and Michigan football, though if any of Jim Harbaugh’s quarterbacks were equipped to do so, it would be JJ.

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