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METRO DETROIT — There’s never been a more exciting time to be a member of the University of Michigan football team.
Fresh off a national championship and with an array of talent returning and geared up to defend their title, Michigan stars and West Bloomfield grads Donovan Edwards and Semaj Morgan, and Will Johnson, of Grosse Pointe South High, are at the forefront of not just their respective sides of the ball, but also in the community as well.
The trio, who are all Michigan natives, have been proactive in the community throughout the course of their careers with foundations, youth camps and other charitable works. They continued their efforts July 9 at the Born in Detroit store on Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit.
The stars of Team 145 took part in a meet-and-greet event with eager Wolverines, for $75 per ticket, receiving an autographed photo from the three players and photo opportunities. Proceeds from the event, sponsored by Hail! Impact, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that focuses on student-athlete’s charitable engagements, benefited the Football Alumni of Michigan and Veterans of the Game, a nonprofit built on commemorating veterans recognized by the university.
Fans lined up inside the store well before the 4:30 p.m. start time, juggling mini helmets, photos, programs, jerseys and other Wolverines memorabilia.
With a new coach at the helm in Sherrone Moore and the National Football League Draft on the horizon for Edwards, a possible day two selection depending on this year, and Johnson, widely regarded as a top-10 pick in next year’s draft, there’s plenty of star-studded talent still on the roster for a team that watched 13 players be selected in the 2024 NFL Draft.
“It’s not really replacing, because guys have abilities, and even though they haven’t been asked to play in their roles against Penn State or Ohio State, everybody has that dog in them and is going to succeed in what their abilities are,” Edwards said. “Guys have that fire because they haven’t had their number called on, so they have something to prove just like I have something to prove.”
Edwards said he feels as if he has the “fire back in his soul” on a consistent basis after posting an underwhelming 2023 campaign with 497 yards and five touchdowns on the ground after tallying 991 yards and seven touchdowns in 2022.
All the concern for Edwards seemed to fade away in the national championship game against the University of Washington when he exploded for 104 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries.
Edwards had to share duties with an elite-level running back in Blake Corum, who will command carries for the Los Angeles Rams this season, and said he’s never had an issue with letting those around him at his position flourish.
“I just wasn’t out there as much as I wanted to be out there, which was perfectly fine, because we were still winning football games,” Edwards said. “Blake (Corum) was a hell of a player and a tremendous player, and sometimes you just gotta take the backseat role. I came into my realization that that was just what I had to do. There was nothing wrong with that. My mindset is that everybody has to eat. I want everybody to eat. This year, I don’t care how many touches I get. I just have to do with those opportunities as I get them.”
Edwards reiterated this sentiment when he scored a touchdown with teammate Kalel Mullings while playing the highly touted video game EA Sports College Football 25, saying, ‘Everybody eats around here.’”
Edwards, rated a 91 overall in the video game, shares the cover of the game with University of Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers and University of Colorado defensive back Travis Hunter, picking up right where Denard Robinson left off as the cover athlete on NCAA 14 before the game took a 10-year hiatus.
“I thought it would be a little bit higher, but I’m not tripping,” Edwards said. “I’m cold on the game. They had my acceleration at a 96, which I think is pretty accurate. I’m cool with that. I thought it would be higher, though. A 93 bare minimum, but I’m cool with it because I got time to build it up.”
Johnson, who carries the highest rating in the game at a 96 overall, also appeared in the games’ first official trailer as the cameraman for the team’s turnover celebration, but his signature buffs (Cartier glasses) did not make an appearance.
“They did the turnover picture, but I’m not sure about the buffs or not,” Johnson said. “They got to get that in there. That would be sweet. Fans would love that.”
Johnson and Morgan rocked the buffs at the meet-and-greet event, which was truly a beautiful sight for metro Detroiters as all three athletes have local ties, with Johnson graduating from Grosse Pointe South High School and Edwards and Morgan both graduating and playing together at West Bloomfield High School.
Michigan football is filled with local talent as Jacob Oden (Harper Woods High School), a close friend of the Johnson family; Makari Paige (West Bloomfield High School); Joey Klunder (Grosse Pointe South), Giovanni El-Hadi (Sterling Heights Stevenson High School); Brady Prieskorn (Rochester Adams); and many more stayed home to help the school they grew up watching.
“It just makes us feel a little more comfortable,” Johnson said. “We’re used to playing with each other. We’ve been playing with each other since we were young and just grew up with each other, so we got that real brotherhood and that real connection and ties, because we’ve been doing this with each other and going to travel to play against different teams since we were in middle school.”
There’s still some shaping up to be done before Michigan takes the field against California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) Aug. 31 in Ann Arbor, although the quarterback competition still seems to generally favor Alex Orji, who will have a dynamic athlete like Morgan at his disposal on the outside this season.
But more importantly, it will be the first full season of head coach Sherrone Moore, who was 4-0 in his head coaching debut while Jim Harbaugh served his suspension.
From the outside looking in with Michigan fans and players, it always seemed like Moore was going to be the next man up, and the players are rallying around him before the upcoming season.
“It was really no question,” Johnson said. “If it wasn’t him then the program probably wouldn’t be what it was right now. It was really no question.”
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