Former Michigan quarterback Brian Griese has had some unforgettable moments during his college football career. In 1997, he helped lead the Wolverines to an unbeaten season, a share of the national championship and was named the MVP of the 84th Rose Bowl in the final game.
But sitting in a Michigan Stadium suite last Saturday, Oct. 17 with his coach, Lloyd Carr, who led the Wolverines for 13 seasons, including that 1997 championship year, was a highlight. Griese sat beside Carr as they watched his grandson, freshman Tommy Carr, emerge as Michigan’s starting quarterback in the second half and lead the Wolverines, scoreless in the first half, to a 21-18 victory over Penn State.
“It was a day I’ll never forget,” Griese told The Detroit News this week.
Lloyd Carr is 81 and retired after coaching the 2007 Michigan season. He has two grandsons who both played for Saline High, CJ and Tommy, the sons of Tammi and Jason Carr, also a quarterback at Michigan, playing college football. CJ is the Notre Dame starting quarterback, and Tommy is expected to make his first career start when the Wolverines face defending national champion Indiana on Saturday, Oct. 24, taking over from 19-game starter Bryce Underwood. Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham has said he doesn’t want to give IU an advantage by publicly naming a starter.
Tammi Carr headed to Utah last weekend to watch CJ and Notre Dame play BYU, and Jason remained in Ann Arbor to attend the Michigan game. The two have split games this season so one parent is with each son for their games. But Jason Carr has a hard time watching his sons play and will go off somewhere alone to keep an eye on things. The family has declined interview requests saying they want the focus on their sons, not on them.
“So I'm thinking to myself, ‘Who's going to be with Lloyd?’’ said Griese, who went to Michigan with Tammi and Jason. “I couldn't stomach the thought of him being by himself if something happened and Tommy got a shot.”
Griese was joined in the suite by his wife, Brook, a doctor and licensed clinical psychologist who co-founded the Denver-based bereavement nonprofit Judi’s House with Brian in honor of his late mother, and their daughter, Lia, a junior at Michigan studying public policy in the Ross School of Business. Griese gets back to Ann Arbor to visit his daughter, and she has gotten to know Lloyd well.
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Michigan trailed 3-0 and had 80 yards of offense in the first half against Penn State. Underwood had two interceptions, bringing his season total to six. Whittingham said that at halftime, offensive coordinator Jason Beck and the offensive staff decided it was time for a quarterback change.
“The team came out (after halftime), and I'm watching to see what's happening on the field, and I see Tommy go over and start taking snaps from the starting center (Jake Guarnera), and I'm like, oh, that's different,” Griese said. “I didn't say anything to Lloyd at that time. I waited until they came out for the first series, and when I saw Tommy go out, I was like, ‘Lloyd! He's going in.’ And typical Lloyd, he says, ‘Who?’ I said, ‘Tommy, Lloyd, for Christ's sake!’ and then he straightened up and paying attention for the whole half. It was priceless.”
Griese, 51, had to tap into his days as a color analyst on Monday Night Football to describe some of the on-field action to Carr.
“He could see a lot of it, but there's a lot of it he can't see,” Griese said. “He's asking me questions, ‘What happened there?’ I finally decided to just start doing play by play for him, and I was like, ‘Lloyd, I've never done play by play before. I'm usually the color guy.’ We were going back and forth, and I'm calling out the formation, this and that. It even got to a point where at the end of the third, start of the fourth quarter, Lia’s teaching him how to do Mr. Brightside. It was just having fun.”
The CBS television crew that worked the game had a camera on Carr and Griese in the suite when Tommy Carr ran 12 yards for Michigan’s final touchdown with 2:58 left in the game. Lloyd Carr raised his arms in celebration and patted Griese on the knee.
“Maybe the best part of it was just his unbridled joy,” Griese said. “He forgot about everything, his ailments, his body, his brain. He was just in the moment. He was yelling, ‘Wow! Tommy Carr!’ I mean, it was just awesome.”
Tommy Carr wears No. 14 just as Griese did. Tommy, after the game, told reporters the number was given to him by chance.
“But, you know,” Tommy said, “I kind of like it.”
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While many pointed out that Carr and Griese shared the number, Griese said seeing the number didn’t mean much to him, but there was significance in the backstory for both players.
“What meant something was that I got that number because that was the only number that was left, and the same thing happened for Tommy,” Griese said. “Now, that piece meant something to me. The number itself, not so much. But that piece of how he got it, and you get something, but you have to earn it. Now he has to go out there and earn it, and it's very similar to what I had to do.”
They also share the pressure of wearing a famous family name on the back of their jerseys. Brian is the son of Bob Griese, a two-time Super Bowl champion, and Carr represents a family with deep ties to Michigan. His maternal grandfather, Tom Curtis, was an All-American defensive back with the Wolverines and his 25 career interceptions (1967-1969) is a program record.
“It’s definitely a cool story. It's nostalgic for Michigan fans,” Griese said. “But I think we're going to move past it pretty quickly and see if the kid can play, and that's what it should be about. What does this kid have? Is it something that you can build around going forward? Does he get better each time he goes out? What are the skill sets that you need to surround him with? All of that. You now have time to evaluate that and what he brings to the table and if he is the future, you want to build around him.
“It was the perfect situation that (Carr) came in after halftime,” Griese said. “Hey, what do you have to lose, man? Roll it out there. Let's go play ball and react and see what happens. This week will be different because he's got the whole week and it's a better team coming in. So we’ll see how he plays this week. I think you'll see a little bit more nerves, probably.”
Griese tries to get to Ann Arbor as often as possible and spends a good amount of time with Lloyd Carr.
“He was like a second father, and the reason that my relationship is so tight with Lloyd is that both our butts were on the line. He made mistakes and I made mistakes, and he held my feet to the fire and gave me the discipline that I needed in that moment. But he didn't give up on me, and then he trusted me. We both kind of came through that rough time together. That’s why our bond is so tight.”
And why being with Carr watching his grandson take over the Michigan offense was so special.
“For me and Brook and Lia,” Griese said, ‘that's a day, moments we will never forget.”
Indiana at Michigan
▶Kickoff: Noon, Saturday, Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor.
▶TV/radio: FOX/94.7 FM
▶ Records: Michigan is 4-2, 1-2 Big Ten; No. 6 Indiana is 6-1, 3-1.
▶Line: Indiana by 7.
▶Series: Michigan leads 62-11 (Last meeting: Indiana defeated Michigan, 20-15, Nov. 9, 2024).
achengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Ex-Michigan QB Brian Griese happy to share special moment with Lloyd Carr