Life has had an extra layer of uncertainty for 19 months now, but one thing has remained constant: people love Spider-Man. Look no further than this weekend’s opening of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which raked in over $260 million over the past four days, with potential for an even higher opening-weekend total after Sunday’s results are tabulated.
Some of that money came directly from the pockets of Michigan’s football team, many of whom went to see the movie Thursday night after they met with the media. “College kids go to movies” may not seem like a headline-worthy happening, but what happened Thursday is indicative of a bond among teammates that has helped sustain Michigan through tough times this season.
Defensive tackle Christopher Hinton was asked last week what changes have been made in practice that have led to Michigan’s improvement from 2020 to 2021. Hinton contemplated what was said for a moment, then redirected the line of questioning. “I think the thing that’s changed the most within this building is the bond that we’ve had amongst our players,” he said. “The bond that you create outside the field, it goes a long way on the field and last year with COVID you can’t eat in the commons like you can (now), you can’t really hang out with each other. Just the difference between us eating together after practice or during camp, being able to eat between practices and lifts, I think that has a huge impact on just the difference between this year and previous years.”
“Oh yeah, I mean, (2020) was hard because you want to do something but then you know you can't because of the exposure and stuff, so it was definitely different,” cornerback D.J. Turner said.
Wide receiver Mike Sainristil said that one thing the players did an excellent job of in the offseason was finding a way to spend as much time together as possible within the bounds of COVID restrictions. “Guys on this team really like each other, you know what I mean? And I feel like that’s really helped on the field, as you can see. It just gives you that ‘I want to play, I want to do good for the man next to me,’” he said.
It seems to go even further than just the man next to them, too. When D.J. Turner was listing some of the players going to the movies together, he listed guys from different position groups and different sides of the ball, from Aidan Hutchinson to Mike Sainristil and then some.
Hinton backed up the idea that the team is closer on the whole than previously. “Like I said before, quarterbacks are close to the d-line, cornerbacks are close with the o-line. It’s just–it’s a team. I think that’s the biggest difference between this year and years past.”
The players believe that the bond they have carries over into everything they do, and they were better able to handle the tough spots during the season because they didn’t want to let down the guys they cared about. Wins on the road against Penn State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, and even the team’s ability to bounce back after a difficult loss to Michigan State can likely be traced back to simple things like playing video games together and eating as a group in the football facility after practices and workouts.
“I think it's really just sticking together as one unit. Really just knowing everyone has each other's back and really we go by a thing: we're gonna win or die trying. When one man goes down the next man has to step up. We're counting on that guy,” running back Blake Corum said. “That's why I believe everyone goes hard in everything: meetings, weight room, practice. Everyone goes hard on this team so in a situation like that someone else can step up. Adversity's part of the game, part of life, and it's all about how you overcome it. It makes you stronger. I feel like we definitely overcame some good adversity. It's made us stronger.”
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