Audio: Denard Robinsons speech at the Football Bust
Senior quarterback Denard Robinson was the final speaker at the annual Football Bust. Hear his speech in its entirety with a transcription of some of the highlights ...
Advertisement
Your browser does not support the audio element.
"Why Kovacs, why? At first I thought I was going to be the best, but now I'll try to be the second-best."
"I want to say thank you to God because without Him, my story wouldn't have come true. I went from Deerfield, Fla., to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, making a lot of fuss.
"I want to say thank you to my parents, Dorothea Robinson and Thomas Robinson, for giving me everything, just giving me an opportunity to not have to worry about a lot. I want to say thank you to my brothers and sister for showing me the ropes, and just showing me how to be humble. I was the second-to-youngest, so I could never get away with anything because they were always on top of me.
"I want to say thank you to Coach Rod for giving me an opportunity to play at the University of Michigan.
"I want to say thank you to Coach Hoke and his staff, because they gave me an opportunity to play quarterback and continue my goals and my dreams.
"To be honest with you, I want to say thank you to Al Borges for giving me the opportunity -- for him to deal with me, because I know there were millions of nights where he went home to his wife, talking trash about me, saying I was giving him headaches. I want to say thank you to his wife, because I know he's bugged you a lot about me.
"I want to say thank you to Darrell Funk because he did a great job with the offensive line, and I don't think I'd be anywhere without those guys.
"I want those guys to stand up right now, the whole offensive line, because without them I wouldn't be anything. Those guys do the real work. I'm the flashy guy, I guess, but those guys do all the tough jobs.
"I want to say thank you to the academic staff, because Megan, I know I can be a headache, I can be a free spirit and you can't get in contact with me, but thank you for actually staying on top of me. This winter, I'll be the first of my family to graduate from a four-year college. So I want to say thank you.
"I want to say thank you to the strength staff. Thank you for teaching us everything is mental. If you have a broken leg, it's mental. You can play through it.
"I want to say thank you to Dave Brandon for bringing in Coach Hoke, bringing in a guy here to bring back the tradition, and showing us the ropes -- bringing back the old guys who used to be part of the tradition.
"I want to say thank you to Devin Gardner for stepping in and doing a great job and leading the team.
"It's been an honor working with you guys, and I wouldn't trade this for nothing in the world, to be honest with you. Being here with you guys, I never thought in a million years I'd have so many brothers that I could depend on for whatever.
"Even though we didn't accomplish our goal of winning the Big Ten, we fought every time we stepped out on the field."