Michigan defensive lineman Kenneth Grant has made his stamp on the football program only two years in with the program. With plenty of football left ahead of him, his focus has quickly shifted to the future despite winning a national championship as a sophomore.
Of course, he was allowing the moment to sink in after the win over Washington, but, for him, the work will never stop as he thinks about what's next.
"Just striving for greatness," Grant said. "Before I came in here (in the interview room), I was talking to Coach Herb. I asked him to keep pushing me because I want to be the greatest player to ever live. I think all these guys want to be the greatest player to ever live. The work never stops. On to the next. Just trying to soak it all in."
The U-M program had its fair share of moments of adversity, even if the program made it look easy on the field.
With off-field headlines looming ahead, threatening to distract a program from a mission, it ultimately didn't matter at the end of the day.
For Grant, all the doubters and the haters were tuning in, hoping for one small slip-up or mistake.
That never happened.
Now, Grant can say he's part of an exclusive group of players in U-M history to be named national champions.
"It just feels great," Grant said. "Everyone doubting us. Coach Clink said to us today, all of the haters, they have to watch us. We're in the national championship. They could hate all they want but we're national champs. We proved to everyone that no matter how much they can hate us, no matter how much you can down-talk us, we're gonna prevail and we're going to be together."
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