Michigan Football: The Wolverine's Top-25 Since '97 - No. 20
The Wolverine continues its series of the top 25 Michigan players since 1997 with No. 20, Ernest Shazor.
Shazor was a member of the 2004 Wolverine team that went 9-3 and finished second in the Big Ten and earning a trip to the Rose Bowl to face Texas.
Shazor came to Michigan as a USA Today All-American out of Detroit Martin Luther King. He was also a Parade All-American his senior season and was voted the USA Today Player of the Year for Michigan. In high school, Shazor accounted for 224 tackles, two forced fumbles as well as eight blocked punts and 21 interceptions in his four years at King. In 2015 MichiganPreps.com Shazor was named the No. 2 on a list of the top players out of King over the last 15 years.
Shazor redshirted his first season after arriving in Ann Arbor, but saw action in 12 games as a redshirt freshman in 2002. In 2003, Shazor took over starting strong safety duties and finished fourth on the team in tackles with 57 tackles.
The 2004 season was a career year for Shazor. After a week two loss to Notre Dame, Shazor and Michigan went on an eight game winning streak, including wins over No. 13 Minnesota at home and No. 12 Purdue on the road. Shazor also helped lead Michigan to a win over rival Michigan State that season, though it took three overtimes to pull off the 45-37 victory over the Spartans. The Wolverines reached a No. 7 ranking heading into the Ohio State game but could not pull off the road win over the Buckeyes.
Michigan concluded the 2004 season with a showdown with No. 6 Texas in the Rose Bowl. A back and fourth game saw Michigan in the lead with 3:04 to go, but the Longhorns kicked a last second field goal to steal the victory. Shazor was fourth in tackles in the game, with 7. His 84 tackles that season led the team and Shazor was voted a consensus All-American following the season.
After the 2004 season, Shazor decided to enter the NFL Draft with one year of eligibility remaining. Shazor left the program having totaled 166 tackles and is tied for No. 8 on the school list for career forced fumbles with five. Shazor went undrafted in the 2005 NFL Draft but was signed to a free agent contract by the Arizona Cardinals, but was released one year later.
The full list:
No. 20: Ernest Shazor
No. 21: John Navarre
No. 22: Jake Butt
No. 23: David Molk
No. 24: Taco Charlton
No. 25: Jeremy Gallon