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Top 10 Michigan Quarterbacks of All Time

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Which University of Michigan Quarterback will go down as the best of all time? Michigan has had many successful Quarterbacks move on to the NFL. Check out this Top 10 list and rank your favorite to the top. Missing one, Add it below:

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1. Tom Brady

Thomas Edward Patrick "Tom" Brady, Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football at Michigan, Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft.

He has played in four Super Bowls, winning three of them (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX). He has also won two Super Bowl MVP awards (XXXVI and XXXVIII), has been selected to six Pro Bowls (and invited to seven, although he declined the 2006 invitation), and holds the NFL record for most touchdown passes in a single regular season. Brady has the fifth-highest career passer rating of all time (95.2) among quarterbacks with at least 1,500 career passing attempts. He was named Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year in 2005. He also helped set the record for the longest consecutive win streak in NFL history with 21 straight wins over two seasons (2003–04).
Brady played college football for, and graduated from, the University of Michigan. He was a backup his first two years, while teammate and future NFL quarterback Brian Griese led the Wolverines to a share of the national championship in 1997 in the Rose Bowl. When he enrolled at Michigan, Brady was seventh on the depth chart and had an intense struggle to get some playing time. At one point, Brady hired a sports psychologist to help him cope with frustration and anxiety and even considered transferring to Cal. Brady battled for the starting job with Drew Henson, ultimately starting every game in the 1998 and 1999 seasons under Michigan head coach Lloyd Carr. During his first full year as starter, he set Michigan records for most pass attempts and completions in a season (214). Brady was All-Big Ten (honorable mention) both seasons and team captain his senior year. The Wolverines won 20 of 25 games when he started and shared the Big Ten Conference title in 1998. Brady capped that season with a win over Arkansas in the Citrus Bowl. In the 1999 season, Brady led Michigan to an overtime win in the Orange Bowl over Alabama, throwing for 369 yards and four touchdowns.

2. Brian Griese

Brian David Griese ( born March 18, 1975) is a former American football quarterback. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the third round of the 1998 NFL Draft. He played high school football at Christopher Columbus High School and later college football at Michigan. He has also played for the Miami Dolphins, Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. A Pro Bowl selection with the Broncos in 2000, Griese earned a Super Bowl ring with the team, as the third-string quarterback in Super Bowl XXXIII. He is the son of Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Griese, who also played for the Dolphins.

Griese played college football at the University of Michigan from 1993 to 1997. Michigan did not offer him a scholarship, so he walked on to the football team. After he was redshirted in 1993 and limited to placeholding duties in 1994, Griese took over as the starting quarterback after Scott Dreisbach was injured five games into the 1995 season. Griese started for the remainder of the 1995 season, capped by an upset of #2 ranked Ohio State, 31–23.

3. Elvis Grbac

Elvis M. Grbac ( born August 13, 1970 in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. During his career he was a starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Baltimore Ravens. In college he was a two-time passing efficiency champion and the quarterback for Heisman Trophy-winner Desmond Howard.

Elvis Grbac played college football at the University of Michigan from 1989 to 1992. He led the Wolverines to two Rose Bowls in 1991 and 1992 and is best remembered for throwing to wide receiver Desmond Howard during the latter's Heisman-winning campaign in 1991. Grbac finished his career at Michigan as the school's all-time leader in passing attempts (835), completions (522), passing yards (6,460), and passing touchdowns (71). These marks were later broken by John Navarre in 2003 and surpassed by Chad Henne in 2006-07.

He also established the Big Ten Conference career passing efficiency record that would stand for six season until it was surpassed by Joe Germaine. He was a two-time national passing efficiency champion during his junior and senior seasons. He was a three-time Big Ten champion in this statistic.

4. Dennis Franklin

Dennis Franklin (born August 24, 1953) is a former professional American football player who was drafted by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) in the 1975 NFL Draft. Prior to playing for in the NFL he played quarterback of the University of Michigan Wolverines from 1971-1974. He served as the starting quarterback from 1972-1974. He was recruited by Michigan after starring for the Massillon High School football team in Ohio. Franklin is known as Michigan’s first black quarterback.

5. Harry Newman

Harry Lawrence Newman (September 5, 1909 – May 2, 2000) was an American football quarterback who played for the University of Michigan Wolverines (1930-1932), the New York Giants (1933-1935), and the Brooklyn/Rochester Tigers (1936-1937).

In Newman's three years at Michigan, the Wolverines lost only one game, won three Big Ten Conference championship, and had a combined record of 24-1-2. As a senior in 1932, Newman led the team to an undefeated season and national championship, as he played 437 out of 480 minutes of game time in Michigan's eight games. In 1932, Newman was a unanimous first-team All-American, and the recipient of the Douglas Fairbanks Trophy as Outstanding College Player of the Year (predecessor of the Heisman Trophy), and the Helms Athletic Foundation Player of the Year Award, the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference.

6. Bob Chappuis

Robert Richard "Bob" Chappuis (born February 24, 1923 in Toledo, Ohio) is a former American football player who played halfback and quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines in 1942, 1946, and 1947. His college years were interrupted by service in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Chappuis flew 21 missions as a radio operator and aerial gunner on B-25 bombers in the European Theater. His aircraft was shot down in February 1945 in the Lombardy region of Northern Italy. Chappuis parachuted from the plane before it crashed, and Italian partisans rescued him by hiding Chappuis and two other crew members for the final three months of the war.

After the war, Chappuis returned to Michigan where he broke the Big Nine Conference record for total offense in 1946 and then broke his own record in 1947. He led the 1947 Michigan team known as the “Mad Magicians” to an undefeated season and a 49–0 win over the USC Trojans in the 1948 Rose Bowl game. Chappuis was a unanimous All-American selection in 1947 and was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1948 Rose Bowl. His picture appeared on the cover of Time magazine in 1947 in connection with a feature article about Chappuis and the 1947 Wolverines. He placed second in the 1947 Heisman Trophy balloting.

7. Rick Leach

Richard Max "Rick" Leach (born May 4, 1957 in Ann Arbor, Michigan) is a former college football player and professional baseball player. He played quarterback at the University of Michigan from 1975 to 1978. Leach later played in Major League Baseball for four different teams primarily as a backup outfielder and first baseman from 1981 to 1990.

Leach shattered all Michigan's career passing, total offense and touchdown records. He set an NCAA record for most touchdowns accounted for (82) and broke Big Ten records for total offense (6,460 yards), total plays (1,034), and touchdown passes (48). In 1978, he finished third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy, behind Billy Sims and Chuck Fusina.

8. Denard Robinson

Denard Xavier Robinson (born September 22, 1990) is an American football player and the current starting quarterback for the Michigan Wolverines football team. In 2010, he set the single-season Division I FBS record for rushing yards by a quarterback and became the only player in NCAA history to both pass and rush for 1,500 yards. Robinson also broke the Big Ten Conference season record with 4,272 yards of total offense (2,570 yards passing and 1,702 yards rushing) and earned the 2010 conference rushing title. He was awarded the 2010 Chicago Tribune Silver Football as the Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten Conference and was selected by the Football Writers Association of America as a first-team All-American. He also set the Big Ten single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback and is the only player in NCAA Division I FBS history to both pass for 200 yards and rush for 200 yards in a regular season game twice in his career.

He enrolled at the University of Michigan in 2009 and was the school's second-string quarterback as a true freshman. In the 2010 season opener against Connecticut, Robinson broke Michigan's single-game record for total offense with 383 yards and also broke the single-game record for rushing yards by a quarterback. He shattered his own records in his second start at quarterback against Notre Dame with 258 rushing yards and 502 yards of total offense. During the 2010 season, Robinson had six of the top ten single-game performances in total yards in Michigan history.

Robinson acquired the nickname "Shoelace" because he has played football since age 10 with his shoelaces untied. He also competes as a sprinter for the Michigan men's track and field team. He has run the 40-yard dash in 4.32 seconds, and he recorded the fastest competition time in 2010 among Michigan's sprinters in the 60-meter dash.

9. Jim Harbaugh

James Joseph "Jim" Harbaugh (born December 23, 1963) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League. Harbaugh agreed to a five-year deal with the San Francisco 49ers on January 7, 2011. Previously, he was the head coach at Stanford University for four seasons and the University of San Diego for three seasons. Harbaugh is also a former NFL quarterback who played for the Chicago Bears, Indianapolis Colts, Baltimore Ravens, and San Diego Chargers. He was selected by the Bears with the 26th pick in the first round of the 1987 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan. Harbaugh and his brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh, are the first pair of brothers to serve as head coaches in NFL history.

Harbaugh played for the junior league Ann Arbor Packers, then for Tappan Junior High, going on to Pioneer High School and then to Palo Alto High School in California. He was a four-year letterman at the University of Michigan and finished his college career in the top five in passing attempts, completions, completion percentage, passing yards, and touchdown passes in school history. Playing for Michigan coach Bo Schembechler, he was a three-year starter, though he broke his arm five games into the 1984 season and sat out the remainder the year. As a junior in 1985, Harbaugh led the nation in passing efficiency and quarterbacked one of Schembechler's best teams. The 1985 team posted a 10–1–1 record, defeated Nebraska in the 1986 Fiesta Bowl, and finished with a #2 ranking in the final polls, the highest finish for Michigan during Schembechler's tenure as head coach. As a senior in 1986, Harbaugh guided Michigan to an 11–2 record (which included his guaranteed victory over arch-rival Ohio State, which Michigan won, 26–24 in Columbus) and a berth in the 1987 Rose Bowl while earning Big Ten Conference Player of the Year honors and finishing third in the Heisman balloting. Harbaugh was also named to the Big Ten's All-Academic team, as well as the 1986 AP and UPI All-American teams. He held the career NCAA Division I FBS passing efficiency rating record (325–399 completions) for 12 years. He led the nation in efficiency in 1985

10. Chad Henne

Chad Steven Henne (born July 2, 1985) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. He graduated from Wilson Senior High School and attended the University of Michigan. While attending, Henne became the second all time true freshman starting quarterback in Michigan history; accumulated a total of 32 wins in regular season play, 8,740 offensive yards, and 87 touchdowns; and in his senior season, led the Wolverines to a Capital One Bowl victory over Florida. He was subsequently rewarded as the game's MVP after throwing for over 350 yards.

Henne's professional career began when he was drafted by the Miami Dolphins, fifty-seventh overall in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Henne spent most of his rookie season on the bench under veteran quarterback Chad Pennington. In his sophomore season as a Dolphin, Henne stepped in to relieve the injured Pennington and started the remaining 13 games.

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