Michael grew up a huge Michigan Wolverines fan and always dreamed of playing for the maize and gold. He didn’t have any FBS offers coming out of high school, but was recruited to play at Harvard. While playing junior varsity as a freshman in 2001, he was diagnosed with Wegener’s disease, a rare disorder that causes inflammation of the blood vessels in your nose, throat, sinuses, lungs and kidneys. He never played football again for the Crimson Tide but graduated from Harvard in 2014 and took a job on Wall Street.
After two years at his job, Michael was feeling better and the itch to play football never left. He decided to give it one final shot, and if he was going to take a shot, Michael was going for it all. He set his sights on Michigan. The school had to accept him, the Wolverines program had to give him a tryout, his employer had to release him on sabbatical and the NCAA had to clear his eligibility.
In January of 2016, he cleared one big hurdle when he took an unofficial visit to Ann Arbor and met with Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh and shared his story. Harbaugh offered him a spot on the team as a preferred walk-on. In his very first game in Michigan colors, the 2016 season opener against Hawaii, Michael caught a 15-yard touchdown pass.
