Former ‘Honorary’ Captain of Michigan Wolverines Michael Phelps, Once Used His Wit to Guide Them to Semis

After winning the penultimate final against the Washington Huskies, Michigan Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh compared JJ McCarthy with the NFL legend Tom Brady. On a gilded night, the prized comparison seemed unusual to many. But that was JJ McCarthy for NCAA Football, claiming points for the team time and again. However, the same McCarthy once opened up about mental conditioning in an interview with Christopher Breiler. 

The pot-boiling interview saw McCarthy putting a jibe, “Us talking about it as athletes – we kind of get the stereotype of jock, of hard wall up and not many of us are vulnerable” on mental health. So from there, the change the Michigan Wolverines squad earned wasn’t a minuscule matter. And swimming demigod, Michael Phelps, etched his name in that reversal. 

The message Michigan Wolverines received from Michael Phelps

After the kerfuffle, JJ McCarthy opened in that interview didn’t go unnoticed by the bigwigs of the Michigan Wolverines. Rather, chief coach Jim Harbaugh invited the great Michael Phelps to attend the squad’s practice season before their penultimate match against Penn State in October 2022, as reported by Business Insider. Moreover, the UM authority garlanded the most decorated Olympian with the honorary skipper for the Penn match. In the session, Phelps unfurled his success story and things about living up to the expectation. That left the Wolverines’ pack in awe of the Flying Fish. 

Spilling more beans on the prized encounter, Jim Harbaugh later conceded, “He talked about sleep, he talked about hydration, water. Somebody that could go anywhere in the world, do any kind of treatment known to mankind — Ice, sleep, and hydration with water.”

Later, the result was visible as the Michigan Wolverines’ grandeur blurred Penn State’s existence in the NCAA Football match. The howling Wolverines earned the victory with a 41-17 scoreline. However, the link between Michael Phelps and Michigan goes to the early days when a young Phelps needed help in his career. 

The history of sharing 

Michael Phelps’ Michigan stint started in 2004, with the help of his phenomenal coach, Bob Bowman. Before shifting to the ASU camp, Bob Bowman was in the lead role of swimming training at the University of Michigan. Being a pupil of Bowman, Phelps started his 2004 Olympics training at UM. Moreover, in that stint, the young talents in the Michigan pool also encountered the swimming teacher, Michael Phelps. That role kept him engaged with the camp for the next four years. 

Read more: “Work Should Be Celebrated as Well”: Michael Phelps’ Coach Bowman Honors His Legacy at Olympics

So on the eve of bagging the biggest title since 1997, the Michigan Wolverines’ success run wouldn’t go away without thanking the Baltimore Bullet. The subsequent events on Monday night attested to that. 

Watch this story: Did Michael Phelps Swap Loyalties From Baltimore Orioles to Arizona Teams Over Friendship With John Rahm?