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Michigan football's Jake Thaw details why he's transferring and it's not Rose Bowl fumble.
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- Michigan football's Jake Thaw details why he's transferring and it's not Rose Bowl fumble.
The moment has been seen by millions already, literally.
Michigan football's senior wide receiver Jake Thaw — who's already put his name in the transfer portal — was one of a handful of team representatives, along with coach Jim Harbaugh, who spent Friday afternoon at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital with the national championship trophy while greeting patients and their families, taking pictures and signing t-shirts and teddy bears.
From left, Michigan defensive back Jesse Madden, wide receiver Jake Thaw, quarterback Davis Warren, and head coach Jim Harbaugh have their photo taken with Nicholas Rinehart, 6, next to the national championship trophy at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor on Friday, Jan. 12, 2024.
At one point, Harbaugh told one of the patients who said he was a huge Michigan fan that by meeting Thaw he was meeting a "hero" from the team for his game-saving fumble recovery in the Rose Bowl, to which Thaw pushed back.
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"It's a fact!" Harbaugh exclaimed.
"Coach, I'm never going to be able to look at it like that," Thaw laughed.
It's certainly the moment Thaw will be most known for in his Michigan career. He was put in by special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh in the final minute against Alabama in order to safely field a punt after freshman Semaj Morgan had fumbled one earlier, only to muff it himself and nearly lose it for a safety or potentially a touchdown.
However he didn't, he held on, and so did the Wolverines, 27-20 in OT over the Tide before winning the national championship , 34-13, over Washington a week later to cap the fourth undefeated season (15-0) in the College Football Playoff era.
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That was the point his coach tried to make.
"How can you not look at it like that?" Harbaugh said. "Jake, if you don't have the presence of mind to stay out of the end zone, plus you take that hit... If you don't secure that ball, we lose that game!"
Thaw, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound senior, put his name in the transfer portal earlier this week, but Friday afternoon he clarified the fumble was not the reason, and said he has moved past the moment. In fact, the main part of the play that bothers him isn't the muff, he said, but the mental error to back up inside the 8-yard line and field the ball when his coach had specifically trusted him not to do so.
Even today, he still sees flashes of the ball rolling towards the end zone; he remembers the thought he had off corralling it and planting his foot on the goal line, doing everything and anything he could to bring it back in the field of play.
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"I really am past it...I guess I should have probably addressed that, some people, very few, but some people have reached out to me and asked if I'm leaving because of the Rose Bowl," Thaw told the Free Press. "That's absolutely 100% not the case. I love this team, I love Michigan football .
"We've got a lot of receivers, so I look forward to getting a chance to play receiver somewhere else."
Thaw didn't play on offense at all this season but was a specialist on punt returns. However, in the past five days, he's had contact with roughly 20 teams across the power five, group of five, and FCS level with discussions about playing on offense.
Michigan punt returner Jake Thaw runs against East Carolina during the second half of U-M's 30-3 win on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, at Michigan Stadium.
Thaw doesn't graduate until May, so he said he's not focused on a timeline as much as he is the right fit and finding a culture and program where he can contribute on the field.
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While he won't be joining a team that's better than an undefeated national champion, with three years of eligibility left, Thaw feels opportunity remains to find a place where he can make an impact on the field, that also aligns with his ideals.
"The best opportunity I can put myself in," Thaw said. "A great program that has a great culture that I can keep building on."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: No, Rose Bowl is not the reason Jake Thaw is leaving Michigan football
