RIP Frances Czirr

Jim Czirr was a center on the Michigan football team in the early-mid 70's. He is from my hometown. Hismother passed in the last couple of days.

Once a Wolverine, always a wolverine.

BTW, I think he was our starting center at about 250 pounds!

You're right about Jim being the center at about 250 pounds. But in those days there were not many 300 pounders, if any, on either side of the ball. I heard Bo tell a story once about Jim: When Jim was a freshman and he was homesick because this was the first Thanksgiving he would ever be away from his family. But Bo took care of him and "cured" the homesickness. Jim still was not home for Thanksgiving during his football career, which concluded at Michigan. He came from a wonderful middleclass family which stressed the importance of strong family values. I see he now resides in Montana. Jim has a younger brother who is profoundly deaf as a result of his mother contracting measles during the pregnancy. He, however, can speak somewhat and knows signing and leads a productive life with a wife and family in Kalamazoo.

I don't know what it is buy I get all warm and fuzzy inside when I see the two forum st joe's talking to each other. I think you guys should have a thread all to yourselves. Keep up the good work!

I got to meet Jim personally while working my junior year work study job at the I.M. sports building's weight room. He told me his weight was 220 then, but he was only a soph, and packed on the pounds, mucle and experience over his last two years. Nice a guy as you could imagine; kind of the personable demeanor you'd expect from Denard (without the wide-eyed smile).

A funny little aside: it was January of '73, after our ridiculous loss to Ohio State in Columbus, when Denny Franklin led us to nearly 200 more total yards than they had, but Bo stubbornly called four runs on two separate occasions inside the OSU 5, and run-oriented Woody's teams stuffed them both times. I thought at the time that that was the worst job of coaching I'd ever seen from any coach, any team. Anyhow, regarding that, J.C. told me (and several other guys in the weight room) that "Schembechler apologized to the team for the loss afterwards." (!)

Then again, he should have...as well as to us alums and fans!!!