University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh had a very different kind of press conference this week; in addition to the usual questions thrown at him by the press, Harbaugh was also asked for his opinions on big issues like homework and the importance of milk in a football player’s diet.
Five of Harbaugh’s questions during the conference on Michigan’s media day were asked by children. In particular, six-year-old Brady Carpenter stole the show, asking Harbaugh how much milk he’d need to drink to become a quarterback. The beginning of Brady and Harbaugh’s exchange was caught on Vine, and has been spreading ever since:
First, Harbaugh asked the small interviewer for a hug. The answer he gave as quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows that Harbaugh does, indeed, have some very strong opinions on the importance of milk if you intend to become a football player:
“That is a great question, and I love that you’re thinking about that. Drink as much milk as your little belly can hold. Could be chocolate milk, could be the two percent but the ideal is the whole milk. As much as your little belly can hold.”
The Detroit Free Press listed off the other hard-hitting questions aimed at Harbaugh by young interviewers — including how he gets his players to do their homework, why he wore the number 4 as a player, what he likes most about being back in Ann Arbor, and who he wishes could walk down the tunnel with him who is no longer with him.
According to Bleacher Report , it was Brady’s father Jason who came up with the milk question for his son. Jason says he saw an interview back in April where Harbaugh discussed drinking milk when he was younger to attempt to achieve what he considered the “ideal” quarterback height of 6’2,” and figured it would make a good question to pass along to his young son.
“He was on HBO talking about how he used to hand milk out and steal all the extra milk. So I thought it was a cute question for him to ask.”
Jason seems to have been right, as Harbaugh’s small Q&A with Brady has quickly been gaining popularity online in both video and print. And it might behoove Brady to follow Harbaugh’s advice, as the milk thing seems to have done the trick; Harbaugh is 6’3,” an inch above his aforementioned ideal quarterback height.
[Image: Eric Upchurch /Wikimedia Commons]