Michigan football sets spring game attendance record

Coming off a 3-9 season, the worst in Michigan football's storied 130-year history, the Wolverines were excited to put last year behind them and take the field this afternoon for the annual Spring Practice. But they were not the only ones looking forward to see action between the sidelines in Michigan Stadium. Per The Michigan Daily, an estimated 50,000 fans (a program record) came out to see what the 2009 team had to offer after just 14 pre-season practices.

Freshmen quarterback Tate Forcier, an early enrollee, was the highlight of the practice. He connected to another unproven player, redshirt freshmen Roy Roundtree, on a 50-yard touchdown strike that drew a great deal of applause from the crowd.

The Wolverines open the 2009 season on Saturday, Sept. 5, against the Western Michigan Broncos in Michigan Stadium.

Twitterers at the practice and in the surrounding neighborhood shared their excitement and thoughts on what they observed:

1. 
   sullivti lots of il, in, even mn plates on cars w michigan football flair on eastbound 94 11 Apr 2009 from txt
2. 
   mattwish Spring game...nice to go to a football game knowing Michigan can't lose 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon
3. 
   livethefan At the michigan spring football game. For those of u who are fans, forcier and roundtree are showing much promise. 11 Apr 2009 from txt
4. 
   rrcarter Wha? Michigan tweeps: any idea what sporting event has transformed my neighborhood into its Football Saturday incarnation? 11 Apr 2009 from web
5. 
   sgtwolverine Michigan football did a GREAT job with the spring game. Good atmosphere, lots of fun. Great to see 50,000 fans turn out for it. 11 Apr 2009 from TwitterFon

Even Head Coach Rich Rodriguez was excited to get on the field in front of his team's fans:

1. 
   UM_CoachRod Spring Game tomorrow. Offense vs Defense full Scrimmage! Looking forward to a huge crowd tomorrow at the Big House. 10 Apr 2009 from web

Here is one Twitterer's perspective of what the practice looked like:

(Posted by @andrewa2 on April 11, 2009)

Michigan football sets spring game attendance record