Michigan football's J.J. McCarthy declares for NFL draft: 'Forever, Go Blue'
J.J. McCarthy's three-year career as a Michigan football player has come to an end and it couldn't have been more perfect.
McCarthy, the starting quarterback of the national championship Michigan football team, announced his decision to enter the NFL draft on Sunday, which means we have seen his final game as a Wolverine.
Forever a Michigan Man 💙🙏 pic.twitter.com/0i50FzLsoB
— J.J. McCarthy (@jjmccarthy09) January 14, 2024
It was an incredible run for McCarthy, who will easily go down as the greatest Michigan football quarterback in history, at least in college football, as Jim Harbaugh said after the national title win over Washington on Monday.
McCarthy posted a 27-1 record the past two seasons as a starting quarterback. Not only did he lead Michigan football to a 15-0 record, but he also led the Wolverines to back-to-back undefeated regular seasons and helped them win three straight Big Ten titles. He was also 3-0 against Ohio State.
The former five-star quarterback threw 44 touchdown passes over the past two seasons. McCarthy is fifth all-time at Michigan in passing yards (6,226), tied for fourth in passing touchdowns (49), and has the highest passer rating in program history for anyone with at least 100 attempts (160.5). The only QB close is Jim Harbaugh at 149.5. McCarthy also averaged 8.7 yards per pass attempt, which is second in program history behind Harbaugh (9.0). (Again among QBs with 100 pass attempts).
J.J. is also Michigan's all-time leader in completion percentage (67.6) and of all the Michigan quarterbacks with at least 40 touchdown passes, McCarthy has the fewest interceptions (11). The next closest number is 29 (Elvis Grabac) -- again showing how exceptional McCarthy was for Michigan football.
J.J. McCarthy made two big decisions today. In addition to deciding to go pro, he got engaged to his longtime girlfriend, Katya.
— Larry Lage (@LarryLage) January 14, 2024
By any metric, McCarthy is an all-time great. And based on all the winning that he did, as Jim Harbaugh said, he's easily the greatest QB to ever wear a winged helmet. McCarthy posted the announcement on his Twitter account. He thanked Coach Harbaugh, his teammates, his coaches, his family, and all the fans. He finished it by saying, "Forever, Go Blue."
It was perfect and I'll just say simply this: Thank you, J.J. McCarthy.
Forever Go Blue!