Winovich's Rise in Football and Fundraising is Quite a Story
12/30/2017 10:13:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Chase Winovich sat at a picnic table overlooking the white sands and Pier 60 at Clearwater Beach. He was shirtless, wearing shorts, and planning to join Michigan teammates in the chilly surf during an Outback Bowl event for players, families, band members and fans.
But the popular defensive end took time to talk Saturday (Dec. 30) about his All-Big Ten season, pending NFL decision, the New Year's Day game with South Carolina, and a mission that touched his heart over two years ago, when Chad Carr was struggling with a rare form of inoperable pediatric brain cancer. Winovich joined his teammates in writing Chad's name on wrist tape and helmets for the double-overtime win at Indiana in 2015.
Nine days later, Chad, 5, died in the arms of his father, Jason, who played quarterback for the Wolverines when his father, Lloyd, was the head coach. The grandfathers of Chad and his older brothers, CJ and Tommy, both are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Tammi Carr's father, Tom Curtis, was an All-America defensive back who set a NCAA record with 25 career interceptions for the Wolverines.
Winovich met Tammi outside Schembechler Hall after a game this season, and said he wanted to do something to help raise money for pediatric cancer research. Winovich later met with Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh to propose a fundraising endeavor that involved him dying his long, flowing blond hair orange -- which was Chad's favorite color.
What ensued has raised more than $340,000 for research to find a cure, while also raising awareness that will be heightened during ESPN's broadcast of Monday's (Jan. 1) game at Raymond James Stadium.
"Ultimately," said Winovich, "I'm trying to give these children and their families a platform, and just a little glimmer of hope in a situation where they feel so helpless. I want to give them a voice.
"I'm so thankful for the Michigan community rallying around together, and for the great amount of support for this cause. It's come from every domain in life, and it's inspiring to me. This has gotten my feet wet and opened me up to the possibilities of philanthropy and rallying people to a cause."
It was mentioned that Houston Texans defensive lineman J.J. Watt set quite an example in off-the-charts fundraising for Hurricane Harvey relief in that community.
"J.J. obviously is an inspiration of mine on the football field and off it," said Winovich. "I'm so thankful for my teammates and my family standing behind this. Mo Hurst was the first one to take that leap behind me in this whole thing, and it took fire from there."
Harbaugh said, "It's just awesome. I know that the guys were hoping to raise a couple thousand dollars. Then they were really excited that it was going to get up to $10,000. Seeing it's up to $200,000 is just phenomenal, and I'm really proud of the whole Michigan family and community and the way they've rallied. "It's just awesome."
Awesome Orange.
Winovich said team members who pledged to dye either their hair or facial hair will go orange Sunday (Dec. 31), between 5-9 p.m., when celebrity stylist Martino Cartier arrives in Tampa to donate his services to the cause along with Wolverines defensive coordinator Don Brown's daughter, Chelsea, and her associate.
"Don Brown dying his moustache orange is for sure the highlight," said Winovich. "I can imagine it. When I put up a picture of him with an orange moustache, people said it looked like a cheese puff or a little Cheeto on his lip. I'm excited for it, and I think that this is just how confident he is in the team's success and ability to perform. If he was nervous about that, he might not be as compliant to this.
"(Receiver) Grant Perry is going to dye his beard now. (Linebacker) Devin Bush and (safety) Josh Metellus are going to dye the ends of their (dreadlocks). Mo Hurst is going to dye all of his hair, and so am I. (Honorary team member) Larry Prout, Jr., is going to dye his hair. Coach (Greg) Mattison was flirting with the idea of dying the sides of his head, but just doesn't have the hair or moustache for it."
One-by-one, they pledged to go orange if various fundraising plateaus were reached. It began with the goal of $15,000 for Winovich, in connection to his No. 15. Brown, at $125,000, was thought to be a long-shot. However, on Saturday evening, the fundraising site listed the current total at $170,498. Michigan regent Ron Weiser pledged to match the final total, sending it into an excess of $340,000.
The donations to the ChadTough Foundation will then be forwarded to Pediatric Brain Tumor Research Initiative at Michigan Medicine.
"It's the wildest thing," said Hurst, an All-America defensive tackle. "At the starting point, we were just hoping for the $15,000. We got 10 times that pretty quickly, and the people have just been so great in giving."
Hurst and Winovich, an All-Big Ten first team selection by the media, have teamed with end Rashan Gary, an all-conference first team pick by the coaches, to create problems for opposing offensive coordinators.
Hurst and Gary drew more double-teaming, but Winovich has made it a three-headed monster.
"You know," said Winovich, "it was almost like (martial arts guru, philosopher and actor) Bruce Lee, who talked about putting water in the cup and it becomes the cup. You put me on a football field, and one way or another I'm going to attract attention. I aim and I work towards being that person teams have to scheme for, and if that's starting to come true, that's awesome.
"If not, great, because I'm coming for your quarterback."
Winovich (6-foot-3, 245 pounds) has shown remarkable progress at Michigan by playing fullback, tight end and linebacker before finding a home on the line. He led the Big Ten with eight sacks and 17 tackles for losses, while finishing third on the team with 74 tackles.
Teammates voted him the Blue Collar Award winner as the hardest-working Wolverine.
"We're really getting after it in practice," said Winovich. "We're making sure all of our T's are crossed and our I's are dotted. We're just trying to win this game to put an exclamation point on the season, and it would mean a lot to our seniors that are leaving, and possibly even myself."
Winovich, from Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania, is pondering walking away from his final season of eligibility. Though, he could opt to follow the path of Hurst, who upped his draft stock and became an All-American.
"I haven't really made a decision," Winovich said. "Am I leaning one way or the other? Maybe. I don't want to say where I'm leaning. I'll wait to see how the bowl game goes, who's leaving, who's staying, how I perform in the game, and evaluate it. The deadline is Jan. 15, but I have to know by the end of the first week of January."
The Gamecocks, who share an 8-4 record with the Wolverines, have his complete focus for now.
"It's great to be out here," said Winovich. "We had a great practice today, and took that next step, almost the final step, towards winning this game. Our minds are so focused on football, but coming out to the beach was a nice little reprieve. I hope to get a tan."
He chuckled about that.
Winovich reminds me of Mark Messner, an out-going personality who was an under-sized but relentless lineman who became a two-time All-American (1987 and 1988) and still tops Michigan's career sacks (36) and tackles-for-losses (70) lists. And it turns out that Winovich, like Messner, was a rambunctious child who found a release for all that energy on defense.
"I was the focal point of our household with my parents (Nina and Peter) trying to tame me," said Chase. "I was a good kid, but I was definitely a handful.
"When you look back at the wild ride I've had, it's going to make a heck of a book one day."
