Glasgow Football Journey at Michigan Has Been a Family Affair
11/28/2019 9:00:00 AM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Glasgow Decade is just about complete.
Technically, it's been nine seasons, but the family deserves its own decade in University of Michigan football annals. Steven and Michele Glasgow, both orthopedic surgeons in DeKalb, Illinois, have sent three sons to the Wolverines. They all came as walk-ons, developed to earn scholarships, became significant starters and NFL prospects, excelled academically and graduated.
Their only believed rivals in Michigan football history are the Wistert brothers, who all wore No. 11 and had that number retired. Whitey (1933), Al (1942) and Alvin (1948-49) were each All-Americans, and they are all in the College Football Hall of Fame.
The Glasgows are very likely the three best Maize and Blue gridiron brothers since the Wisterts.
Graham Glasgow (top left), Ryan Glasgow (top right) and Jordan Glasgow (bottom)
It began with Graham, an offensive lineman who arrived in 2011 when Brady Hoke was head coach. He started all 37 games at center or offensive guard in his last three seasons, was three-time Academic All-Big Ten, honorable mention All-Big Ten in 2015, winner of the 2015 Rader Memorial Trophy as Michigan's most valuable offensive lineman, and drafted in the third round by the Detroit Lions. He's been a four-year starter for the Lions, currently at right guard.
Ryan followed in 2012 and was starting two years later for the Wolverines. He shared Michigan's Katcher Award as the top defensive lineman with Chris Wormley in 2015 and 2016, was All-Big Ten second team in 2016, and was a semifinalist for the 2016 Burlsworth Trophy given to the most outstanding college football player who came to school as a walk-on. The Cincinnati Bengals drafted him in the fourth round, and he is in his third season as a reserve while also having earned starts.
Jordan Glasgow came in 2015 -- the year all three brothers ran out of the tunnel at Michigan Stadium together on game days -- and began contributing on special teams in his second season. He is a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, was Michigan's Special Teams Player of the Year in 2017, started two games at viper and continued excelling on special teams in 2018, and became a starting outside linebacker in 2019. He's second on the team with 72 tackles and four quarterback hurries, and he also has 4.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked punt this season.
Their mother recalled Graham saying that walk-ons were called out in practices only by their uniform numbers until they impressed the coaches.
"Graham had the feeling the coaches felt he was never really going to play," said Michele, who was recruited along with Ryan when Brady Hoke was the head coach. "But then Ryan came, and Graham said his breakthrough came when they pitted the two of them against one another in practice. The coaches then saw how tenacious they were. They got recognized for how physical they could be with each other. All three boys wrestled all the time, and we had so many holes in our drywall.
"It's really not a poisonous competition. They don't dislike one another because they're competitive with one another. They sort of enjoy it. They get great pleasure out of interacting with one another on that level."
It's been quite a growing experience and a shared journey, and Saturday's (Nov. 30) Michigan-Ohio State game in Ann Arbor will be their final regular-season game as parents of a Wolverine.
"It's really difficult to fathom," said Michele. "I don't know what's going to happen to us when this is over. We're going to have withdrawal.
"It's really been amazing. I don't think we ever expected the three boys to all go to the same school, but what it's allowed us to do was basically transplant our family unit to Ann Arbor on weekends. They are all still part of this nuclear family well into their twenties. It's provided a centering force for all of us. The nine years at Michigan has reaffirmed the fact they grow up, but I hate to give them up. They're so precious to us."
Steven said, "It's been a spectacular experience. My wife and I are very appreciative of being embraced by the Michigan family. It's been wonderful. I mean, it's been nine years. Who gets -- as a football family -- to hang out at Michigan for nine years?"
The proud and pleased father chuckled at that thought and then answered his own question: "No one does. It's really been something. We're quite blessed."
Michele Glasgow (center) with her oldest then-Wolverine sons, Ryan (left), now with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Graham, now with the Detroit Lions.
Steven and Michele agreed that you can count the home and road games they've missed on one hand. And, since 2015, they've been adding trips to see the Lions and Bengals (beginning in 2016) most Sundays. They use a combination of flying and driving, and Mom and Dad usually go separate ways for the NFL games to assure one of them is at each son's game.
"Michigan's football schedule always comes out first," said Steven, "and when the professional schedules come out, within three days, we know where we're driving or flying to the games for the whole football season."
The Glasgows met during their medical residencies at the University of Pennsylvania, have been married 32 years, and have been going to their sons' football games for about half of that time.
"To think that they're now playing home games three and a half hours away from one another," said Steven. "That's pretty amazing."
It all began with the decision of their oldest son to walk on at Michigan after visiting Ivy League schools such as Yale and Harvard.
"Graham chose Michigan and was happy," said Steven. "And it was really Graham who recruited Ryan to come to Michigan. Then, when Jordy was being recruited and trying to decide where to go, it was Ryan and Graham that recruited Jordy.
"And we had one year where they were all there. It was kind of a cool year. That never happened in high school because the only reason it happened in college was that it was Graham's fifth year. That was such a nice year with all three of them in one location."
Michele said, "We'd eat and all watch TV Saturday nights, and it was a very fortunate and unique situation."
Jim Harbaugh became the head coach eight months before that 2015 season kicked off, and he turned around the program. Michigan beat Florida, 41-7, to cap a 10-3 season that doubled the victory total from 2014.
The Glasgows purchased a condominium in Ann Arbor so their sons' grandparents, Carmella ("G-ma"), 85, and James Glasgow, 90, can spend the falls in town and easily get to the games. There have been great side benefits for the boys, too.
"Jordy goes over at least three nights a week," said Steven, "and has meatballs in sauce in the heel of a loaf of bread. My mother is Italian, and every Sunday back home we would go there to eat. He loves the pasta and sauce, too. She just waits for Jordy to come, and those moments are some of the highlights of her week. That's why she's there."
Their youngest child, Anna, wanted to follow her brothers to Michigan. But she's interested in studying forensic science, and her father said the school does not offer a program that fits her. So, she's at Indiana University and also attends many of the football games her brothers play.
Graham has a condo near his grandparents and continues living in Ann Arbor while playing for the Lions, who train between Detroit and Ann Arbor in Allen Park.
The Lions always play at home on Thanksgiving, and that makes it a special week for the Glasgows. They rent a luxury suite at Ford Field in Detroit for a postgame feast for family and friends, and 35 will attend Thursday (Nov. 28) after the Lions face the Chicago Bears. There will be a family Thanksgiving on Friday at the Ann Arbor condo, the Wolverines-Buckeyes clash Saturday, and a drive after the game to Cincinnati, where Ryan and the Bengals will host the New York Jets on Sunday.
Mom and Dad will return to DeKalb in the early-morning hours Monday.
"It's a typical football weekend except me and Steven get to see all three boys play," said Michele.
From Marmion Academy (Aurora, Illinois) to Michigan to the NFL, it's been a brotherhood accomplishment.
"Their success was a group effort," said Michele. "Ryan made Graham feel more comfortable and Graham made Ryan feel more comfortable, and then Jordy got the benefit of the two of them."
The Glasgow Gang (from left): Ryan, father Steven, Graham and Jordan in Crisler Center after a home game in 2015.
Their father fondly recalled how their football journey began on the playing fields of DeKalb.
"Jordan hung and played with the older boys," said Steven. "There was nothing anyone his age was going to do to Jordan that could come close to the pounding that his brothers inflicted upon him -- but only in the most loving way possible, of course.
"With the older boys in the pros, and Jordy playing at Michigan and eying the same path, we told the boys one thing: 'Raising professional football players is never the goal.' We exposed them to everything and tried to make it as difficult as possible, and the goal was always to raise great men, a great woman, and people who would be great dads, moms, brothers and sisters, and husbands and wives and parents.
"That was everything we tried to do. And when you don't give up on anything and work hard, that bodes very well for you in life as well as providing success in football. And in football, you learn to be tough when things are tough."
Steven and Michele also have worked hard to be such a big part of the experience. They are surgeons with great demands on their time, but they always jumped into cars and planes to follow the boys. Steven's Yukon has more than 130,000 miles on it in just three years.
"Their support has meant a lot," said Jordan. "One of them has always come to my games, and they've done that ever since I was a little kid playing basketball. They've always shown a tremendous amount of support for us and our athletics. It's just meant a lot to me."
Steven pointed out that the Ross family has been along with them much of the way. James Ross, now a graduate assistant coach at Michigan, was a linebacker from 2012-15, and junior middle linebacker Josh Ross came to the Wolverines in 2017.
"You know," said Michele, "so many of the families of the players do a lot of traveling, too. And if you hang around after games and talk to them, it's really pretty powerful. It's the fabric of the whole experience. When the boys come onto the field before games, they look up into the stands for their families. They're looking for someone to be here for them, and it's very centering, really lovely.
"It's really been something."
