National Signing Day 2016: Jim Harbaugh Nets Tom Brady, Derek Jeter for Special Event
ByThe Michigan football program is calling on its most successful alums, hometown heroes, and other public figures to help celebrate National Signing Day.
Headlining its Signing of the Stars event will be UM alum and former Wolverines quarterback Tom Brady and Kalamazoo Central High School product Derek Jeter. The event will take place Wednesday, Jan. 3 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at UM's Hill Auditorium, the team said in a statement.
The Players' Tribune, a website Jeter founded, will live stream the event. Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh, Brady, Jeter, and other celebrity attendees will announce the names of high school football players who sign letters of intent. The event is invitation only, though TPT will allow anyone to watch.
Proceeds of the event will benefit the ChadTough Foundation. Chad Carr, the five-year-old grandson of former Michigan football coach Lloyd Carr, died from brain cancer in November and the foundation was established to "fund research and raise awareness for Pediatric Brain Tumors with an emphasis on Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)."
According to SI.com, some of the other attendees are:
John Harbaugh: Baltimore Ravens head coach and Jim's brother
Desmond Howard: Wolverines defensive back, return specialist, Heisman Trophy winner
Denard Robinson: Wolverines quarterback/running back/wide receiver
Jim Leyland: former MLB manager
Lou Holtz: former college football head coach
Ric Flair: pro wrestler
At Michigan, Brady played for two Big Ten championship teams and one national title winning team before going on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play in the NFL.
The New York Yankees drafted Jeter out of high school, but the future Hall of Fame shortstop has maintained Michigan would have been his choice of college if things had played out differently.
Both ESPN and Rivals currently rank Harbaugh's incoming recruiting class fifth overall in the nation.