Wolverine TV: Karsen Barnhart, Mason Graham talk Michigan football pre-Indiana
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Michigan Wolverines football graduate offensive tackle Karsen Barnhart and sophomore defensive tackle Mason Graham meet with the media ahead of their team’s game against Indiana. Watch video of Barnhart in the player at the top of the screen and Graham in the embed below.
On Monday, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh discussed how Barnhart’s dad, Jeff, a blue collar union worker, operates a skid-steer for a living and that he’s helped Harbaugh become better with heavy machinery. Jeff helped Harbaugh on a project a couple years back. Barnhart was asked about that relationship.
“It’s pretty cool to see Coach Harbaugh give a compliment like that to my dad,” Barnhart said. “My dad is a crane operator. He works in a union for local 324 and he also runs a bunch of heavy equipment. It’s pretty cool to see that.
“A couple years ago, Coach Harbaugh bought a new cabin up north, and my dad got the opportunity to go work with him, and I went up there, as well. It was pretty funny to see my dad run the skid-steer and Coach Harbaugh — mouth wide open — like, ‘Wow, this is really impressive,’ compared to the way he was running it. It was pretty funny.
Added the Michigan lineman” I’ve run a skid-steer here and there, but nothing like my dad has done.”
Graham, meanwhile, discussed playing with a significant club on his left hand and still shining despite it in Michigan’s 52-10 win over Minnesota last weekend. He led the team with 6 tackles, including a sack and another behind the line of scrimmage, and was all over the field in a dominant effort.
“Obviously, I felt limited, but you just gotta do what you gotta do,” Graham said. “It is what it is. Just trying to get more comfortable every day in practices so I can be more comfortable in the games.
“I’ll be practicing with the clubs for a couple more weeks.”
It was challenging for the Michigan standout defender to watch his team play during the two games that he missed, versus Rutgers and at Nebraska.
“It was pretty rough, even that first away game at Nebraska,” Graham said. “I couldn’t travel to the game, so I was basically just watching from my house, cheering on my guys. It was cool to get a different point of view.”
