50 years ago, Thom Darden's interception triggered Woody's tirade, clinched Michigan win

Thom Darden had to make a quick decision, and the result was one of the most famous plays in the history of The Game. Ohio State was moving the football against Michigan late in the 1971 installment of what was becoming one of the greatest rivalries in sports. The Buckeyes were threatening to take the lead and ruin Michigan's perfect season, and a pass was coming Darden's way. "I saw him coming from my left, then I see the ball," Darden said in a recent interview. "If I would've gone in front of him it would've been interference. We were coming to the same point at the same time. I'm thinking, 'If I go through him it's interference, so I'll jump over him.' " What happened next 50 years ago this week in Ann Arbor made Darden, a Sandusky High School graduate who went on to star for the Cleveland Browns, a legend in Michigan. Darden sized up Ohio State wide receiver Dick Wakefield and waited for quarterback Don Lamka to throw a pass. About two minutes were remaining in the game and the Wolverines were clinging to a 10-7 lead. "The ball was kind of low so he was going down for the ball so I jumped over him," Darden said. "I'll be honest with you — I don't know how I caught the ball. The ball just stuck to me. I showed the referee the ball; there was no way anyone thought I could intercept the ball." Ohio State coach Woody Hayes certainly didn't think so. Hayes threw plenty of tirades during his long coaching career, but his indignant display in Year 3 of the Ten Year War will never be forgotten as long as these two rivals play football. Darden's controversial interception at the Michigan 32-yard line sealed the Buckeyes' fourth loss that season and sent the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl. "It happened so fast. I rolled over a couple times and I still had the ball," Darden said. "I was showing the ball to the official and then everybody went crazy. I thought it was me they were going crazy over. They were actually going crazy over Woody going crazy." Hayes wanted a pass interference call. When he didn't get it, someone, or something, had to pay the price. Hayes was flagged a couple times, ejected from the game and tore apart a yard marker, tossing part of it onto the field. There was little video of the incident, but the moment remains infamous. Darden didn't see Hayes tearing apart the yard marker. The Michigan senior found out on the way to the locker room, but Hayes' antics did not surprise him. Saying no to Woody It was not Darden's first go-round with Hayes, who won 205 games from 1951 to 1978 at Ohio State. Darden flashed on recruiters' radars during a standout high school career at Sandusky. He always saw himself as a defensive back, but played linebacker for the Blue Streaks in the rugged Buckeye Conference. "I was 173 pounds soaking wet," Darden said. "Our coaches wanted me to play linebacker and of course I said, 'OK, whatever I gotta do.' "I had pads from my fingernails all the way up to my shoulder pads. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It toughened me up. It made me take on blockers." Hayes was one of several college coaches interested in Darden, who didn't agree with what Ohio State's legendary leader had in mind. "Woody wanted me to play linebacker because in his scheme the outside linebacker also would cover pass plays," Darden recalled. "But by this time all of my (Sandusky) coaches said, 'Look you're gonna be a defensive back and you're just filling in.' I didn't think anyone would make me play linebacker, especially in the Big Ten." Darden's recruiting trip to Ohio State made it easy for him to go elsewhere. He was left waiting in a room for what he said was "a long time" and got up and walked down the hall. He took a peek at the Buckeyes' recruiting "war room" and caught a glimpse of how college coaches conducted business. "I peek in there and look at the board. I see my name down around the middle," Darden said. "When it was time to go in, they called for my mother, my father and myself. We go in and he said, 'Tom, see we have you No. 1 on our list at that position.' "I couldn't say anything, that would've been disrespectful. My father would not have liked that so I kept my mouth shut. But I had already seen he had my name in the middle of the pack. He was using that as a sales pitch. We got off on the wrong foot." Darden ended up at the school that would became Hayes' bitter rival. At the time, Michigan recruited well in Sandusky. Darden had followed defensive back Brian Healy and lineman Werner Hall to Ann Arbor. Healy and Hall were senior stars on the Blue Streaks' undefeated 1965 team. Darden was a senior on the 1967 squad. Hello, Bo Darden started three years for the Wolverines (freshmen were not eligible until 1972), playing a hybrid safety/linebacker position. He was on the field in 1969, Bo Schembechler's first season leading the Wolverines. Michigan had been embarrassed a year earlier by the Buckeyes, losing 50-14. Ohio State, the defending national champion, came into the 1969 game undefeated and confident, but the Wolverines got revenge, 24-12. The Ten Year War was on. Michigan would win five of those games, Ohio State four, and there was one tie. Darden was not a big fan of Schembechler, either, although he said the coach got "softer" as he aged. Darden took a recruiting trip to Miami University with fellow Sandusky star Billy Taylor when Schembechler was the coach in Oxford. Darden found the itinerary strange. "Usually when you went on recruiting trips you get a great meal on someone else's dime. We go down to Miami and Bo told us to go change clothes," Darden said. "He put us through a workout. We ran a 40-yard dash, we did agility drills. Who was this cat? When we were in the locker room changing our clothes, Billy and I said, 'Look, we're not coming down here to play. This guy is crazy.'" Darden thought he'd seen the last of Schembechler, who was hired by Michigan in January 1969. The new coach conducted one-on-one interviews with his players shortly after arriving on campus. "It was a 15-minute meeting," Darden said. "I go into his office and he told me to close the door. I turn around and he said, 'You thought you were getting away from me, didn't you?' I'll never forget that as long as I live." Memorable moment Darden turned out to be a great player for Schembechler. His famous interception on November 21, 1971 sent the Wolverines to the Rose Bowl, where they would lose 13-12 to Stanford. The loss cost Michigan a national championship. Michigan fans might prefer to remember Darden's interception as the high point of the 1971 season. As the years roll on, Darden has discovered that his highlight-reel play has serious staying power. "People across the country talk about that," Darden said. "I can be in Florida and there will be someone who will say something about that play, especially during Ohio State-Michigan week." Darden, who now lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, was a player who seemed to be ready for anything. But even he wasn't prepared for the heat Dick Wakefield's mother brought years after he sealed that win in Ann Arbor. Wakefield was from Avon Lake and Darden ran into his mother at a banquet. She had a strong opinion on the interception, a take that remains popular in Ohio. "His mother got up and said it was a travesty they didn't call interference on you," Darden said. "That kind of caught me off guard."