Strike a Heisman Pose: It's 211 Days To Michigan

Huskies' Bailey used trophy winner's rudeness to spur an unforgettable Rose Bowl response.

Mario Bailey won't recreate his Heisman pose from the 1992 Rose Bowl. It was a one-time moment that served its purpose and remains frozen in time.

Yet Washington's All-America wide receiver doesn't mind talking about it . His display was borne out of disrespect from the Michigan guy who won the real thing shortly before arriving in California and would be his opponent in the Granddaddy of them all.

"We stepped off the plane and had to do a lot of events with Michigan and I got to meet Mr. Desmond Howard," Bailey recalled. "He was very cocky and very arrogant and he kind of brushed us off."

In the fourth quarter, Bailey slipped behind the Wolverines' secondary to haul in a 38-yard scoring pass from Mark Brunell to score the final touchdown of the Huskies' 34-14 rout that secured a 12-0 season and a national championship.

Bailey stretched out, caught the ball and rolled through the end zone, in one motion coming to his feet and posing like the trophy figurine. 

He expected all along to have a better day than Howard on New Year's Day because he had portrayed the Michigan receiver in Rose Bowl practice and his UW defensive teammates had made it difficult for him to be the other guy. 

"I knew our team would probably stop him," Bailey said. "In practice, I was him all week. It was hard to catch a pass and hard to get open because they were double- and triple-teaming and making sure that everybody knew where he was. I knew our team would probably stop him."

With the current Huskies opening the season against Michigan on Sept. 5, former UW players are offering their most memorable performances against the Wolverines. It's 211 days away.

Some consider Bailey's pose the greatest of three superlative Michigan moments for the Huskies, with the others Steve Pelluer's two-point conversion pass to Larry Michael to beat Michigan 25-24 in 1983 and Hugh Millen's 73-yard scoring pass to Mark Pattison to help beat the Wolverines 20-11 in Michigan Stadium in 1984. 

"No offense to Mark and Steve, because those are my guys, but I think the Heisman pose is probably No. 1," Bailey said. 

Howard won the Heisman Trophy during a season in which he caught 62 passes for 985 yards and 19 touchdowns, 21 counting a pair on the ground.

Bailey was right there with him in production, pulling in 68 passes for 1,157 yards and 18 scores, but his team was so dominant he played in the fourth quarter only three times. In fact, he had two outings in which he caught three touchdown passes and didn't appear in the second half. 

"Coach James robbed me of the Heisman," he said jokingly.

Bailey, who works for the Seahawks as the director of legends and player community engagement, played a dozen years of pro football, at all levels. Nothing that came later compared to his national title team or his singular Michigan moment. 

"I struck the pose because the game was over," Bailey said, ever the competitor, as Howard found out. "It's something I'll remember for the rest of my life."