Jake Ryan ( American football ) Jacob William " Jake " Ryan ( born February 27 , 1992 ) is an American football linebacker who is currently in his redshirt sophomore season in 2012 for the Michigan Wolverines football team . He was a 2011 ESPN . com and BTN . com Big Ten All - Freshman selection as well as a 2011 " College Football News " All - Freshman honorable mention for the 2011 team . As a sophomore , he was a 2012 All - Big Ten second team selection . High school . In high school , Ryan was rated as the 30th best high school football inside linebacker in the country by Rivals . com . He was rated as the 60th and 81st best outside linebacker in the national class of 2010 by ESPN . com and Scout . com , respectively . He was regarded as the 34th best player in the state of Ohio by Rivals . Ryan was a participant in the Ohio North - South All - Star game . He recovered the onside kick to secure the Ohio High School Athletic Association ( OHSAA ) championship as a junior . Ryan had offers from Ball State , Toledo and a number of other Mid - American Conference , but he grew and prior to his senior year . Since Saint Ignatius High School has many Michigan Wolverine alumni , Ryan suspects that sudden late interest from Michigan was prompted by one of them . College . Ryan redshirted his freshman year for the 2010 Michigan Wolverines football team . As a redshirt freshman , he started in the September 3 opener for the 2011 team against Western Michigan as a result of a back injury to Cam Gordon . In the game , Ryan deflected a pass that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown . He went on to start 11 games and play in all 13 . On September 24 , 2011 against new head coach Brady Hoke ' s former team , San Diego State , Ryan had two fumble recoveries . His first career quarterback sack came on October 1 in the Little Brown Jug rivalry game against Minnesota . It was his only sack that year until the final game of the season . In the January 3 , 2012 Sugar Bowl 23 – 20 overtime victory against Virginia Tech , Ryan had 4 tackles for a loss , including one sack and one 22 - yard loss by David Wilson . During the game , he had his season - high 7 tackles ( 6 solo ) . For the season , he earned 2011 Big Ten All - Freshman team recognition from both ESPN . com and BTN . com as well as 2011 Rivals . com 2nd team All - Freshman and College Football News All - Freshman honorable mention honors . Ryan finished among the conference leaders in tackles for a loss / game ( . 85 , t - 15th ) . Prior to the second game of the 2012 season against Air Force Ryan ' s number was changed from 90 to 47 following a ceremony for Bennie Oosterbaan in which his retired number was placed back into circulation as a Michigan Football Legend jersey . On October 13 , Ryan was selected as Big Ten Defensive player of the week when he posted a career - high 11 tackles ( 3 . 5 for a loss and 1 . 5 sacks ) . Ryan was named an All - Big Ten second team selection by the media and an honorable mention selection by the coaches . There is no official diagnosis of when his return to football is expected , but ACL injuries typically require a year to fully heal , suggesting that his chances of playing football in 2013 are very slim . During Spring practice in 2013 , Ryan torn his anterior cruciate ligament . Personal . He comes from a family of football players : brothers , Connor wide receiver and Zack Linebacker play for Ball State ; father , Tim , was also a wide receiver at Wake Forest ( 1980 – 84 ) ; grandfather , Francis E . Sweeney , American politician and jurist , played defensive tackle for Xavier as well as in the Canadian Football League . Ryan is a Catholic .