'Coming-out party for NIL': Michigan's Ronnie Bell, Ryan Hayes, J.J. McCarthy to headline 'Wolverine Weekend' in Traverse City

NIL is in full swing across the country and with Michigan Wolverines football players, three of whom are set to host an exciting summer event. ‘Wolverine Weekend’ at Grand Traverse Resort in Traverse City, Mich., will be headlined by U-M graduate wide receiver Ronnie Bell, graduate left tackle Ryan Hayes, a Traverse City native, and sophomore quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

The event is scheduled for Saturday, June 18, and is highlighted by a four-person scramble outing on ‘The Wolverine’ golf course and a meet and greet with players and special guests like award-winning author John U. Bacon and former Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner, who’s now in broadcasting with FOX Sports and Bally Sports Detroit.

The night will conclude with a formal dinner, which includes a keynote speech from Bacon, who’s written four books on the Michigan football program — Bo’s Lasting Lessons, Three And Out, Endzone and Overtime.

“It’s been talked about for a while, and we’ve looked at partnering with different media outlets or writers or alum and athletes from the school. But when the NIL stuff opened up, and we could actually bring in current players like J.J. McCarthy, Ronnie Bell and Ryan Hayes, it was like, ‘We have hit the peak of the event that we can host, so we’re going to go all-in on it this summer,'” Grand Traverse Resort public relations manager Caroline Rizzo said.

Ticket prices are as follows: Golf only ($130), golf and dinner ($230) dinner only ($150 adult, $75 child under 12). Tickets can be purchased on the Grand Traverse website, and there’s a group offer code for attendees who wish to lodge at the resort.

“This is like the coming-out party for NIL, basically,” Bacon added. “From Michigan’s point of view, this is the first truly public event that supports that. For all the Michigan fans that are saying Michigan is doing nothing, well, they’re doing something here.

“What Michigan fans have complained about for years is trying to level the playing field with other schools. NIL does it, and this event is part of that. The Michigan money cannon, when pointed appropriately, can do pretty amazing things.”

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Bell was Michigan’s leading receiver in both 2019 and 2020, totaling 74 catches and 1,159 yards between the two seasons, and is a returning captain. He suffered a torn ACL in the 2021 opener, but chose to return for his fifth year in a winged helmet. Hayes, a 6-7, 307-pounder, was a second-team All-Big Ten selection by the league’s coaches last season, and started all 14 games for the Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line. The highly-touted McCarthy was an impact freshman a year ago, throwing for 516 yards and five touchdowns and adding 124 rushing yards and two scores. He’s in line to battle for the starting signal-caller job during fall camp.

“A nice balance there — a speedster, a quarterback and one of the big dudes.” Bacon said.

During the outing, the players will be spread out around the holes, meeting and cheering on fans.

“You get to see them out there, maybe taking a tee shot or a putt for you,” Rizzo said. “They’ll be very engaged and interactive out there on the course.”

The meet and greet before dinner will be an intimate experience, with players set to chat, sign autographs and take pictures with Michigan fans. Bacon will be signing books and selling them at a discounted price ahead of his speech. The New York Times bestselling author hasn’t partaken in an in-person Michigan event since the fall of 2019, and is excited about the opportunity.

“It will be fun to break out some of the old stories and tell some new ones,” Bacon said.

It’ll be a “relaxed environment,” something Bacon and others around the Michigan football program don’t typically get to experience.

“It won’t just be an event that night, we’ll be hanging out, golfing, happy hour around the bar, staying up all night, all that good stuff,” Bacon, who’s been visiting Grand Traverse Resort annually for roughly 25 years, said. “So it’s a good chance for people to meet everybody casually and have some nice, long conversations.

“It’s a great place to go, it’s fun, it’s relaxed, and by the way, Michigan football is not usually a relaxing experience for me. It’s the games, it’s the press conferences, it’s a book. It’s high pressure for everybody; it’s deadlines. This is like boneless chicken — all the fun parts and none of the hard parts.”

“This is unique because it’s more than just going to meet them at The MDen, grabbing some great apparel and gear, or seeing them around campus at some other type of meet and greet or sporting event,” Rizzo added. “This is an all-inclusive experience.”

And there’s a lot to talk about. Michigan is coming off its first win over Ohio State since 2011 and first Big Ten title since 2004. The Wolverines made their first appearance in the College Football Playoff, and totaled 12 wins for just the third time in school history.

The vibe surrounding the program is ‘scary good,’ per head coach Jim Harbaugh. Bacon, a Michigan football historian, hasn’t seen perhaps anything quite like it, and he’s been around Ann Arbor his entire life and talked to more inside the Wolverines’ fort than about anybody.

“I was only five years old when [former Michigan head coach] Bo [Schembechler] won his first Ohio State game [24-12] in that unforgettable season [in 1969], so I learned about that second hand,” Bacon explained. “But when I talk to my dad, people like that, this last year felt kind of like that. Ohio State was coming in super heralded as always, they had just crushed Michigan State [56-7 in Columbus the week prior]. And Michigan was basically in control of the game the entire time. You kept on waiting for Ohio State to wake up, and it never happened. 

“We’ll see what happens this year. We’ll see if it was an aberration or part of a new trend. But it does look like, feel like, things have evened out for the first time in eons. We’ll find out, of course, in the years to come. But it was not a monkey they were dealing with on their backs — it was a gorilla. It involves four coaches — Lloyd Carr, Rich Rodriguez, Brady Hoke and Jim Harbaugh. It wasn’t just one coach or one era — it was the whole thing.

“Not just to win, but to beat them so emphatically, that was almost the more surprising part, I think. And the results were confirmed with a [42-3] drubbing [of Iowa] in Indianapolis.”

“That vibe, I have not seen in too long for me to remember, if I ever have, possibly.”

Traverse City is a top-10 vacation destination in Michigan per U.S. News, and Grand Traverse has the largest convention and conference center in Northern Michigan.