2001 is the last time the Detroit Lions selected a player from the University of Michigan in the NFL Draft. OT Jeff Backus was taken 18th overall and enjoyed a 12 year career wearing the Honolulu Blue & Silver.

In the span of 18 hours, new Lions GM Bob Quinn has taken a pair of Wolverines in OL Graham Glasgow and QB Jake Rudock (pictured together at the top of this page).

Along with DT Willie Henry (4th Round - Ravens), Glasgow and Rudock were two of the three Wolverines to be selected in the top six rounds.

Ironically, in his conference call with Lions media on Friday night, Glasgow - the team's 3rd round pick and an Illinois native - spoke about hoping to re-establish the connection between the Lions and the University of Michigan after a 15-year hiatus between draft picks

Rudock's selection raised the obvious irony of a quarterback from Michigan being drafted in the 6th round. Who can forget the 2000 draft when former Wolverine Tom Brady was selected by the Patriots and embarked on a future Hall of Fame career, right?

And top it off, Quinn - a former member of Bill Belichick's regime in New England from 2000 til the time he was hired by the Lions this past January, is in the process of executing his first ever draft as a general manager.

To Rudock's credit, he understands the irony but brushes it off as mere coincidence.

Rudock is likely to be the first of many quarterbacks to be drafted under Jim Harbaugh. A graduate transfer from Iowa, Rudock flourished under the tutelage of Harbaugh and the coaching staff in Ann Arbor and says his year at the University of Michigan was a training course to be an NFL Quarterback

Rudock will join his former teammate Graham Glasgow when they participate in the upcoming Lions rookie mini-camp in Allen Park. Safe to say, the quarterback and one of his former centers will enjoy being reunited on the "next level"

Follow Denny Kapp on Twitter: @DennyKapp