Take the high road, Cade. Let your legacy live on at Michigan. Great things were accomplished.

Or, take the low road, and allow interviewers to play you like a puppet while encouraging you to dump on the Wolverines.

The choice was presented. McNamara, for some reason, chose the low road.

Winning a Big Ten championship, beating Ohio State and leading the Michigan Wolverines to their first 12-win season since 1997 defined Cade McNamara’s career in Ann Arbor; those moments were also program-defining for coach Jim Harbaugh. Without McNamara taking over for Joe Milton in 2020 and having an incredible 2021 season, the College Football Playoff-bound Wolverines wouldn’t be in their current position.

There should have been nothing but publicly positive comments regarding his time at Michigan.

Losing a job to underclassmen, especially given 2021’s performance, probably hurt. Being voted a captain in 2022, only to be cast aside after Week 2 probably burned as well. There was a knee injury and subsequent surgery; and in the end, McNamara announced that he was leaving UM for Iowa.

The news wasn’t all that surprising. Everyone was aware of who would be Michigan’s new quarterback. Either way, a cordial split was expected.

Going one step further, UM fans and teammates expressed gratitude for a player who, at the time, was thought to have been given the short end of the stick in this whole ordeal. But after his interview with QB Summit, many UM fans — and players and coaches — may have a different opinion of the former captain.

On Wednesday, McNamara had his first public interview since leaving Michigan — and the graduate transfer did exactly the opposite of what should have been done. Instead of keeping things positive with “The Room” and focusing on his future with the Hawkeyes, McNamara allowed hosts to tee-up insults regarding QB JJ McCarthy, the UM medical staff and the program as a whole.

Instead of defending McCarthy, who kept it professional throughout the QB competition, McNamara allowed hosts to refer to McCarthy as “the other guy” while taking other vague, tongue-in-cheek shots at Michigan. Dragging UM in the mud seemed to be a theme, and McNamara did very little — almost nothing, really — to stop hosts from knocking the Wolverines.

He went with the flow.

Not a great look, Cade.

Not whatsoever.

Instead of thanking Jim Harbaugh and Michigan for the past few years, McNamara chose to pick apart UM’s NIL plan — also not a great look from a former captain.

“Thinking about Michigan, they have the biggest alumni in the country, “McNamara said during the interview. “Why wouldn’t their players be making more than everyone else. Schools like Nebraska and Iowa have a great collection. There are these groups that are guaranteeing guys a certain amount of money just for being on the team — and that can be anyone, a walk-on, anyone can get that half of the collective. And then there’s schools like Michigan where there’s not much organized at all.”

Sour grapes are hard to swallow. And yes, winning a B1G championship and accomplishing a laundry list of tasks, only to lose a starting role, has to sting like no other. We’ve all been there, in some capacity, whether with personal matters or career endeavors. Typically, blowing off some steam helps people deal with the adversity. And sure, some of the “steam” might be negative — but that should be kept close to the vest, not aired out on a podcast, especially for a player who’s still pursuing a collegiate career.

How do those negative comments come across to Iowa? What about NFL scouts? Once touted for leadership, McNamara basically threw away all credibility during the hour-long interview. Talking about “guys getting screwed over” and allowing hosts to disparage former teammates and staff was enough to taint a legacy.

Now, for most, the exit will be remembered more than the in-season accomplishments. It wasn’t supposed to be this way, but that’s how it’s played out within the past 24 hours.

Taking the high road would have been the best way to approach the interview. Once a captain revered for work ethic and leading the Wolverines to highs unseen for years, to now coming off as self-entitled and arrogant, McNamara’s legacy at Michigan has suffered a significant blow — a blow that won’t be easily forgotten by those at Michigan, nor by those who support the program.