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LB Chris Spielman (2x All-American, 4x Pro Bowl, 3x All-Pro, CFB HOF)

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Ndamukong Suh, Chris Spielman share bond
By Tom Kowalski
April 21, 2010

ALLEN PARK ? OK, so I just watched that segment on ESPN where Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh goes against the 5-foot-8, 160-pound Sports Science guy.

The idea was to measure the 6-foot-4, 307-pounder's explosion coming off the line of scrimmage, and Suh didn't hold back and simply launched the science guy, John Brenkus, through the air.

It reminded me of the time many, many years ago when Detroit sportscaster Don Shane came up with the great idea that he'd dress up as an NFL running back and try to run past Detroit Lions linebacker Chris Spielman.

I'm not kidding. They shot the segment after a practice on the Silverdome's outdoor practice field and, if I remember correctly, it was early in Spielman's career.

Now, Shane and Spielman are both good, friendly guys and had a good working relationship and it's my guess that Shane thought some of that good feeling might translate to the football field. And the first couple of times, it did. It was playful ... until Shane said "I'm going to run past you."

I remember standing there with the other beat writers and we looked at each other like, "Uh-oh."

Think about it. Think back to the way Spielman ? at 6-feet, 247 pounds ? played football every Sunday and ask yourself this: "Would Spielman risk getting shown up by some member of the media
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[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAhVaxs9a4]YouTube - Chris Spielman vs. The Reporter[/ame]

Ndamukong Suh, Chris Spielman share bond | - MLive.com
 
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Spielman Honored For Cancer Fighting 'Spirit'
Tuesday, April 27, 2010

COLUMBUS, Ohio ? Chris Spielman, husband of the late Stefanie Spielman, who died last year after a lengthy and public battle with breast cancer was honored on Tuesday for continuing to fight against the disease.

Spielman was the 2009 recipient of the Heather Pick Spirit Award.

10TV News anchor Angela An presented the award to Spielman, 10TV's Andrea Cambern reported. It is named in honor of 10TV News anchor Heather Pick, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2008.

The award recognizes an individual or group who shows exemplary leadership in the fight against cancer.

It is given as part of a celebration of volunteers for Lifecare Alliance and the Columbus Cancer Clinic.

"I have learned over the past 12 years to define wealth by not how much we have but by how much we give not only of our time but of ourselves and our resources," Spielman said.

Spielman said he has also worked to teach his children the message of service and the entire family has embraced the fight against cancer.

Chris made two promises to Stefanie before she died.

"Those two things are, be the best father, and carry her legacy on," he said.
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Spielman Honored For Cancer Fighting 'Spirit' | WBNS-10TV, Central Ohio News
 
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Article published May 09, 2010
Going strong
It's more than X's and O's for ex-Buckeye
By MATT MARKEY BLADE SPORTS WRITER

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Chris Spielman is very hands-on with the football camp he runs in suburban Columbus. While teaching kids the proper techniques of football, he mixes in life lessons.
( IMPACT ACTION SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY )

COLUMBUS - Scores of current and former pro athletes are involved with instructional camps, where young people go to learn the secrets of the game.

What they get in some cases is an appearance by the celebrity at the start of camp, a 79-cent motivational speech, and then the pro climbs back in the Escalade, gets on the cell phone, and the next time the kids see him is on ESPN. They too often hang their name on the camp brochure, but they don't hang around the camp for long.

Legendary Ohio State linebacker and former NFL standout Chris Spielman has taken a different approach at his youth football camp, which he started three years ago. Spielman is the anti-star. If he were any more "hands-on" during the camp, there might be broken bones to deal with.

"Chris has been fully involved with this camp and these kids from the day the idea was proposed," said Andy Olds, a high school coach from Cincinnati who has worked at the Spielman camp since its inception.

"He's out there every minute of every day, making sure the drills are done exactly right, and constantly conveying life lessons while he's teaching football technique. He's all over this camp."
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Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said Spielman is one of a number of former OSU players who has remained a great ambassador for the sport, the school, and the football program. Tressel is not surprised at the mission and the success of the Chris Spielman Football Camp, and is proud of all that Spielman has done with his charity work, and in giving back to Ohio State, and the sport.

"That's as simple as it comes: once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye," Tressel said. "Our current guys get so much from the experience and life lessons they learn from interacting with our former players. Nobody can understand what it's like to stand in the same shoes like family, and the Buckeye family is a great example of that."
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toledoblade.com -- The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio
 
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Intensity, passion fueled Spielman?s fire
By Travis Kozek
[email protected]
Published: Tuesday, May 18, 2010

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From recent stars James Laurinaitis and A.J. Hawk to past greats like Tom Cousineau and Randy Gradishar, Ohio State?s linebacking corps can perennially be discussed as one of the nation?s best.

And when it comes to college linebackers past and present, few rival Chris Spielman.

?There is no question he is one of the best,? said Jack Park, author of The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia. ?I can?t imagine anybody picking the top 25 players in football history at Ohio State and not including Chris Spielman in that group.?

A Canton, Ohio, native, hype began surrounding Spielman in high school when his play made him the first high school athlete to land his face on a Wheaties box.

In 1984, Spielman traded in his Massillon Washington High School uniform for scarlet and gray to begin what would prove to be an illustrious college football career at OSU.

Both Park and Jim Karsatos, former OSU quarterback and teammate of Spielman, agreed that Spielman?s intensity set him apart.

?Chris Spielman had an intensity as great as probably any football player I have ever studied or known,? Park said. ?He had an intensity about him as a player that was almost unequaled.?

As a freshman, Spielman wasted little time proving his intensity and passion for the game to his teammates and the Buckeye faithful.

?In practice he worked as hard as anybody out there,? Karsatos said. ?His intensity was contagious, even as a younger player, and the older guys fed off of that.?

By his sophomore year in 1985, Spielman began to establish himself as a household name and a force to be reckoned with on the ?silver bullet? defense.

The play that sticks out the most in Park?s mind came in a game that year in which Spielman had 19 tackles.

It was a game that pinned the Buckeyes against the No. 1-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes in the Horseshoe for what Park called one of the greatest OSU victories of all time.

?It was a fourth-down play and Iowa gave it to their tailback,? Park said. ?Chris made the tackle and that really started to seal the game.?

?Spielman made a lot of big plays when the team needed it the most,? he said.
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The Lantern - Intensity, passion fueled Spielman’s fire
 
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Spielman urges purpose-driven life
BY AMBER SLEEK ? News-Messenger correspondent ? June 19, 2010

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Parker Inks and former St. Joseph Central Catholic football coach Todd Drusback talk with former Cleveland Browns linebacker Chris Spielman during the second annual Parker's Purpose fundraising dinner and auction. (Doug Hise | News-Messenger correspondent)

"What you give will grow and what you keep you will lose," Chris Spielman said.

Spielman, a former Ohio State Buckeyes two-time All American and current ESPN college football color analyst, inspired others to give at the second annual Parker's Purpose fundraising dinner and auction at Ole Zim's Wagon Shed on Friday night.

Spielman, who played for the Detroit Lions and Cleveland Browns as part of a decade-long NFL career, encouraged others to have a purpose in life -- what 11-year-old Parker Inks had in helping develop Parker's Purpose.

More than two years ago, Parker Inks was taken by LifeFlight to St. Vincent Hospital with respiratory problems. Today, he is in a wheelchair from muscular dystrophy. But he remains the ballboy for the St. Joseph Central Catholic football team.

"I just think everyone here has a huge heart for coming and doing this," Inks said. "I hope that they will never give up, never quit and that nothing will get in their way."
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Spielman urges purpose-driven life | thenews-messenger.com | The News-Messenger

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut4DYDxWBe4]YouTube - Spielman shares time for Parker's Purpose[/ame]
 
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Spielman to be inducted into College HOF
Source: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Posted: Wednesday, July 07, 2010

DALLAS ? Thousands of college football fans from across the country will join the National Football Foundation from July 16-17 at the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind., for the organization's annual Enshrinement Festival, which will pay tribute to the storied careers of Chris Spielman from the Ohio State University along with 23 other football standouts as they are formally enshrined into the Hall of Fame.

"We are very pleased to have the opportunity to enshrine another exceptional class of college football legends," said NFF President & CEO Steven J. Hatchell. "Each year our hard-working honors courts do an outstanding job ensuring the game's greatest players and coaches find their place on college football's mountain top. We look forward to celebrating in South Bend with this amazing class and their loyal fans from around the country."

A member of the acclaimed Ohio State football program, Chris Spielman made a name for himself during his four years as linebacker. Leading the Buckeyes to three consecutive bowl games, Spielman also played in two Big Ten Championships and earned First Team All-Big Ten three times. Spielman led the Buckeyes as all-time leading solo tackle with 283. In 1987 Spielman won the Lombardi Award and was named the top defensive player in the 1987 Cotton Bowl. During this game, Spielman had two interceptions; one for 24 yards leading to a touchdown to clinch the Buckeye victory. Spielman finished his career with 546 tackles, eight sacks, and 11 interceptions.
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OSU's Spielman to be inducted into College HOF - Big Ten Network
 
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July 13. 2010
Spielman remains loyal
By LEWIS BAGLEY
Tribune Staff Writer

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Penn State has long been known as "Linebacker U."

Yet, one other Big Ten entry can boast of a roster of greats from that position that certainly rivals, if not surpasses the Nittany Lions.

Over the last four decades especially, Ohio State has produced the likes of Randy Gradishar, Bob Brudzinski, Tom Cousineau, Marcus Marek, Pepper Johnson, Andy Katzenmoyer and James Laurinaitis.

Perhaps the best Buckeye linebacker of all, Chris Spielman, will be enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame during ceremonies here this weekend.

What you may not know is that if it had originally been up to Spielman, a 1983 graduate of Massillon (Ohio) Washington High School, he wouldn't have been on that list.

"When I was deciding on a school, I told my dad (Sonny) I wanted to go to Michigan," Spielman recalled. "He said 'you aren't going to Michigan, you traitor. If you go there, you aren't coming home.'"

So, he ended up a Buckeye.

"It was the best decision my dad ever made for me," Spielman said.

Spielman's credentials are impeccable: He's the 1987 Lombardi Award winner, a two-time All-American and he graduated as the school's all-time leader in solo tackles (283). He finished his career with 546 tackles, eight sacks and 11 interceptions.

Spielman becomes the 28th OSU player or coach to be enshrined ? matching Southern California for the third-most representatives in the Hall. Only Michigan (29) and Notre Dame (44) have more.
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South Bend Tribune: Spielman remains loyal
 
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I've been to the HOF in Suth Ben, but not for an enshrinement ceremony. I think it will be tough to find a parking spot nearby.

Good news - This year's event will be on a Webcast this Saturday.

Bad news - It will be hosted by Mark May and Jesse Palmer.

Official.site

NFF Partners with XOS Digital to Provide Live Webcast of the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Show

Fans will be able to watch this historic event at either www.footballfoundation.org or www.xosdigital.com or collegefootball.org.

DALLAS - The National Football Foundation (NFF) & College Hall of Fame announced today that XOS Digital, Inc., the leading provider of digital technologies for sports teams nationwide, will stream live to the Web the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Show on July 17 from 8:15 p.m. to 10 p.m. EDT. The event will be available at www.footballfoundation.org or www.xosdigital.com or collegefootball.org.

"We are extremely excited to be able to provide college football fans from around the country the unique opportunity to experience this celebrated
event by watching on the Web," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell.

"I want to thank the team at XOS Digital for making this happen. We are constantly striving to reach an ever broadening audience, and this webcast will ensure that more fans than ever can witness this historic occasion."

Widely-respected ESPN commentators Mark May and Jesse Palmer will co-host the Hollywood-styled show, which will take place at the Century Center in South Bend, Ind., and pay tribute to the storied careers of 24 of the game's greatest legends. Viewers of the event will see highlight footage of each hall of famer and hear their thoughts as they reflect on their careers and the meaning of achieving the sport's ultimate honor.

Cont'd ...
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