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

[Buckskin86]

Spielman: MSU will be tough, plus other Big Ten sleepers
August 5, 2007

Part 2 of our interview with former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman. Spielman, who can be heard on WBNS-AM (1460) in Columbus, Ohio, is an ESPN football analyst.

Can Michigan State consistently compete with Ohio State and Michigan? I think the resources are there. The talent level and their ability to recruit has been proven over the years. Especially when I was playing (at Ohio State, 1984-88) and how good Michigan State was and the talent that they had. And I certainly think that it could be built and built quickly. Where Mark will probably be a good advantage is his knowledge of the region in which Michigan State will recruit.

What has Ohio State looked like in the spring? Their defense is going to be better than they were last year. And they were pretty darn good. ... They're so deep at linebacker. Malcolm Jenkins is an excellent corner. Their defensive line has a bunch of young, talented players. Offensively, that's the question mark. They have good, solid linemen back. Brian Robiskie is a really good wide receiver. Brian Hartline is a kid that will come in and play well at wide receiver. Ray Small is another Tedd Ginn look-alike. They have a running back that if you give him the ball enough times, he's capable of 1,500 yards in Chris Wells. And of course the big question mark is at quarterback. So you have three kids. Playing for the position is Todd Boeckman, Rob Schoenhoft and Antonio Henton. I think Antonio Henton is a guy who has the chance to be really, really special.

Spielman: MSU will be tough, plus other Big Ten sleepers

 

[Buckskin86]

Thu September 20, 2007
TV work allows Spielman to be a family guyRelated Searches
San Jose Mercury News | 9/20/2007

His career in broadcasting has given him more time to display his softer side as a devoted husband and father. He and his wife, Stefanie, a breast cancer survivor, have four children, ages 5, 6, 11 and 13.

"It's important for me to be a good husband and father,? Spielman said.

"I think that I would enjoy coaching, but I don't want to be married to coaching. This part of it allows me to watch film, interact with coaches and players, have a good seat and get to talk about something I'm passionate about. So it's kind of the best of both worlds.?

NewsOK: TV work allows Spielman to be a family guy

 

[osugrad21]

This was about to go in The Game thread, but its too good to be lost in the shuffle:

DFP
CHRIS SPIELMAN: I think Lloyd Carr's tired; OSU, U-M will be 'angry'

November 15, 2007
FREE PRESS STAFF
Former Lions linebacker Chris Spielman, who can be heard on WBNS-AM (1460) in Columbus, Ohio, talked with WXYT-FM about the Michigan-Ohio State game:


Cont...

?There?s five times in my career that I?ve actually been on a field and I felt like time stood still, and I kind of took one of those Kodak moments in my mind like I can?t believe this is happening or I can?t believe I?m a part of this. They were the four Michigan games, and the first NFL game.?

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Rob Oller commentary: Spielman found common bond with foe-turned-friend from bayou

Sunday, January 6, 2008 7:08 AM
By Rob Oller


THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Photo courtesy of Andy Andolsek
Chris Spielman, right, and Eric Andolsek (76) were captains for Ohio State and LSU when the teams met in Baton Rouge in 1987.



NEW ORLEANS -- The scuffle's outcome was as 50-50 as the coin flip. Either Chris Spielman was going to land on his head or the jughead across from him was going to fall on his tail.
Spielman didn't give ground. Neither did Eric Andolsek, the hulking Louisiana State offensive lineman who stood across from the Ohio State linebacker, waiting for the coin toss on that blue-skied Sept-ember day in the bayou.
The year was 1987 and the Buckeyes were making their first trip to LSU's Tiger Stadium. As kickoff approached, Spielman met at midfield with the referee and team captains, including Andolsek, who stared a hole through him.
"Eric is looking all mean and nasty and trying to intimidate us at the toss," Spielman said last week. "The next thing I know we're interlocked and I'm thinking, 'Man, the strongest human being in the world has ahold of me. It's going to be a battle.' "

Continued.....

 

[BB73]

Spiels is on the 2008 ballot for the College Football Hall of Fame.

official.site

Three Buckeyes On College Football Hall of Fame Ballot

Chris Spielman, Ohio State-Linebacker-Two- time First Team All-America selection (1986-87) - unanimous in 1987, consensus in 1986... The recipient of the 1987 Lombardi Award, he is a three- time First Team All-Conference selection and a member of two BIG TEN title teams.

 

[Buckskin86]

Spielman on College Hall of Fame ballot
By Jason Lloyd
03/13/2008

THERE was a time when Chris Spielman wasn't sure he wanted to be a Buckeye. Now that just seems foolish.

At the time, it seemed that way to his father, too. Sonny Spielman was a successful high school coach at Canton Timken. When he heard how much his son liked Bo and the University of Michigan, Sonny Spielman nearly disowned him.

''He called me a traitor,'' Chris recalled yesterday.

Despite whatever recruiting process he endured, there really wasn't much of a choice. If he wanted a seat at the Thanksgiving table, Chris Spielman was going to Ohio State.

Now, perhaps, he's about to take his rightful seat at the Hall of Fame table, too.

Spielman was named one of 75 players on the ballot for election to the College Football Hall of Fame this week. The fact it's taken this long for him to even make the ballot is a felony. At a school that annually sneezes All-American linebackers, only one -- Randy Gradishar -- is in the college hall.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19387010&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46370&rfi=6

 

[Buckskin86]

MITCH ALBOM
Mitch flashback: Chris Spielman is obsessed with perfection
By MITCH ALBOM ? FREE PRESS COLUMNIST ? April 7, 2008

Editor's note: Story originally published on Jan. 8, 1992.
Alone in the dark he sits, behind the projector, his thumb clicking the remote button as the players on screen move backwards then forwards then backwards then forwards.


"Corner trap (click, click)," he says, "now a sprint 15 . . . see how that guard rides the center up there (click) . . . now this is a 15 bend, see that tight end (click) he's supposed to block No. 52 (click) he's gotta get his butt up there, right now! Look (click) he's hesitating (click) he's hesitating (click) . . . GO, RIGHT NOW! (click) . . . too late!"

Coaches do this kind of film watching, sipping coffee and rubbing their eyes. And so Chris Spielman, a coach's son, does it, too. He is the only player in the Silverdome at this hour. It is Tuesday, "off day," the day when other Lions are at home sleeping or playing with the kids.

And here is Spielman with his joystick.

"This is Washington's draw play (click) . . . see that hole? Where that guy is going? (click) I gotta be there (click) . . . Ooh (click) I'll be faster than that guy Sunday, guaranteed (click)."

You might think this unusual behavior for an athlete, even during the playoffs, but remember, we are talking about Chris Spielman, a fellow whose first tackle came at age 5, when he took down his grandmother. "She had just walked in the door and I wanted to play football and I went" -- he holds his arms out and leans forward -- "whompf!"

"Jeez," I say. "Did you hurt her?"

"Nah, she's still living."

Mitch flashback: Chris Spielman is obsessed with perfection | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

 

[PlanetFrnd]

From Essssspin's Mel "the hair" Kiper, Jr.

Evaluation helped motivate Spielman before '88 draft

This year will be the 30th year I've evaluated talent for the NFL draft (and my 25th year with ESPN) with my draft guide. There have been times when my evaluations of players matched what they would do in the NFL, and then there are those players who exceeded the kind of career I thought they would have after college.


Here's a look at the 10 players (listed chronologically) I thought teams reached for too early or whom I projected to be career backups...

...2. 1988: Chris Spielman, LB, Ohio St. -- Second-round pick by the Detroit Lions
I compared Spielman's attitude on the field to that of Hall of Famers Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke, but I projected him to go in the fourth round. (The rumor at the time was Spielman had a photo of me in his bedroom and used it as motivation.) Spielman started all 148 games of his career and was named to five All-Pro teams...

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch
Former Ohio State and Detroit Lions linebacker Chris Spielman spent time with U.S. troops in Kuwait recently as part of "Operation Gridiron." The visit by former professional football players was sponsored by the United Service Organizations.
"This trip is a very small way to serve my country compared to our service members, but it's the best way at this time in my life," Spielman told the public affairs office of the 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Cont...

 

[Buckskin86]

GLARING OMISSION

No offense to former Northwestern linebacker and current head coach Pat Fitzgerald, but could someone explain to me how in the name of Archie Manning did Fitzgerald get elected to the College Football Hall of Fame before Chris Spielman? Of course, Spielman is a local product who excelled at Ohio State and in the NFL, so maybe we're a tad biased.

Then again, maybe we're just being logical.

Is it plausible that Fitzgerald had a better college football career than did Spielman?

OK, I didn't think so, either.

Fitzgerald certainly has credentials worthy of the hall of fame. He was a two-time consensus All-American and helped lead the Wildcats to their first Rose Bowl appearance in 47 years.

Spielman, too, was a two-time consensus All-American. While Fitzgerald had 299 career tackles, Spielman is credited with 546 career tackles, 30 for loss. Spielman won the Lombardi Award in 1987. Fitzgerald bests him here. He is the only two-time winner of the Bednarik and Nagurski awards.

The Hall of Fame missed this vote, and that's too bad. Spielman belongs in there.

CantonRep.com | The Canton Repository | Canton, Stark County & Northeast Ohio News, Community Events & Classifieds

 

[MD Buckeye]

Rivals $

5/4

'Why Spielman belongs in the Hall' by Brandon Castel

 

[Buckskin86]

MITCH ALBOM
Mitch flashback: Chris Spielman is in an elite circle
By MITCH ALBOM ? FREE PRESS COLUMNIST ? May 15, 2008

Editor's note: Story originally published on Dec. 16, 1994.

Between plays, he walks in these nervous circles, as if chained to a tree.

He goes halfway, then turns, heads back. His arms hang thick, pushed out by his well-pumped back muscles, the Incredible Hulk in a helmet. And there he goes again, another half circle, backwards, forward. You say to yourself, "He's a raging bull. He's a lion in a cage. He's fuming."

"Why do you do that?" he is asked.

"Do what?"

"Walk in those circles."

"I do that?"

You want to know why Chris Spielman was chosen Thursday to his fourth Pro Bowl, as starting linebacker? Not because he pounds running backs like a mallet hitting a gong. Not because he flattens receivers like a falling rock flattens mud. Not because he calls the defensive plays, leads the Lions in tackles, or comes to the Silverdome on his day off to watch film.

No. It's those circles. He looks dangerous. I figure opposing players see him pacing around, they say, 'Shoot, I'm voting this guy to the Pro Bowl so he doesn't kill me.' "

Mitch flashback: Chris Spielman is in an elite circle | Freep.com | Detroit Free Press

 

[OregonBuckeye]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9aSFIMbUmY]YouTube - Buckeye Classics: Chris Spielman excerpt[/ame]

 

[osugrad21]

Scout$--All-Time Greatest ? No. 12: Chris Spielman

The 2-time All-American and 1987 Lombardi Award winner finished with 546 tackles at tOSU.

 

[Buckskin86]

G is for Growling. For the Ohio/Ohio State broadcast, Chris Spielman got stuck in Paul Maguire mode, roaming the sidelines and providing headset commentary on what he was noticing. For future reference, do NOT do this again, ESPN, for Spielman at a Buckeyes game. With Ohio State struggling well into the third quarter to do anything against the Bobcats, Spielman appeared close to leaping onto the field and making a tackle himself.

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