Columbus Discoveries : Shawn Springs and His Father Ron Are Bound by Blood and Ohio State Football Glory

Listen closely and the world according to Shawn Springs sounds an awful lot like the one espoused by his 40-year-old father, Ron Springs, even though the view is one generation removed and comes from the opposite side of the ball.

What else would you expect from bloodlines and Buckeye-lines?

The father played for the legendary Woody Hayes, appeared in three bowl games and was the leading rusher for Ohio State in the 1977 Orange Bowl before turning in a solid professional career with the Dallas Cowboys from 1979 through 1984.

The son desperately wants to get his hands on the ball--but Shawn’s little corner of the neighborhood is eerily quiet because of his commanding presence at Ohio State.

Still, his ability at cornerback earned him the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year honors as a junior and could possibly make him a top 10 pick in the NFL draft if he comes out early.

Of course, there is one constant, irksome thread running through the otherwise rosy background of the upcoming Rose Bowl game against Arizona State: The father and the son have had seasons ruined by losses to Michigan.

The Springs, it would appear, are united in good and bad times.

MOTORWAY TO ANN ARBOR?

Shawn: “I was supposed to go to the University of Michigan. I loved the University of Michigan. He (Ron Springs) didn’t want me to go. Gary Moeller was going to fly in to see me. Then I said, ‘Nooo, I’m not going to Michigan.’ I ended up signing three or four days late to Ohio State.”

Tradition apparently kicked in.

Shawn: “I guess it was my Buckeye heart.”

Ron: “If he had gone, I just wouldn’t have been able to drive through Ohio again.”

FEAR AND LOATHING IN COLUMBUS

Ron: “We got beat too, by Michigan. We lost a couple of times. It stings more than anything. I didn’t care about any other game like that.”

Shawn learned a lesson in humility when an undefeated season ended with a 13-9 loss to Michigan in late November. It was almost like the movie “Groundhog Day,” as the Buckeyes lost for the third time in the last four seasons after coming into the Michigan game unbeaten.

Giddy with a 9-0 halftime lead, Springs told his coaches he could cover Wolverine split end Tai Streets, “as a blanket.” Minutes later, Springs slipped and Streets caught a pass from quarterback Brian Griese on a 69-yard scoring play. The play tilted the momentum toward the Wolverines, and Springs learned that trash should only be put out after the game.

Shawn: “It leaves [a sting], but you’ve got to realize things happen and you’ve got to move on. We had the prime opportunity to win it all, but sometimes it doesn’t happen.”

ON LEADERSHIP

Shawn: “The biggest thing we try to accomplish is to make minority athletes feel comfortable. Ohio State is a very large school, and a lot of the minority athletes that come here are normally from inner-city schools.

“A lot of these athletes aren’t up to the academic standards they need to be when they come to a major institution like Ohio State or Michigan. We make all the available resources known. Sometimes athletes don’t know where they can get help. But if they can identify with me or a girl from the track team, they feel comfortable talking to us.”

To that end, he is the president of a recently formed organization on campus, Majority of One, and takes the responsibility one step further by visiting high schools and younger kids as well.

Ron: “I was one of those guys who was able to get along with Woody Hayes. I was his captain. A lot of people thought I was the coach’s pet, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t intimidated by him or the hype and the pressure.”

Springs played in the final game coached by Hayes, the 1978 Gator Bowl against Clemson. In the waning minutes, the Tigers’ Charlie Bauman stepped in front of an Art Schlichter pass intended for Springs. And you know what happened next.

THE SON WATCHES THE FATHER

Shawn: “His last year in the league, I think I was 11. I sort of understood what was going on. He had a lot of good moments when he played for the Cowboys. I remember a 70-yard touchdown against Tampa Bay and a game-winning touchdown versus the Redskins.”

Ron: “It was very special having him watch me. Guys would come in the locker room. He [Shawn] would harass the players and they would harass him. The kids of Tony Dorsett and Don Newhouse were there too. You see them all grow up together and we laugh and see how old we’re getting now that our kids are playing against each other in college.”

THE FATHER WATCHES THE SON

Shawn: “He critiques me every game. It’s good. It’s personal. The coaches might say things not to hurt my feelings. But he doesn’t care. He says whatever he feels and it’s the truth.”

Shawn laughed about the frequency of feedback. “He’s bothering me. Calling me every day. Asking me what I’m doing. He does nothing. Like, ‘Man, don’t you got a job?’ ”

Ron: “I give advice after the game. I wake him up at 7:30 a.m. and I hang up. He calls me up eight hours later . . . after he’s got his lies together.”

A BRIEF WORD FROM THE COACH

Ohio State Coach John Cooper: “I’ll tell you how good Shawn Springs is--he’s the most valuable defensive player in the Big Ten conference and does not have a pass interception. That’s how good he is. He allows us to take the best receiver on the other team, plays him, and takes him out of the game.”

GOING PRO? WILL THEY SHOW HIM THE MONEY?

Ron: “I would love to see him be better than I was in the pros. I would like to see him in the Pro Bowl. Everybody would love to see him get his degree. He has to weigh his options after the Rose Bowl.”

Shawn: “Well, it is frustrating to know I didn’t have the stats like some of the other guys across the country. I wanted to win the Jim Thorpe [an award signifying the nation’s best defensive back] and I wanted to have eight picks [interceptions]. If you don’t have stats, people really don’t know about you. They say, ‘Look at this kid. He had 36 tackles and no interceptions. How did he make All-American?’

“[Going pro] will be on my mind if we win the Rose Bowl. Man, what else can I do? I can come back and win the Jim Thorpe. But I doubt if I’ll get any passes thrown my way next year.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

ROSE BOWL

ARIZONA STATE vs. OHIO STATE

When: Wednesday, Jan. 1

Time: 1:30 p.m.

TV: Channel 7

Records: Arizona State (11-0); Ohio State (10-1)