Spielman in College HOF

[RyanC883]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/foot....html?eref=sihp

 

Great player, even greater guy.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

One of a handful of players who I can say that I'm honored that he was a Buffalo Bill.

 

For a team and its fans to be associated with a person the caliber of Chris Spielman is a blessing.

 

One of my favorite Bills of all time.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Spielman

 

I will never forget the year he took off from football to support his wife, Stefanie, as she battled breast cancer.

 

His subsequent efforts to raise funds for cancer research…and his shaving of his head as a symbol of support when the cancer returned for the 5th time and she again lost her hair to the treatments, and ultimately her life, to the disease.

[billsfanmiami(oh)]

I live in Columbus and he is (obviously) a legend in Buckeye nation. He does a daily radio show on the local ESPN affilate in the afternoons and literally the day of or the day right after Stefanie passed away, he was on the air in his normal spot taking calls because "she would have wanted him to." Really an amazing family and one the most honorable guys to put on a Bills uni. Congrats Spiels you deserve it.

[DarthICE]

One of a handful of players who I can say that I'm honored that he was a Buffalo Bill.

 

For a team and its fans to be associated with a person the caliber of Chris Spielman is a blessing.

 

One of my favorite Bills of all time.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Spielman

 

I will never forget the year he took off from football to support his wife, Stefanie, as she battled breast cancer.

 

His subsequent efforts to raise funds for cancer research…and his shaving of his head as a symbol of support when the cancer returned for the 5th time and she again lost her hair to the treatments, and ultimately her life, to the disease.

 

I remember the day Dan Patrick said 'Chris Spielman is coming to Buffalo'. I just froze as he said we had signed him as a free agent. He is hands down one of my favorite players of all time and one of my favorite Bills.

[Jim Gehman]

Congratulations to Chris on the HOF. I’m proud to share a couple excerpts from my book “Then Levy Said to Kelly” about how he exhibited class on and off the field.

 

A Modern-Day Throwback

 

Let’s face it. There are times when a team just has good luck drop on its doorstep. For each of the eight seasons that he played in the NFL, Chris Spielman led the Detroit Lions in tackles, and he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl four times. But then the linebacker seemed to fall out of favor with the organization because of his salary, and became a free agent.

 

"In the first quarter of the [1995] season opener, against the big running back by the name of Bam Morris, I partially tore a pectoral muscle. I played through it and still had a good year," Spielman said. "I was coming up to be a free agent, and I think I wanted a little bit too much money. They didn’t have it. They wanted to put it into an offensive guy. They really didn’t pursue me, so I pursued free agency, and Buffalo was one of teams that I was attracted to. They liked me, and they lost Cornelius Bennett to the Falcons that year, so that opened up room for me. That’s why I ended up in Buffalo."

 

As was the case in Detroit, Spielman became an unquestioned team leader with the Bills about the same time he shut his car door after first arriving at the stadium in Orchard Park in 1996.

 

"I think if you’re a veteran and you produce, you assume a role," says Spielman, who averaged 142 tackles per season with the Lions. "I think my position that I played was a leadership role automatically by the nature of the position, at least on the field. I started calling plays, and once I was familiar with the defense and what we were trying to do, I wasn’t afraid to assert myself. When the coaches tell you what’s expected of you, and you’re there to do the job, you pretty much do it. I had credibility with the players because I was a player for a few years and able to produce. So most guys figured, ‘Well, he’s the linebacker, he’s calling the plays, everybody line up and here we go.’"

 

Beginning with the season opener against the New York Giants when he totaled 17 tackles and recovered a fumble during overtime that set up the game-winning field goal, Spielman led the Bills in stops 13 games and accumulated a career-high and team record 206 total tackles. However, statistics, as far as Spielman is concerned, are just clutter in a media guide. His mind-set when taking the field was very clear.

 

"Win! Pure and simple, win! It was all about winning. I didn’t care when it was or where it was, as long as we did everything we could do to win the game. That was the mind-set. And winning’s hard in the NFL. It’s difficult. It didn’t always happen, but you always did everything in the world in your own power to make it happen."

 

 

"If I’m Walking, I Can Play"

 

After putting up a career-high and team-record 206 total tackles in 1996, Chris Spielman, Buffalo’s hardworking linebacker who would often be seen wearing his game face regardless of whether there was a game that day or not, was stopped midway through the 1997 campaign. Not by a massive offensive tackle trying to clear a path, but by an injury. A serious injury! It occurred during a Monday night game in Indianapolis on October 20, while tackling Colts running back Lamont Warren.

 

"I was paralyzed for a few seconds, then got up. It was toward the end, so I finished the game," said Spielman. "And then the next week [versus the Broncos], it happened like three more times. I didn’t really say anything immediately after the Indianapolis game. I said something after the Denver game, and that’s when they discovered that my disc had exploded onto my spinal cord. That’s why I was having bouts of paralysis."

 

Spielman’s reaction? "Probably that I should get this checked out, something’s not right. But when you’re all caught up in the moment of the game, as a player, for me, anyway, I had a feeling of invincibility. Like nothing could be wrong with me. My code was if I’m walking, I can play. So I was having these little bouts, but it would always come back, and I wouldn’t have any other symptoms. Looking back on it now, I wasn’t very smart. Stupid! But you know, as a player, you get yourself in a mind-set, you get whooped up, and you’re going to do everything in the world to play and produce. Thankfully, I had the good sense to finally seek medical attention."

 

The injury required surgery to fuse two vertebrae. Eight months of rehabilitation followed, and by June of 1998 he felt healthy enough to return to the game. But all the workouts, all the sweat, all the determination that he experienced while getting physically ready could not help with what he faced next.

 

During a self-examination, his wife, Stephanie, discovered a lump in her right breast and underwent a mastectomy after two tumors were discovered. Understandably, playing football again was no longer important. The Spielmans would face months of aggressive chemotherapy together. Chris decided to step away from the game and help take care of her and their two young children.

 

Spielman skipped training camp and was not seen around Orchard Park until he showed up unexpectedly and joined his teammates on the sideline for Buffalo’s game against San Francisco on October 4. His return was acknowledged by the 76,615 fans in attendance with a standing ovation.

 

"I think that people respected the decision that I made," Spielman said. "It was an easy decision to make, but it still felt like you were letting people down. I certainly made the right decision, don’t get me wrong. I felt like the people in Buffalo, for the two years, treated me great, and I loved playing there and being a part of it, but I still felt like I let them down. I guess it justified my decision to not play football because I got a standing ovation. It made me feel good, obviously. I guess that I was accepted as a Buffalo Bill."

[Sisyphean Bills]

The Bills did get a box of tape for him.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Congratulations to Chris on the HOF. I’m proud to share a couple excerpts from my book “Then Levy Said to Kelly” about how he exhibited class on and off the field.

 

A Modern-Day Throwback

 

Let’s face it. There are times when a team just has good luck drop on its doorstep. For each of the eight seasons that he played in the NFL, Chris Spielman led the Detroit Lions in tackles, and he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl four times. But then the linebacker seemed to fall out of favor with the organization because of his salary, and became a free agent.

 

"In the first quarter of the [1995] season opener, against the big running back by the name of Bam Morris, I partially tore a pectoral muscle. I played through it and still had a good year," Spielman said. "I was coming up to be a free agent, and I think I wanted a little bit too much money. They didn’t have it. They wanted to put it into an offensive guy. They really didn’t pursue me, so I pursued free agency, and Buffalo was one of teams that I was attracted to. They liked me, and they lost Cornelius Bennett to the Falcons that year, so that opened up room for me. That’s why I ended up in Buffalo."

 

As was the case in Detroit, Spielman became an unquestioned team leader with the Bills about the same time he shut his car door after first arriving at the stadium in Orchard Park in 1996.

 

"I think if you’re a veteran and you produce, you assume a role," says Spielman, who averaged 142 tackles per season with the Lions. "I think my position that I played was a leadership role automatically by the nature of the position, at least on the field. I started calling plays, and once I was familiar with the defense and what we were trying to do, I wasn’t afraid to assert myself. When the coaches tell you what’s expected of you, and you’re there to do the job, you pretty much do it. I had credibility with the players because I was a player for a few years and able to produce. So most guys figured, ‘Well, he’s the linebacker, he’s calling the plays, everybody line up and here we go.’"

 

Beginning with the season opener against the New York Giants when he totaled 17 tackles and recovered a fumble during overtime that set up the game-winning field goal, Spielman led the Bills in stops 13 games and accumulated a career-high and team record 206 total tackles. However, statistics, as far as Spielman is concerned, are just clutter in a media guide. His mind-set when taking the field was very clear.

 

"Win! Pure and simple, win! It was all about winning. I didn’t care when it was or where it was, as long as we did everything we could do to win the game. That was the mind-set. And winning’s hard in the NFL. It’s difficult. It didn’t always happen, but you always did everything in the world in your own power to make it happen."

 

 

"If I’m Walking, I Can Play"

 

After putting up a career-high and team-record 206 total tackles in 1996, Chris Spielman, Buffalo’s hardworking linebacker who would often be seen wearing his game face regardless of whether there was a game that day or not, was stopped midway through the 1997 campaign. Not by a massive offensive tackle trying to clear a path, but by an injury. A serious injury! It occurred during a Monday night game in Indianapolis on October 20, while tackling Colts running back Lamont Warren.

 

"I was paralyzed for a few seconds, then got up. It was toward the end, so I finished the game," said Spielman. "And then the next week [versus the Broncos], it happened like three more times. I didn’t really say anything immediately after the Indianapolis game. I said something after the Denver game, and that’s when they discovered that my disc had exploded onto my spinal cord. That’s why I was having bouts of paralysis."

 

Spielman’s reaction? "Probably that I should get this checked out, something’s not right. But when you’re all caught up in the moment of the game, as a player, for me, anyway, I had a feeling of invincibility. Like nothing could be wrong with me. My code was if I’m walking, I can play. So I was having these little bouts, but it would always come back, and I wouldn’t have any other symptoms. Looking back on it now, I wasn’t very smart. Stupid! But you know, as a player, you get yourself in a mind-set, you get whooped up, and you’re going to do everything in the world to play and produce. Thankfully, I had the good sense to finally seek medical attention."

 

The injury required surgery to fuse two vertebrae. Eight months of rehabilitation followed, and by June of 1998 he felt healthy enough to return to the game. But all the workouts, all the sweat, all the determination that he experienced while getting physically ready could not help with what he faced next.

 

During a self-examination, his wife, Stephanie, discovered a lump in her right breast and underwent a mastectomy after two tumors were discovered. Understandably, playing football again was no longer important. The Spielmans would face months of aggressive chemotherapy together. Chris decided to step away from the game and help take care of her and their two young children.

 

Spielman skipped training camp and was not seen around Orchard Park until he showed up unexpectedly and joined his teammates on the sideline for Buffalo’s game against San Francisco on October 4. His return was acknowledged by the 76,615 fans in attendance with a standing ovation.

 

"I think that people respected the decision that I made," Spielman said. "It was an easy decision to make, but it still felt like you were letting people down. I certainly made the right decision, don’t get me wrong. I felt like the people in Buffalo, for the two years, treated me great, and I loved playing there and being a part of it, but I still felt like I let them down. I guess it justified my decision to not play football because I got a standing ovation. It made me feel good, obviously. I guess that I was accepted as a Buffalo Bill."

Great anecdotes, Jim!

 

Both of them really show the warrior mentality which many (but not all) football players possess.

 

Spielman was definitely that kind of player. "My code was if I’m walking, I can play."

 

A guy like Chris Spielman is worth every penny he's paid and more because he gives everything he has to football…after he's given everything he has to his family.

 

A prototype. An archetype. Truly the guy pictured in the dictionary next to the entry for "football player."

[Terry Tate]

Congratulations to Chris on the HOF. I’m proud to share a couple excerpts from my book “Then Levy Said to Kelly” about how he exhibited class on and off the field.

 

"... I felt like the people in Buffalo, for the two years, treated me great, and I loved playing there and being a part of it, but I still felt like I let them down. I guess it justified my decision to not play football because I got a standing ovation. It made me feel good, obviously. I guess that I was accepted as a Buffalo Bill."

 

So much more than that, Chris. So much more than football. The reason some of us have held up football players as heroes is because some of them are in real life.