The Eric Andolsek and Chris Spielman friendship!

Over the years in football you develop some great relationships. I consider myself lucky in this area. Many hours spent together with a common goal causes you to become close to coaches, administrators and also players.

I consider myself to have been around several people in every category. One

of the greatest stories I can tell is my friendship with Chris Spielman and the late Eric Andolsek. Two fantastic players who just happened to be really special men.

We had selected both Eric and Chris during the 1988 NFL draft. The Lions picked Chris in the second round and he had been a two time All-American at linebacker playing for Ohio State – Eric a fifth-round pick as an offensive guard after an outstanding career at LSU.

There was a backstory to having both of these guys on the team in Detroit.

Well, Ohio state went down to Baton Rouge to play the LSU Tigers in 1987. Prior to the game apparently the Buckeyes were held inside of the locker room by their coach Earle Bruce because they did not want to run onto the field before the home team.

Consider this also. It is traditional for the home team to enter the field after the visitors. It was obvious that Bruce was intentionally doing this to fire his team up and develop an “us against the world mind set.” He was also trying to distract the home team as well.

This certainly pissed off the Tigers and their fans who were just waiting to disrespect and boo the visitors from the north. (Also, I think it should have been a delay of game penalty and I am not sure that it was called??)

By the time things got sorted out and the referees got the captains out for the coin toss ten or fifteen minutes had elapsed. Well, lo and behold two of the opposing co-captains during the game were Spielman for Ohio State and Andolsek for LSU.

Chris had already cemented his reputation as a great player and an All-American linebacker. Hmmm by the way … the guy who had to block him the whole day was going to be Eric. Both of these guys very intense, confident and stubborn. Long on ability and toughness – and neither willing to back down. It was going to be a long hard day for both players.

From what I understand after the coin toss – the captains were instructed to move to their designated sides. As they did Eric took the time to allegedly bump into Chris. Commotion resulted and then a fight broke out between both teams. (Rumor has it Chris and Eric locked up – but probably urban legend.)

The fight was epic and it changed college football. Prior to this game all players on both teams would walk out and stand about ten yards from their captains watching the coin toss. As you can imagine this was an intimidating tactic to stoke up solidarity plus juice the adrenalin and testosterone.

Well, with both teams standing twenty or so yards apart – it made for a quick skirmish between the two opponents. A week later the NCAA banned any players other than the captains past their respective sidelines.

After sorting things out the game went on between two great teams from different sections of the country. It ended in a 13-13 tie. LSU eventually ended the year at 10-1-1 and the massive fight is apparently documented on the walls of Ruffino’s Restaurant in Baton Rouge.

It is on my list of things to see by the way.

Later, when they both played their rookie year in Detroit they became fast friends and roommates. They were inseparable and really added a great deal to our team as players and people. They were well-liked by their teammates and respected by their peers due to their prowess on the field.

I can truly say I love (loved) those guys.

Now, Chris can be a sly dog when he wants to. As training camp and the preseason progressed it was obvious that he and I were bound to develop a strong bond. He spent so much time in the weight room I had to chase him out. It became a joke because he would tell me that he really had nothing else to do except football and weight lifting.

So, as the regular season was about to begin he sidled up to me one afternoon and asked me what I did on Friday evenings. I told him that my wife Shawn and I would normally grill on our apartment porch, drink a few beers …well, at least I did the drinking part.

He told me that since he and his roommate Eric were bachelors they had nothing to do on Fridays. Well … I could see where this was going. I told him to skip the preamble and just to come on over and we would get the grill going and all eat together.

This became our weekly tradition throughout the season. Chris and Eric would come over every Friday and we would get the barbeque going – sit around have a beer or two. Head on over to the local high school and watch the first half of a football game and they would head home.

It was an awesome experience – it truly was. These guys were outstanding young men and I really got a look into their lives – their hopes and dreams, the happiness and disappointments we all went through during an NFL season.

I watched them both grow up as young men – only to lose Eric in a terrible accident in his hometown after a truck ran off the road and struck him while he was trimming the grass in his yard. It was just so sad to see a friend who was so indestructible lose his life at such a young age.

Chris continued on despite losing his closest friend. He struggled with it as all of Eric’s friends did as well. Chris once told me that there was no reason for things like this to happen – no explanation for it.

Well, there is no figuring things like that out. My own rationale was that I guessed God needed an offense guard for his team in. Our loss was certainly Heaven’s gain.