Blade
Former walk-on from Napoleon winds up in national title game
By MATT MARKEY
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
NEW ORLEANS - Dan Dye was one of those kids who gazed out the window during high school study hall, for just a moment, and saw himself going to battle in scarlet and gray. He was either leading a sweep around end for a first down, punching an opening for his running back, or restraining the opposition while a game-winning field goal split the uprights. Maybe it was a vision, an apparition, or a figment of the imagination - but don't call it a dream. Dye was awake, he was alert, and the image he saw was in vivid, living color. "I thought about that a lot, just how neat it would be to somehow be part of Ohio State's great tradition," Dye said. "Maybe calling it a dream isn't right. It was just something I planned on doing." For Dan Dye, poised on the Ohio State sideline tonight in the Louisiana Superdome, this is his rewarding reality. He will play for the No. 1 team in the country in the BCS national championship game because he could never picture himself playing for anybody else.
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