
09-19-2009, 08:58 AM
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Head Coach
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 10,798
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Total Points: 499,476.51
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Quote:
MEET A BUCKEYE
LB AUSTIN SPITLER
Saturday, September 19, 2009
By BY TIM MAY

Terry Gilliam
Associated Press
Last month, when Austin Spitler had to sit out several days of Ohio State's preseason camp because of a strained calf muscle, whispers circulated about its cause. If anything, it was because the senior linebacker works too hard, it was said. In the weight room, on the field -- he's relentless, and with a golden opportunity finally to start, he just upped the tempo. So how did he gain that outwork-the-other-guy ethic? The captain reveals that and more:
QWho do you credit for instilling in you the idea that hard work pays?
AIt came from my parents and especially my grandpa (Kenny Spitler). The best way to put it is they never let me do anything the easy way. They always wanted me to work for what I got.
QGive an example?
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AI was always an outdoors person, and my grandpa taught me how to build things. I never really got into video games and all that. I really just enjoyed the outdoors and working with my grandpa, and we always had a project.
QThough he passed away when you were 13, can you still hear him urging you on?
AOf course. He's always back there yelling at me. Something like, 'Why did you do this wrong? You know you can do this better.' He was always on my case. He was a hard-nosed guy, and that's how he wanted me to be.
QDid he ever praise you?
ASure he did. But my grandmother, she's really the one who was praising me all the time. She was always telling me how great I was and spoiling me.
QYou are a big fan of country music. Have you ever dreamed of being up on stage with thousands cheering your latest, greatest hit?
AOf course. As an athlete you want to be the musician, you want to be the rock star, just as they say a musician wants to be the athlete. But the atmosphere for both, it's crazy, all those people watching you, putting you in that limelight. It's special.
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The Columbus Dispatch : MEET A BUCKEYE
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