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OSUBasketballJunkie

Never Forget 31-0
Canton

Former Timken football coach Spielman dies
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
REPOSITORY STAFF REPORT


Former Timken High School football coach Sonny Spielman died Monday following a long battle with cancer. He was 71.

Spielman was the Trojans head coach from 1970-79, going 40-62-3. He is the last coach to lead Timken football to consecutive winning seasons. He also was the head coach at Conotton Valley.

Spielman is the father of former Ohio State standout Chris Spielman and Minnesota Vikings executive Rick Spielman.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Geib Funeral Center in Dover.
 
Chris did a great job of eulagizing his father when his show on 1460 opened today...

R.I.P. Mr. Spielman

So I guess I should stop calling #36 'Chris' now. With his father moving on to the coaches box in the sky, #36 is now 'Mr. Spielman'.
 
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Damn. You're in our prayers 'Spiels.

Did he happen to mention if he were going to do his game this weekend or not? I didnt get to hear the 1460 show.

NM, I just listened to todays replay. I was getting more emotional than he did. Man I've always wondered how I'll react when my father passes. I hope I can be as candid and controlled as Chris was today.
 
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Canton
Spielman was 'football coach'
Ex-Timken coach dies after 2-year cancer battle
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BY JOE FROLLO
[email protected]
m_15mw_sonny_spielman_.jpg
SPIELMAN DIES Former Timken High School coach and Massillon assistant Charles "Sonny" Spielman died Monday following a two-year illness. He was 71.
Repository file photo

CANTON Charles "Sonny" Spielman didn't like to lose.

Whether on the football field or in life, Spielman battled until the clock read zero.

The body of the 71-year-old former Timken High School head coach and Massillon assistant finally gave out Monday at The Arbors at Canton, ending a two-year battle with respiratory illness and cancer. Arrangements are pending at Geib Funeral Center in Dover.

He's remembered by some as the last coach to lead Timken to consecutive winning seasons more than three decades ago. Others know him as the man who brought his two sons, Rick and Chris Spielman, to Massillon.

Rick Spielman remembers his father as a man who gave 100 percent to everything he did.

"The success he had at Timken and to watch how hard he worked at it and building that team, those are things you sit and observe when you are little," said Rick Spielman, now vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings. "But how much our dad cared about that team and doing the best a job as he could, it was the same thing on the family side.

"In this business, you may be in the office 16, 18 hours a day. But those hours you can spend with your kids you can't miss, because you can't get them back."

Sonny Spielman guided the Trojans to a 40-50-4 record, including 19-7-1 from 1972-74. His 1974 team was 8-0-1, the only unbeaten season in Timken football history.

He had a gritty, blue-collar personality. Candor and humor were two of his calling cards. On the field, his emotions and speech patterns tended to run hot.
Cont...
 
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Cancer is a bitch. I believe that the stats now are 1 in 3 or 4 people will be diagnosed with some form of cancer in their lives.

Cancer has touched his life more than once now with his father and his wife's breast cancer. My own mother's battle with breast cancer allowed me to see first hand what this disease can do to a family. My mom beat it twice.

Prayers to Chris and his family during this difficult time.
 
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Bestbuck36;1292637; said:
Damn. You're in our prayers 'Spiels.

Did he happen to mention if he were going to do his game this weekend or not? I didnt get to hear the 1460 show.

NM, I just listened to todays replay. I was getting more emotional than he did. Man I've always wondered how I'll react when my father passes. I hope I can be as candid and controlled as Chris was today.

When I first read of his passing the first thing that came to mind was the scene in "The Rivalry" when Chris talks about telling his father he would like to go play for TSUN, and his fathers response was "you traitor, I'll tell you where your going, right down 71 and play for Ohio State"

I would bet he is with Woody right now. Rest Peacefully Sir.

When you lose a father it makes you a different person, I was young when I lost mine, but the strength that your father instilled in you really comes out and the man that your father made you shows.
 
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CPD

OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
Spielman's dad was a Buckeye to the very end


Saturday, October 18, 2008 Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter

Columbus -- Twenty-four years ago, Sonny Spielman sent his first linebacker to Ohio State. Today, when the Buckeyes play at Michigan State -- six days after Spielman's death from cancer at age 71 -- a final linebacker he touched will be wearing the scarlet and gray.

Continued..........
 
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