Bear-Arms
Mentor
Laurinaitis an animal, just like his dad
By Teddy Greenstein
Tribune college football reporter
Published September 28, 2006
At 12, James Laurinaitis went toe-to-toe with wrestling superstar "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. And the kid didn't flinch.
The venue was the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota. James' father, Joe, (a.k.a. "Animal" of the Road Warriors) had invited his son's hockey team to watch him perform. During warmups Austin turned to Joe and asked: "Which one's your kid?"
Next thing anyone knew, Austin was performing his "Stone Cold Stunner" on James, starting with a kick to the gut.
"He took it," his proud dad recalled. "I didn't want him to be intimidated by anybody."
He wasn't then, and he isn't now. How else to explain how Laurinaitis, a 19-year-old sophomore, leads top-ranked Ohio State with 36 tackles, three interceptions and two forced fumbles? Or how he was honored as national defensive player of the week for his performance at Texas?
The kid is an animal.
"When he came out of the locker room for the second half at Texas, he had a swagger," the elder Laurinaitis said. "He wasn't cocky, but he was confident. We could see it in how he flicked his wrists. My wife turned to me and said: 'He's arrived.'"
Same goes for the entire Ohio State defense, which has yielded just 32 points in four games. Perhaps more impressive, the defense has scored 38 points off its nine takeaways.
Defensive backs Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith ran back interceptions for touchdowns last week against Penn State. Laurinaitis also had an interception, which he returned 13 yards.
"I have to take one back one of these times," he said afterward, "or else I'll have to start pitching the ball back to Malcolm."
No, he's doing just fine. Laurinaitis and fellow linebackers Marcus Freeman and John Kerr somehow have managed to replace the trio of A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel. Hawk and Carpenter were first-round NFL draft picks; Schlegel went in the third round.
"When we looked at the Ohio State film, I was hoping we might see some weaknesses, with all the great players who graduated and left," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose 13th-ranked team plays host to the Buckeyes on Saturday night. "I don't mind telling you that I was a little skeptical over the summer when I kept hearing that everyone was picking Ohio State to be at the top of the heap in the country. Now, after four games, you can see why.
"It's amazing. For the quote-unquote inexperience on the defensive side, those guys are playing super football."
Laurinaitis (pronounced Lore-in-eye-tis) calls the signals at middle linebacker. And the coaches believe in him.
"He's smart. He studies it. And he's committed physically," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. "He's very instinctive, and I think he'll do nothing but keep getting better."
Laurinaitis excelled as soon as he was old enough to strap on a helmet.
"He played linebacker in the 4th grade and he would just smoke kids," his father said. "One time a quarterback came up the middle and James gave him a bloody nose through his helmet."
But while his old man excelled in a decades-long career that demanded theatrics, James plays it straight.
"He doesn't have a conceited bone in his body," Joe Laurinaitis said. "I told him: 'Somewhere along the way you're going to face bigger, better and stronger players, so be a class act. When you hit a guy, help him up.'"
Laurinaitis reveled in having a pro wrestling star for a dad. He and his buddies would raid his father's closet, don his tights and shoulder pads and apply his face paint before grappling on the trampoline in the back yard.
But Joe also strived to be a regular dad. He used his football backgroundâ€â€he was an All-American guard and linebacker at Golden Valley Lutheran College in Minnesotaâ€â€to tutor his son, and he learned how to skate so he could coach James' youth hockey teams.
Joe also tried to avoid autograph-seekers when the family was out to dinner. But at 320 pounds with a Mohawk, it wasn't easy to hide.
"Going to Parent-Teacher Association meetings was a little interesting," he said.
As a "Road Warrior," Joe racked up millions of frequent-flyer miles while wrestling up to 325 days a year. That's when James' mom, Julie, played catch with Jamesâ€â€and taught him how to eat. Instead of cookies, James snacked on cherry tomatoes.
Julie was a fitness model and a power-lifting champion, once dead-lifting 305 pounds. She entered one contest in the early stages of her pregnancy with James.
No wonder when James talks about how his parents contributed to his career, he mentions "genetics." In his heyday, Joe bench-pressed 625 pounds.
At Wayzata High School, Laurinaitis blossomed into the top defensive player in Minnesota. His father says the Golden Gophers turned off his son by claiming to have received an oral commitment from him in the spring of his junior year. And when defensive coordinator Greg Hudson left Minnesota for East Carolina, Laurinaitis pared his list down to Ohio State, UCLA and Notre Dame.
Joe said the Buckeyes waged a "full-court press" during James' senior year, sending Tressel, defensive coordinator Jim Heacock and linebackers coach Luke Fickell to attend one of his games. But what sold Laurinaitis on Ohio State was the camaraderie of the linebackers and the realization he could learn from the future NFL trio.
In December 2004, Joe received a call from Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. He wanted to visit.
"He said, 'Mr. Laurinaitis, I'm 10 miles away from your house,'" Joe recalled. "I said: 'Sorry, coach, James just committed to Ohio State.' He said: 'You're kidding me.'"
Source: Chicago Tribune
By Teddy Greenstein
Tribune college football reporter
Published September 28, 2006
At 12, James Laurinaitis went toe-to-toe with wrestling superstar "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. And the kid didn't flinch.
The venue was the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota. James' father, Joe, (a.k.a. "Animal" of the Road Warriors) had invited his son's hockey team to watch him perform. During warmups Austin turned to Joe and asked: "Which one's your kid?"
Next thing anyone knew, Austin was performing his "Stone Cold Stunner" on James, starting with a kick to the gut.
"He took it," his proud dad recalled. "I didn't want him to be intimidated by anybody."
He wasn't then, and he isn't now. How else to explain how Laurinaitis, a 19-year-old sophomore, leads top-ranked Ohio State with 36 tackles, three interceptions and two forced fumbles? Or how he was honored as national defensive player of the week for his performance at Texas?
The kid is an animal.
"When he came out of the locker room for the second half at Texas, he had a swagger," the elder Laurinaitis said. "He wasn't cocky, but he was confident. We could see it in how he flicked his wrists. My wife turned to me and said: 'He's arrived.'"
Same goes for the entire Ohio State defense, which has yielded just 32 points in four games. Perhaps more impressive, the defense has scored 38 points off its nine takeaways.
Defensive backs Malcolm Jenkins and Antonio Smith ran back interceptions for touchdowns last week against Penn State. Laurinaitis also had an interception, which he returned 13 yards.
"I have to take one back one of these times," he said afterward, "or else I'll have to start pitching the ball back to Malcolm."
No, he's doing just fine. Laurinaitis and fellow linebackers Marcus Freeman and John Kerr somehow have managed to replace the trio of A.J. Hawk, Bobby Carpenter and Anthony Schlegel. Hawk and Carpenter were first-round NFL draft picks; Schlegel went in the third round.
"When we looked at the Ohio State film, I was hoping we might see some weaknesses, with all the great players who graduated and left," said Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, whose 13th-ranked team plays host to the Buckeyes on Saturday night. "I don't mind telling you that I was a little skeptical over the summer when I kept hearing that everyone was picking Ohio State to be at the top of the heap in the country. Now, after four games, you can see why.
"It's amazing. For the quote-unquote inexperience on the defensive side, those guys are playing super football."
Laurinaitis (pronounced Lore-in-eye-tis) calls the signals at middle linebacker. And the coaches believe in him.
"He's smart. He studies it. And he's committed physically," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said. "He's very instinctive, and I think he'll do nothing but keep getting better."
Laurinaitis excelled as soon as he was old enough to strap on a helmet.
"He played linebacker in the 4th grade and he would just smoke kids," his father said. "One time a quarterback came up the middle and James gave him a bloody nose through his helmet."
But while his old man excelled in a decades-long career that demanded theatrics, James plays it straight.
"He doesn't have a conceited bone in his body," Joe Laurinaitis said. "I told him: 'Somewhere along the way you're going to face bigger, better and stronger players, so be a class act. When you hit a guy, help him up.'"
Laurinaitis reveled in having a pro wrestling star for a dad. He and his buddies would raid his father's closet, don his tights and shoulder pads and apply his face paint before grappling on the trampoline in the back yard.
But Joe also strived to be a regular dad. He used his football backgroundâ€â€he was an All-American guard and linebacker at Golden Valley Lutheran College in Minnesotaâ€â€to tutor his son, and he learned how to skate so he could coach James' youth hockey teams.
Joe also tried to avoid autograph-seekers when the family was out to dinner. But at 320 pounds with a Mohawk, it wasn't easy to hide.
"Going to Parent-Teacher Association meetings was a little interesting," he said.
As a "Road Warrior," Joe racked up millions of frequent-flyer miles while wrestling up to 325 days a year. That's when James' mom, Julie, played catch with Jamesâ€â€and taught him how to eat. Instead of cookies, James snacked on cherry tomatoes.
Julie was a fitness model and a power-lifting champion, once dead-lifting 305 pounds. She entered one contest in the early stages of her pregnancy with James.
No wonder when James talks about how his parents contributed to his career, he mentions "genetics." In his heyday, Joe bench-pressed 625 pounds.
At Wayzata High School, Laurinaitis blossomed into the top defensive player in Minnesota. His father says the Golden Gophers turned off his son by claiming to have received an oral commitment from him in the spring of his junior year. And when defensive coordinator Greg Hudson left Minnesota for East Carolina, Laurinaitis pared his list down to Ohio State, UCLA and Notre Dame.
Joe said the Buckeyes waged a "full-court press" during James' senior year, sending Tressel, defensive coordinator Jim Heacock and linebackers coach Luke Fickell to attend one of his games. But what sold Laurinaitis on Ohio State was the camaraderie of the linebackers and the realization he could learn from the future NFL trio.
In December 2004, Joe received a call from Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis. He wanted to visit.
"He said, 'Mr. Laurinaitis, I'm 10 miles away from your house,'" Joe recalled. "I said: 'Sorry, coach, James just committed to Ohio State.' He said: 'You're kidding me.'"
Source: Chicago Tribune
