Charles Christopher Spielman (born October 11, 1965) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player and is a special assistant to the owner and CEO for the Detroit Lions of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, where he was a two-time All-American, and for the Detroit Lions in the

(NFL), where he was a three-time All Pro. He also played for the Buffalo Bills and

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

, and coached for the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fol ...

. He was a broadcaster for

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

and

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

from 1999 to 2020.

Football career

Spielman graduated from Washington High School in Massillon, Ohio, where he was awarded the

Dial Award The Dial Award was presented annually by the Dial Corporation Henkel Corporation, doing business as Henkel North American Consumer Goods, and formerly The Dial Corporation, is an American company based in Stamford, Connecticut. It is a manufa ...

for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1983. He was the first high school athlete to have his picture on a box of

Wheaties Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Meda ...

. For college, Spielman initially wanted to attend the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, but his father, a lifelong fan of the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...

(Michigan's arch-rival), strongly opposed the idea. Spielman recounted the story in the HBO Documentary "Michigan vs. Ohio State: The Rivalry":

My dad said, "Okay, where are you going to go?" I said, "Dad, I want to go to
Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...
." And he said, "You ''traitor''. I'll tell you where you're going. You're going right down 71 South and you're going to play for the
Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tre ...
... Better not go there ichigan Don't ever come home if you do."

Spielman was a two-time All-American at Ohio State, intercepted 11 passes, and won the

Lombardi Award The Rotary Lombardi Award is an award for college football in the United States. Awarded by the Rotary Club of Houston, Texas annually to the college football player "who best embodies the values and spirit of NFL's legendary coach Vince Lomba ...

as the best college football lineman or linebacker. He was the Ohio State football team MVP his senior year and won the Touchdown Club of Columbus's

Chic Harley Award The Touchdown Club of Columbus was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1956 by Sam B. Nicola at the request of state auditor James A. Rhodes, who later became governor of the state. Nicola served as the club's president until his death in 1993. More ...

. He graduated from Ohio State with a degree in recreation education. In the

1988 NFL Draft The 1988 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1988, at the Marriot Ma ...

, Spielman was drafted in the second round with the 29th overall pick by the Detroit Lions. Spielman played eight seasons with the Lions (1988–95), where he was a defensive stalwart during the team's run to four playoff appearances, two NFC Central titles, and a berth in the 1991 NFC Championship Game. He captained the Lions' defense that was one of the best statistically in the NFL in the mid-1990s. Spielman is the franchise's all-time leader in career tackles with 1,020 (since the team began recording tackles statistically in 1973.) He also recorded 10 sacks, four interceptions, 30 pass defenses, 13 forced fumbles and 17 fumble recoveries during his Lions' career. He was the first Lion to lead the team in tackles seven consecutive seasons since 1973, including the team's highest single-season tally 195 tackles in 1994. Spielman represented the Lions in four Pro Bowls (1990–92, 1995) and was named the team's defensive MVP in 1993 and 1994. He played for the Buffalo Bills in 1996 and 1997. His 1997 season was limited because of a neck injury that required spinal surgery. He chose to miss the 1998 season to assist his wife battling cancer. He returned to the NFL in the 1999 season, with the

. He retired before the regular season began, after suffering another neck injury. Spielman is also notable for being one of the players notable

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

"guru"

Mel Kiper, Jr. Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...

has "missed" on, Kiper admitting in a 2001 post that he had underrated the linebacker. In April 2009 Spielman was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame. His induction came in July 2010. In 2012, he appeared in an episode of the

NFL Network NFL Network (occasionally abbreviated on-air as NFLN) is an American sports-oriented pay television network owned by the National Football League (NFL) and is part of NFL Media, which also includes NFL.com, NFL Films, NFL Mobile, NFL Now and NF ...

show '' A Football Life''. The episode celebrated his prowess on the field as well as his dedication to his family. On October 21, 2021, the Detroit Lions announced they were inducting Spielman into their "Pride of the Lions" club, which honors the greatest players in their history.

Broadcasting career

Spielman's broadcasting career started in 1999, as an NFL studio-show analyst for

Fox Sports Net Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

. After two years with FSN, Spielman joined

in 2001. He served primarily as a color analyst for college football broadcasts, as well as studio analyst for college football. Spielman is also a contributor to the Columbus-based FM radio station 97.1 The Fan, an ESPN Radio affiliate. He previously hosted the show ''Spielman on Sports''. Spielman used to appear every Tuesday afternoon on AM 1270 WXYT, a sports-talk radio station out of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

. Spielman has served as a color analyst for the Detroit Lions during the NFL preseason. In 2006, Spielman hosted a reality series on ESPNU called '' Summer House''. In 2016,

announced that Spielman had joined Fox NFL coverage as a game analyst alongside veteran play-by-play announcer Dick Stockton and sideline reporter Kristina Pink. On select weeks, he also teamed up with

Thom Brennaman Thomas Wade Brennaman (born September 12, 1963) is an American television sportscaster. He is the son of former Cincinnati Reds radio sportscaster Marty Brennaman. Broadcasting career After graduating in 1982 from Cincinnati's Anderson High Sc ...

and Charles Davis in a three-man booth.

Coaching career

After the 2000 season, Spielman interviewed for the vacant

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

head coaching position previously held by John Cooper; however, the job eventually went to Jim Tressel. In 2005, Spielman coached the

of the

to a 2–14 record.

Executive career

Spielman was hired by the Detroit Lions as special assistant to chairman and president & CEO on December 15, 2020.

Personal life

Spielman and his first wife Stefanie had four children. Stefanie survived four bouts with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

, during which both she and her husband were active in raising funds for breast cancer research. While undergoing treatment, she lost her hair, prompting Spielman to shave his head in a show of solidarity. Stefanie died on November 19, 2009, after the disease returned for the fifth time. In 2013, Spielman married Carrie Yocom, and adopted her two daughters. The family resides in

Upper Arlington Upper Arlington, often known by its initials U.A., is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, on the northwest side of the Columbus metropolitan area. The Old Arlington neighborhood is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ...

, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. His elder brother is

Rick Spielman Richard Spielman (born December 2, 1962) is an American football executive who was most recently the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 2012 to 2022. He was promoted to general manager in 2012 af ...

, former general manager of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. His son Noah played football for Wheaton College,Noah Spielman Bio - Wheaton Football
/ref> while his nephew J.D. currently plays football for TCU. His daughter Macy will be playing basketball in 2021-22 for Ashland University.

References

15. https://goashlandeagles.com/news/2021/6/8/womens-basketball-womens-basketball-adds-former-bg-guard-spielman-to-roster.aspx

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spielman, Chris 1965 births Living people All-American college football players American football linebackers Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players College football announcers College Football Hall of Fame inductees Columbus Destroyers coaches Detroit Lions announcers Detroit Lions players National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League announcers Ohio State Buckeyes football players Players of American football from Canton, Ohio Sportspeople from Canton, Ohio