As The Saying Goes … – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2006
By Danielle Warner
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“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” The quote is more than just a well-known Japanese proverb. It is a form of wisdom Mike D’Andrea lives by whether he believes it or not. In his fifth year on the Ohio State football team, D’Andrea had high hopes entering his freshman campaign in 2002, but along the way there have been some bumps in the road. Despite the obstacles, the 6-foot-3-inch, 248-pound linebacker maintains a positive outlook on his relationship with the game.
During the course of his Buckeye career, D’Andrea has suffered a couple of injuries that have kept him out of the rotation, most recently a knee injury will force him to miss the 2006 season after accepting a medical redshirt last year because of the same ailment. It has been yet another disappointment after enduring a shoulder injury in the middle of his sophomore year in 2003.
An enemy to his ambition, D’Andrea’s knee first gave him trouble in 2004 during practice. As he attempted to play the following week vs. Northwestern, it was clear something was not right. D’Andrea limped to the sideline after appearing in only one series. Knee surgery followed and the remaining eight games were played without him in the lineup.
It has been quite a process for D’Andrea to command his knee to do the things it once did. Starting with basic rehab after surgery, D’Andrea progressed to biking and light jogging and from that point it was ultimately up to him to decide how much his knee could take. At that stage of his rehab, D’Andrea thought he was ready to put his joint under the same stress it endured prior to his injury. “If I felt good, I would add more exercises,” D’Andrea said. “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t add more. What happened to me was I tried to push it a little too quickly, too fast, too much. I started having problems again, so I had to back off. That kind of put me far behind at that point.”
When D’Andrea discusses his body’s various letdowns, he does not fall victim to self pity. Rather, he describes the future and how he hopes to be a leader to his teammates.
As he gets a glimpse of the youngsters on a defense forced to replace nine starters from a unit that was fifth in the nation in total defense and in scoring defense last season, D’Andrea has taken some members of the new-look defense, namely the linebackers, under his wing.
“I think I have a leadership role just because I am a senior,” D’Andrea said. “I definitely will pick it up as far as being a leader. I try to give advice about certain plays. I was talking to James (Laurinaitis) and I was telling him he should try to be a little more patient when he is reading what is in front of him. But he is out there doing a pretty good job.”
It has been a bittersweet journey at Ohio State for D’Andrea. Bittersweet because his knee has done nothing but cause him pain, but at the same time has made him that much more resilient to yet another challenge.
“His attitude has always been good,” Bob D’Andrea, his father, said. “He has a positive outlook. He may get down, that is natural, but he always has gotten himself back up. He has so much determination. He never gives up and he never quits and he will not quit now or stop trying.”
Mike always has been an inspired person. Since he was in the second grade, he was notorious for writing notes for himself at night and the first thing he would look at in the morning was his list. His self-starting mentality was not a result from anything his family instilled, rather a natural quality. If anything, his parents always were trying to get him to slow down.
“I still write notes to myself,” D’Andrea said. “Sometimes I don’t follow it to a tee, but every night before I go to bed, I actually write the time and what I have to do. It is something that refreshes my memory for the next day.”
D’Andrea, with his soft voice, repeats his father’s sentiment about his ambition and resiliency and credits his dad and the rest of his family for his determination to keep football in his life.
“At times I ask myself why I am doing this because it seems like it is not getting any better,” D’Andrea said. “But I have received positive influence from my parents, family and friends. They are always telling me it’s going to be alright. That is what drives me to get to that point when my knee is not aching everyday and I can do simple things like walk up the stairs.”
D’Andrea’s hardships during the course of his OSU career have taken a toll on his family as well. Ultimately, though, a positive outlook always prevails.
“It has been extremely difficult because Mike has done all the right things,” Sue D’Andrea, his mother, said. “He did not just accept his talent, he worked it and used it. He followed all the rules and it was very discouraging, but he has this inner-reservoir of strength and it is truly amazing.
“We just try to encourage him and give a lot of support. We let him know we will always be there for him. He doesn’t play because of awards. He looks at the awards as a representation of what he has done right, but he still wants to improve. He doesn’t care about a future with millions of dollars. Even if there is a `next level,’ it is not something he can do for the rest of his life. We just try to keep him balanced. To us, he is not Mike the football player, but Mike, our son or Mike, our brother.”
D’Andrea’s tenacity is not anything new. Even when he was younger, D’Andrea had an uncanny knack to challenge himself to a degree children his age could not even begin to comprehend. How many fourth-graders are putting in the time to do pushups and sit-ups on a regular basis to simply challenge their body?
“He is very dedicated and has given up a lot to play football,” Sue said. “He has given up his time. While other kids were sleeping in on the weekends he was training. When other kids were going through a restaurant drive thru, he was coming home, eating the right foods. When his friends were going to parties, he again was coming home, so he would not be around the wrong types of people.”
Sue’s feelings echo those of her husband. Bob had an inkling of just what Mike was capable of when he began throwing the discus and shot put as early as the sixth grade. Mike would start practicing in the yard of his childhood home in Avon Lake, Ohio, at around 10 p.m. and some nights he still would be out in the yard, hurling discusses and such well into the middle of the night.
“For five or six years, I had what looked like bomb craters in my yard,” Bob said. “I still have trees that are damaged, but I can’t coach that. He was born with that.”
In fact, it was during that time D’Andrea discovered his enjoyment for weight lifting. Bob recommended his son hit the gym to improve his throwing capabilities and from that point on, Mike was hooked. He paired up with a personal trainer and worked with him throughout his high school career.
“Mike’s time in the weight room was off the map,” Bob said. “He would have lived there if he could. He was in there five days a week for about three to four hours a day. It was the same thing with throwing. He worked around school, getting up early in the morning to practice. He would get up at 4 a.m. on some mornings and lift weights. Even on Easter Sunday or Christmas Day or at night. His trainer would open up the gym and let him in.”
The avid weight lifter’s commitment paid off. When Mike was 14, he competed nationally in the shot put and discus and finished third. Pretty good for the youngest competitor in the event, right? Not so. Mike refused to accept anything less than first place. So he did what defined him. He returned the following two years and won, setting records along the way. Add to his national laurels three state titles in the discus as a junior and the shot put as a junior and a senior in high school.
Make no mistake, Mike’s dedication was not for the need of awards or notoriety. Anyone who speaks to him definitely gets the sense he would love to talk about anything but himself. Do not ask him to rate his own successes or spend time discussing his capabilities. It just is not in his nature. He is a quiet guy, who prefers to let all his actions do the “talking.”
“It’s just the way I am,” Mike said. “I don’t think there is a reason to promote myself. When I can do it with actions, why do it with words?”
“Mike definitely is not flashy,” Sue said. “He is quiet and never puts himself out in front of others. He is not the type who would introduce himself to people as a football player. He does not self promote and he does not have a big ego.”
Also what is not known about Mike is that he is a gentle giant who can make even the tiniest fan giggle.
“Mike went to a wedding this past winter and there was a little girl, who was about 5 years old, who kept coming up to Mike because she wanted to dance with him,” Sue said. “It was so cute. He would lift her up in the air and she would just laugh and he would laugh with his wonderful smile.
“She spent the entire day looking for Mike through the crowd and Mike would purposely hide from her and then sneak up on her and she would just laugh.”
Even when Mike was in high school, some of his good friends tended to be of the smaller variety. A little boy from across the street of the D’Andrea’s home, also about 5 years old, routinely would knock on the door and ask if Mike could come out and play. Without hesitation, Mike grabbed the football and headed out to the yard to play catch with his young friend.
That is just the kind of person D’Andrea is; one to give his time to people and things that are most important to him. Needless to say, D’Andrea has dealt with several challenges in his five years at Ohio State while dedicating a tremendous amount of time to Buckeye football, but his resiliency has pushed him far beyond what most people could sustain. This is a guy who has skipped fast food drive-thru windows, put in four-hour workouts in the gym on Christmas Day and left some serious damage in the yard of his childhood home all for the sake of becoming the best. So, there is little to question when it comes to D’Andrea’s passion for the game and in spite of the falls he endured at OSU along the way, he will leave knowing he pushed it to the limit, standing, with his head held high, once again.
