PARENTAL GUIDANCE
Football parents have learned to band together to negotiate the maze of NCAA regulations and other restrictions.
Ohio Stadium pulses on football Saturdays with legions of fans who love their Buckeyes.
But packed into sections 17 and 18 of the Horseshoe is a select group of fans who really love their Buckeyes—unconditionally, whether they win or lose.
They’re the parents of the players who don the scarlet and gray.
While moms and dads have always been a proud part of game day, they’ve only recently intensified their interest in football matters off the field. It’s a defense against those who would intentionally or unintentionally lead their sons astray.
Randy Person, the father of starting offensive guard Ben Person, is president of the Football Parents Association.
“The goal is to get the parents up to speed a little faster on what’s allowed and what isn’t allowed, how the system works,” he said. “These kids become instant celebrities in their towns once they agree to play for Ohio State. People begin to expect a lot and ask a lot of them, and a player can get himself into trouble if he’s not aware of all the things that might seem harmless, but really aren’t.”
Deb Johnson, the mother of former Buckeye Jay Richardson, started the group along with other football parents as a means to support the players and build camaraderie among the moms and dads.
That’s still a major focus, but the parents have also grown more sophisticated in their networking and in their efforts to protect both their sons and Ohio State from difficulty.
On the group’s Web site, one message board answers questions about NCAA eligibility, while another shares information about travel arrangements to road games, hotels away from Columbus, and social gatherings.
“It’s very important for parents to help us stay in compliance with NCAA rules,” said Doug Archie, Ohio State’s director of athletics compliance. Archie’s office posts tips on the Web site and answers parent-related eligibility questions.
Sometimes, it’s the compliance office that learns from the parents. That was the case last year when a question came up about taking a player’s roommate to dinner. Is it allowed by the NCAA?
The compliance office initially said no, but then, upon questioning by the parents group, realized that the prohibition extended only to boosters and not to parents, provided the dinners weren’t excessive or numerous.
That was a relief to Teri Denlinger, mother of defensive tackle Todd Denlinger and vice president of the parents group.
“It seemed pretty silly that we couldn’t go to Columbus and take our son to dinner and take James Laurinaitis with us, since Todd and James are roommates,” Denlinger said. “But you have to be so careful. What seems totally innocent and above board can sometimes be a violation.”
Paulette Wells need not be told that.
The mother of sophomore tailback Chris Wells, Paulette was flattered last December when a friend offered to use a spaghetti dinner as a fund-raiser to help her family and that of former Buckeye Antonio Pittman defray some of the expense of traveling to the BCS National Championship game in Arizona.
The well-intentioned effort became a mini-scandal that might have knocked Wells and Pittman out of the game for violating NCAA rules, which do not permit such fund-raisers.
Paulette Wells’ quick thinking probably prevented that. Upon arriving at the dinner, she decided to call Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman to check on the legality of the proceedings.
“You know how you get a sixth sense about some things?” Wells said. “That feeling came over me that night, and I thought, ‘Maybe we need to check this out.’
“It was such a nice gesture, but I’m glad we checked first or it really could have been bad.”
“Ask first” has since become the mantra of the Football Parents Association.
“We tell everyone, ‘If you have a question, call us,’” Teri Denlinger said. “It’s a real eye-opener for people when they find out what can get their son into trouble with the NCAA.
“We always loved the Buckeyes, but we weren’t prepared for the love, almost the obsession, some people have for these kids when they go to Ohio State.
“Some people mean well, and some don’t, but the temptations players face can be overwhelming,” she said. “People want them to sign this and sign that, but those sorts of things can really be trouble.
“And when they go out to a mall, the number of people who want to buy them things or give them a buy-one-get-one-free deal—it can be overwhelming if you don’t know the rules yourself and if you haven’t drilled it into your son’s head that it’s not worth it to be in that situation.”
-By Bruce Hooley
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