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PHOENIX - When your dad wears freaky face paint to work, sports a nasty Mohawk haircut, and has a Fu Manchu with an extra Fu right down the middle, it is kind of hard to ever upstage the guy.

But in his four years at Ohio State, James Laurinaitis has done that. Laurinaitis has gone from being known as the son of a well-known professional wrestler - "Animal" of the Road Warriors and the Legion of Doom - and become a legend all his own.

Laurinaitis has effectively pulled a reversal on his wrestling father in the fame game.

"It's funny, but when he first came to Ohio State, James was just this young kid whose dad was a famous big-time wrestler that everybody knew about," fellow OSU linebacker Marcus Freeman said.

"In those four years, he has matured and developed his own persona, and his own reputationas a tireless worker, a phenomenal football player, and a great leader.

Now he's a legitimate superstar in his own right.

Nobody refers to him as Animal's son any more."

Since he was thrust onto the field on the first play of the Michigan game in his freshman season in 2005 to replace the injured Bobby Carpenter, Laurinaitis has been a permanent fixture on the Ohio State defense. He has played in every game in his career - 50 - and started the last 40 of them.

James Laurinaitis and his formerly more famous father Joe hold the Lott Trophy, one of many the linebacker has won.
( ASSOCIATED PRESS )

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After he plays a final time for 10th-ranked Ohio State tomorrow night against No. 3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl, there's not much doubt that Laurinaitis belongs in the company of the Buckeye greats at his position - Chris Spielman, Andy Katzenmoyer, A.J. Hawk, Randy Gradishar, Tom Cousineau and Pepper Johnson.

"It's really humbling to even be mentioned with those guys," Laurinaitis said on Friday. "One of the things I've always loved about Ohio State is the great history and tradition, and those are some of the people who wrote that history. I'm honored to play on the same field where they did."

Laurinaitis came to Ohio State from a place where football doesn't mean as much - Minnesota. He wanted to play where football was everything - Ohio.

"Ohio State just always seemed right for me. I knew there'd be a lot of pressure, a lot of scrutiny and all that, but it goes with the territory," Laurinaitis said.

"At a place like Ohio State, you know that every time out - doesn't matter who you are playing - every time you go out on that field you are going to get the other team's absolute best shot. Something about that challenge appealed to me."

BUCKS & HORNS

TEXAS
• All-time record: 831-317-33 (129 years)
• Bowl games: 47 (24-21-2)
• BCS bowls: 2 (2-0)
• Fiesta Bowls: 1
(1997, lost to Penn State 38-15)
• National titles: 4 (1963, 1969, 1970, 2005)
• Heisman Trophy winners: 2 — Earl Campbell (1977), Ricky Williams (1998)
• Famous alumni: Laura Bush, Matthew McConaughey, Lady Bird Johnson, Michael Dell (Dell
CEO), Roger Clemens, Mary Lou Retton

OHIO STATE
• All-time record: 808-306-53 (119 years)
• Bowl games: 39 (18-21)
• BCS bowls: 6 (4-2)
• Fiesta Bowls: 5 (most recent — 2006, beat Notre
• National titles: 5 (1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, 2002), but NCAA also recognizes OSU national titles in 1961 (Football Writers Association of America) and 1970 (National Football Foundation)
• Heisman Trophy winners: 7 — Les Horvath (1944), Vic Janowicz (1950), Howard Cassady (1955), Archie Griffin (1974, 1975), Eddie George (1995), Troy Smith (2006)
• Famous alumni: Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Richard Lewis, George Steinbrenner, Dwight Yoakum, Jack Buck

The 6-3, 240-pound Laurinaitis idolized the Buckeye greats at his position, especially Hawk, a low-profile recruit who went on to be a two-time, first-team All-American at Ohio State and who won the 2005 Lombardi Award as the best linebacker or lineman in the country.

"My inspiration was A.J. The way he pushed himself in the weight room, the way he worked his rear end off every minute of every practice to get better, that's what I wanted too," Laurinaitis said.

"I thought that if I could approach the game with the same dedication and the same passion as A.J., I could maybe get close to what he had accomplished. At first I set small goals, but I always dreamed about being great and successful, like A.J."

Laurinaitis has eclipsed Hawk in the awards and honors department, becoming one of just five players in college football history to make first-team All-American three times. As a sophomore, he won the 2006 Nagurski Award as the nation's best defensive player. The following season, Laurinaitis took home the prestigious Butkus Award as the top linebacker in the country.

This year, he won the Big Ten's defensive player of the year award for the second straight season and was named the winner of the 2008 Lott Trophy as college football's impact player of the year.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said all of the honors and awards Laurinaitis has received won't establish his real legacy.

"I think it's what he's done as a leader for this team, for this program, and as an ambassador for Ohio State that really speaks to what kind of individual James is," Tressel said. "Everything he's done has been for the benefit of his teammates."

When Texas coach Mack Brown dissects Laurinaitis on film, he sees the most recent version of Hawk, Spielman, Katzenmoyer and Gradishar.

"He is the prototypical Ohio State linebacker," Brown said. "He's big. He's tough. He's strong. He can run. He plays hard every play, and he will knock you out."

His 366 career tackles place Laurinaitis seventh on Ohio State's all-time list. He is clearly headed for the NFL when this is all over, but Laurinaitis still talks about needing to get in another workout after the Ohio State team finishes its daily practices here.

"There is something wrong with me. I do my own workout after the [team] workout. I do more than is suggested," Laurinaitis said. "My mom was a body builder, my dad was a perfectionist. It's just in my blood, I guess."

Laurinaitis enters his final game as a Buckeye with that blood still coursing through his veins but in ownership of a separate and distinct legacy. The pro wrestler Animal is now referred to as the father of that famous Buckeye linebacker, James Laurinaitis.

"Yeah, now people will say, James I've really enjoyed watching you play for Ohio State, and I loved watching your dad too. It's different, but I'm still as proud as ever about my dad and everything he's done," Laurinaitis said. "He's been great for wrestling, and he'll always be remembered for that."

Laurinaitis gets reflective and a notch more serious when he talks about the legacy he and his fellow Ohio State seniors will leave behind. They have lost the final game of the last two football seasons - and it was the national championship game both times - and that gnaws at the ultra-competitive Laurinaitis.

Not since his freshman season, when the Buckeyes dominated Notre Dame in this Fiesta Bowl, has Ohio State hoisted a bowl trophy in his presence. An almost menacing glaze spreads over his eyes as Laurinaitis talks about his desire to have that moment of conquest once again.

"I remember seeing A.J. and all the seniors up on the stage, holding the trophy and kissing it, and thinking to myself, man, I can't wait until next year to get on the stage and do that. But I haven't been able to do that," he said.

"You're always remembered by your last performance. It would be nice to put on a good one for ourselves and for everybody."

Contact Matt Markey at:
mmarkey@theblade.com
or 419-724-6510.

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