Meet two people to whom the big game Saturday means everything:

A game he’ll always remember   This is the biggest game of the year for the Michigan State Spartans, no doubt. It’s the, arguably, third biggest game of

A game he’ll always remember

  

This is the biggest game of the year for the Michigan State Spartans, no doubt. It’s the, arguably, third biggest game of the year for the Michigan Wolverines, after Ohio State and whatever “prestigious” bowl game they end up in this year. But to one man and his son, this is the biggest game of their lives. Allow me to introduce you to the Thomas family.

  

This summer during the grind of two-a-days and training camp, I got to interview Devin Thomas. It was in a lull of Spartan football and everybody was anxiously awaiting the new season, wondering what changes, if any, would transpire this season. I sat down with Devin and turned the camera on and asked him three questions: What does being a Spartan mean to him, what were his expectations for the season, and what does the Michigan State-Michigan rivalry mean to him. He gave me three quick answers, appearing to me as rather shy on camera. I turned off the camera and stopped interviewing him and started talking to him; man-to-man, and I was amazed at the type of conversation we had. He told me all about growing up in Ann Arbor and U of M and how much he loved Mark Dantonio and so forth. We had such an amazing conversation, I got to know him SO much better and I actually wish he had said some of those things on camera so the world could see how honest and great he really is.

  

He told me how Michigan football is a business. The players go there as highly touted recruits and most of them ride the bench for two or three years, the program uses you then throws you away. He said it didn’t seem like those guys had fun playing the game, they were too workman like. He said how much he loved MSU because it was so laid back and everybody got along with everybody else all over campus. I could see how much he wanted to be here. I could see how much he hated U of M now.

  

I went down to his home to interview his father recently to get a better grasp of the player known around here as “Showtime”. His father told me how proud he was of Devin, for all he has accomplished and all his has fought through. How he had to go to Junior College in Kansas because his grades were bad. How he wanted to go to Michigan, but they didn’t want him. How he sat on the bench last season at MSU, even after catching a 40 TD in his only start against Indiana. Devin has worked through it all. And look where he is now: The best all-around receiver in the Big 10, period. He’s now thriving under a coach who knows how to use him, finally being able to showcase the talent that he’s had since his peewee football days. He’s finally being given the chance that he’s always wanted. The opportunity he’s always craved: Just let me go out there and show the world I LOVE the game. And on the eve of the biggest game of his life, all he wants now is a chance to show the folks down in Ann Arbor what they could have had.

  

Like most fathers, Mr. Thomas beams with pride at the mention of his son’s accomplishments. But he had some concerns before the season started. “Devin told me he wanted to wear number 5,” he said. “I was a bit skeptical because I knew who the last person to wear that number was and the expectations it could bring. But now…when I look in the stands, and all around campus and I see all those number 5 jerseys, I don’t care if they bought them when Stanton was here or if they bought them recently, I look at them as Devin Thomas jerseys. And it makes me damn proud of my son.”

  

Join the club, Mr. Thomas; we’re proud of him too.