REWIND FROM DECEMBER 2009 SPARTAN NATION MAGAZINE: Lynn Chandnois is a Spartan Legend

  Spartan Nation Legend in December of 2009 spoke with Spartan Nation senior writer Jon Schopp for this exclusive interview. Here is that interview as

 

 

Spartan Nation Legend in December of 2009 spoke with Spartan Nation senior writer Jon Schopp for this exclusive interview. Here is that interview as we remember this great and true legend. 

Lynn Chandnois is one of the all-time great Spartans. After serving two years in the U.S. Navy, Chandnois arrived in East Lansing in 1946, and quickly became a star. After playing both football and basketball in his first year on campus, Chandnois dropped basketball to focus solely on the grid iron. By the end of his Spartan career, he had established himself as a true Spartan legend. And ever since he left East Lansing, the legend has continued to grow.

 

Originally from Flint, Chandnois remembers an MSU campus far different from what the Spartan Nation enjoys today. “At that particular time, I think at most it had 10,000 people, and everybody knew everybody on campus,” Chandnois told Spartan Nation. “All of a sudden it really started to grow after the War, with the GI Bill.” Chandnois was proud to be part of a growth spurt of Spartans from talent rich Flint region. “At one time, we had 12 guys from Flint that could dress for a football game,” Chandnois said with pride.

 

Chandnois arrived at MSU a mature 21 years old. “At that particular time I think the Ralph Young was the AD, and Charlie Bachman was the Head Coach,” he remembered. After his first season, Bachman was replaced by Clarence “Biggie” Munn. “I enjoyed when Biggie came because he put in the Multiple-T formation…it was better than what Charlie Bachman had,” Chandnois said. 

 

Though he starred at Right Half Back and returned kicks, the players in Chandnois’ era played the whole game. “I played both ways, 60 minutes, all the way through school.”

Chandnois was physically dominant in an era when players were discouraged from hitting the weight room, and had yet to pay the meticulous attention to nutrition that is a regular part of college football today. “We never had any weight rooms…evidently, they didn’t believe in weight lifting,” he said. “They believed it would make all the backs muscle bound…well all the backs are muscle bound today.” Chandnois’ size and terrific athleticism played a primary role in his outstanding success. “I was probably about 6’1” or 6’2”, probably weighed about 190 pounds, which was pretty big for a back at that time…but I couldn’t hold a candle to these guys now,” he pointed out.

 

If you take a look at the MSU record books, Chandnois still appears often, more than 60 years after he last played for the Green and White. From 1946 through 1949, Chandnois averaged 6.52 yards per carry, which still ranks close to the top in Spartan history. Chandnois could score too, finding the end zone 31 times in an era with a much shorter college football schedule.

 

Defensively, Chandnois was a difference making Defensive Back, intercepting 20 passes in his career. Thus, he is in the unique position of nearing the top of the MSU record books in both Offensive and Defensive statistical categories. His dominance did not go unnoticed outside of East Lansing. He was named an All-American in 1949, and the State of Michigan’s “Outstanding Amateur Athlete” in 1950. Though Chandnois has many great memories of playing as a Spartan, a couple of special rivalries still stand out in his mind today. “(Against ND) I caught a pass for about 70 yards down the sideline, down to about the 5 yard line…that was a big highlight to me,” Chandnois remembered. “The games I always looked forward to most were Notre Dame and the Michigan game.”

 

Chandnois left MSU for Professional Football in 1950 just as the All-American Football Conference merged with the National Football League. The merger played a bit of havoc with Rookie’s career path. “I was drafted by the Cleveland Browns, with Paul Brown of course, and the Washington Redskins,” he recalled. After the leagues’ merger, teams essentially started bidding for players.

 

“Naturally I wanted to go with the Cleveland Browns,” he said. “They had won the NFL Championship the last three or four years…and had Otto Graham, Marion Motley, and all those guys.” But the choice was not left up Chandnois.

 

One of the NFL’s great owners stepped in to determine his initial destination. “I got a call from Burt Bell, who was the NFL Commissioner at the time, and Art Rooney (Sr.), saying they wanted to meet with me...and they told me I was now the property of the Pittsburgh Steelers.” Chandnois was not pleased. “I told them “no way…I don’t want to play with Pittsburgh, but at that particular time, we didn’t make enough money to have an attorney,” he explained. “We didn’t know what was going on…especially as a Rookie.”

 

Chandnois then used some veteran-like savvy to sweeten his Steelers’ deal. “I could’ve played my first year with the Cleveland Browns,” he recalled. “But in a roundabout way, Art Rooney and Burt Bell said ‘we could blackball you from the league,’ So I said, ‘if I have to go to Pittsburgh, I want a bonus.’”

 

Getting more money to play professional football back then was not nearly as easy as it seems today. “In the mean time, the Cleveland Browns had already paid me a bonus to sign with them, so they (the Steelers) said, ‘well we paid Cleveland back the bonus they paid you,’ and I said ‘I don’t care… if I have to go to Pittsburgh, I want another bonus.’” Chandnois got his bonus, and headed for the Steel City. 

 

When Chandnois arrived in Pittsburgh, the Steelers were not quite the elite organization that they are today. “I always kid everybody that I took a cut in pay when I went to the Steelers from Michigan State, because we had to furnish our own game shoes,” Chandnois described. But that wasn’t the worst of it. “We’d practice two-and-a-half hours in the morning and two-and-a-half hours in the afternoon, but we’d have to wear the same clothes in the afternoon as we had in the morning, and they were ringing wet…it was a terrible situation.”

 

So Chandnois made a plea with the Steelers’ venerable owner for more equipment. “I went to Art Rooney and wondered if we could change clothes in the afternoon…and he said ‘I got your problem solved, you trade with Matthews, and Matthews will trade with Rogalsky, and that’s your change of clothes.’” Chandnois ended up turning back to Michigan State for a little help. “I had to write Biggie Munn to ask him to send me my old shoulder pads, and hip pads, and shoes…which he did,” Chandnois said.

 

Playing conditions weren’t the only challenge for Chandnois, whose NFL career was possibly headed toward Canton before being ultimately derailed by injuries. The Steelers originally wanted Chandnois because they were in the unique position of running the “Single T” offense. “At that particular time, they were the only team playing it…and if I knew that at the time, I wouldn’t have signed with them,” he quipped. “We only had one way to run. If we lined up left, that meant we went right. If we lined up right, that meant we went left…so the defense knew which way we were going.” Not only did Defenses know where the Steelers’ Offense was going, they pretty much knew how. “We didn’t run much option, and we didn’t pass too much…it was a very different game back then,” Chandnois said.

 

Chandnois starred as a Half Back and Kick Returner during his seven year Steelers’ career. He was named an NFL All-Pro in 1952 and 1953, and Player of the Year in 1952 by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club. “When I left college to go onto the Pittsburgh Steelers, I had to put on a few extra pounds because I was just too light to play Half Back and block those big Ends and Tackles,” Chandnois said.

 

But looking back now, he can recognize the primary difference between the College and Professional game. “I played (College) football because of the love of the game, but then you got into Pro Ball and from then on baby, it’s the money… not the love of the game.”

Chandnois likes the current direction of Spartan Football under Head Coach Mark Dantonio, but there’s one aspect of today’s game that really bothers him. “I don’t particularly care for is the actions of some of these ball players,” Chandnois said. “I never understood that showing off…jumping up and down when you make a tackle, pointing here and there, or spiking the ball…I never went to that.” Though Chandnois recognizes this is a very different era, he worries about the bigger implications of over celebrating and attention grabbing. He said, “I don’t think it’s good for the younger kids, because the younger kids are starting to do it now too.”

 

When comparing the College and Professional game, Chandnois has little doubt now that the College game is his favorite. “I think there’s more atmosphere in the College game, and there always has been,” Chandnois said. And then there’s the special connection between the players he played with at MSU, and the legendary Coach they all played for. “I think everybody had a good relationship with Biggie…he was quite a joker,” Chandnois said. “But he could get awfully serious at times, and if he got serious…watch out.”

 

The bond between Chandnois and his old Coach was shared by many of his old teammates, long after they had finished playing for Michigan State. “There used to be about ten or fifteen of us that would get together three or four times each year…we used to take Biggie Munn out for Christmas Dinner,” Chandnois remembered.

As his old teammates have continued to get together over the year, their special bond as Spartans has only grown stronger. “Now we’re probably down to about four or five that still meet three or four times a year for lunch,” he explained. “We look forward to getting together to tell old stories, and laugh at stories we used to tell ten or fifteen years ago…which is pretty nice.” Chandnois believes that experience is something unique to being a Michigan State Spartan. “I don’t know if other schools have done that down through the years…and that (continuing bond) is thanks to Biggie and the people of Michigan State.”