By JERRY BYRD JR., Journal Sports
Many LSU fans who followed the career of former Tiger offensive lineman Eric Andolsek know that he became great friends with Detroit linebacker Chris Spielman. What they may not know is how the relationship got off to a rocky start at midfield in Tiger Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 26 in 1987.
Andolsek will be one of 12 inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches on Saturday night — 30 years, to the day, after his burial.
At LSU, he helped guide the Tigers to an SEC Championship in 1986, and a 10-1-1 record and No. 5 ranking in 1987. The tie was a 13-13 game in Tiger Stadium against Spielman’s Ohio State Buckeyes.
Chicago’s Wendell Davis, who starred at Shreveport’s Fair Park High School before going on to play wide receiver LSU and then the Chicago Bears, remembers the first time Andolsek and Spielman met. He was there on that day, at the midfield coin toss. It wasn’t pretty.
“I’ll never forget it,” Davis said. “They got into it. It started with some jaw-jacking by both. They started moving toward each other and they had to be separated. Who would’ve known then that they would go on to become great friends?”
Not Davis, and certainly not Davis’ parents, who were in Tiger Stadium that day, who continued to talk about the pre-game flare up years later.
“When we would sit around and talk about my college days at LSU, they would just say ‘remember when Eric started fighting before the game began?’” Davis laughed.
Detroit drafted Andolsek in the fifth round of the 1988 draft. After some nervous moments with friends and family at his house in Thibodaux, he finally heard his name called on the 111th overall pick. Spielman had been selected in the second round with the 29th overall pick.
The events at midfield at Tiger Stadium in 1987 spilled over onto Detroit’s team bus, which carried both Andolsek, Spielman, and their teammates to the Lion’s min-camp in 1988. A stare down on the bus made for an awkward trip for the NFL rookies.
Later, it was a real-life Remember the Titans moment as both Andolsek and Spielman bonded and became great friends during pre-season football camp.
Sadly, friendship crawfish dinners on visits to Thibodaux are not all that the Andolsek and Spielman families have shared together. They have also experienced the tragedy of a loved one taken before their time.
Andolsek died on June 23, 1992, when a flatbed truck veered off Hwy 1, killing him as he was cutting grass at his house. He was 25.
Spielman’s wife, Stefanie, passed away on Nov. 19, 2009, at the age of 42 after a battle with breast cancer.
Not all of what Davis remembers about Andolsek at LSU took place on the field.
Davis’ parents were also there for their son’s first day on the LSU campus when Davis saw Eric Andolsek for the first time as he was moving into Broussard Hall, the athletic dorm.
“I was coming in the door, and Eric and Nacho Albergamo were coming out,” Davis said. “I looked at them and said, ‘Oh my God.’ I had never seen someone that big. That chiseled. It’s crazy, but I thought of the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em robots. I thought to myself, those guys cannot be freshmen, but they were.”
While Davis recalls those brief moments with his LSU teammate, it’s not what he remembers the most now.
“Most of all, the guy had a big heart,” Davis said. “For our team, we had guys from different backgrounds. We had different characters. Being a captain with him, I saw how he listened to his teammates. He didn’t judge them. He pulled everyone in the same direction. He wasn’t vocal about it. He did it in the way he carried himself.”
Contact Jerry at sbjjerrybyrd@gmail.com
Photo by CHRIS REICH, Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame