This weekend report is not about Saturday, but rather Friday night. If you were in the stadium Saturday, you saw the 1957 National Championship team introduced on the field at the end of the 1st quarter. If you were watching via TV, you probably got a commercial, which was unfortunate and regrettable.

I have gotten to know the ‘57 group through my quest for this book, and helped with a video they produced about their season. As a result, they invited me to their 50th anniversary team banquet held Friday night. What an honor it was.

As I sat in the banquet and heard them reminisce about their team, their coaches, each other, and their accomplishments in their lives after football, I realized what true champions they both were and are, on and off the field.

In my research for this project, I have studied all the national championship teams. All share one characteristic. They were not only champions on the field, but largely successful business, civic or professional leaders later in life. Did becoming champions destine them to be successful later in life? Or, did the skills that ultimately would make them successful in life first make them champions? I have come to believe the two are inseparable.

The 57 team proved that to me Friday night as I sat in the Buckeye Hall of Fame Café and felt their love, admired their accomplishments and laughed at their stories. With their blessing and their help, I hope to honor them and share a little of this with you, by giving them their very own chapter in the Stories of the Shoe. Stay tuned.