Chris Spielman: the week after Mike Utley suffered a paralyzing neck injury, the linebacker and his Lions teammates made an inspirational statement against the Vikings - The Game I'll Never Forget

"I think I earned that respect from my teammates over the years that I played, and that's all I ever wanted. I didn't care about Pro Bowls, I didn't care about tackles, I didn't care about anything. I just wanted to know that, `Hey, if we need him, he'll be there and he'll come with a vengeance'"

Besides his TV and radio work, Chris and Stephanie have become active in raising money for breast cancer research. When he finds spare time, he enjoys coaching his kids' youth T-Ball and soccer teams.

"My girls team gets warnings for being too physical all the time," Spielman says. "I take pride in that, I lead the youth soccer league in yellow cards for coaches."

Some things never change.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Century Publishing
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group