OSU fullback Tyler Whaley used his Ironton toughness to fulfill a dream
Tuesday, December 25, 2007 3:14 AM
By Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
DorAl Chenoweth III | Dispatch
During a Christmas-break visit to his hometown, Tyler Whaley, second from right, shares a life with, clockwise from lower right, stepfather Dave Vogelsong, mother Tammy Vogelsong, aunt Kim Tipton, aunt Missy Leonard and fiance Brittany Benjamin.
DorAl Chenoweth III | Dispatch
An ornament of Tyler Whaley and his fiancee, Brittany Benjamin, hangs on a Christmas tree in the Ironton home of his mother and stepfather, Tammy and Dave Vogelsong.
DorAl Chenoweth III | Dispatch
On his holiday visit to Ironton, Tyler Whaley, left, ran into Jeff Linn, a coach who encouraged Whaley to walk on at OSU.
IRONTON, Ohio -- Surrounded by food and family in his grandparents' kitchen, Tyler Whaley is telling stories, and the laughter comes easily.
The jovial Ohio State fullback re-creates the song he sang at the 1980s-themed party where he met his fiancée, Brittany Benjamin. He mimics the hysterical outburst of his mother, Tammy Vogelsong, after he hit a home run as a youngster.
He is the life of the party, literally in this case, as they celebrate Brittany's 22nd birthday with steaks and a cake. The mood is relaxed and warm.
Underneath the silliness, and inside the body that has never looked quite like that of a Division I football player, there is a steely core.
It is what drove Whaley to walk on at Ohio State, even though few believed a 5-foot-11 offensive lineman could play at that level. It helped him persevere through years of obscurity.
It helped him fight his way to significant playing time, and he is about to cap his five-year career by playing in the national championship game Jan. 7 in New Orleans.
The toughness that got Whaley this far comes from his hometown and its people.
It comes from a great-grandfather who served as a tank commander in World War II and came home suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder before anyone knew what that was. He threw himself into work, taking one vacation the rest of his life.
It comes from his mother, also a workaholic, who sleeps maybe four hours a night while running her own bakery.
It comes from growing up in a place where the people are resolute but the economy is on life support, a place of rusted steel mills and shuttered stores.
Tyler Whaley gets his iron from Ironton.
"Like all river cities, there aren't many white-collar jobs, and we have tough kids who have been through tough times," said Mike Burcham, an assistant football coach at Ironton High School. "They don't have a whole lot given to them. Some of their parents have a little bit, and a lot don't.
"They grow up and have to fend for themselves, and they're tough and strong."
Those traits were apparent early on in Whaley's life. In youth football and baseball, he earned the nickname "Tank" -- partly because of his build and partly because of his attitude.
"One of his peewee football coaches once said to me, 'If I tell Tyler to go through a brick wall, he'll try it,' " Vogelsong said. "I said, 'Then don't tell him.' He's always had that determination."
Tyler's stepfather, Dave Vogelsong, said Tyler was an exceptional student who "never gave us any grief. He was always worried about being a good kid."
Whaley was a standout two-way lineman for the Ironton Tigers, but his height prevented him from getting any Division I offers.
When Clemson coach Tommy Bowden was in town recruiting one of Whaley's teammates, he took a look at Whaley and said, "If you had a neck, you'd be tall enough."
More than anything, Whaley wanted to be a Buckeye. Ironton native Mark Snyder was an assistant coach at Ohio State at the time, so Burcham wrote him a letter on Whaley's behalf, stressing his talent, heart and determination.
Whaley was invited to walk on in 2003, and that began years of wandering in the college football wilderness.
He has changed numbers twice, from 79 to 54 to 42. After his first season, while Whaley was lifting weights, someone cleaned out his locker to make way for an incoming freshman.
Whaley's gear was thrown into a gym bag and dumped in another locker.
At home, Tammy had just opened a bakery in a commercial kitchen Dave built onto the back of their house. She was in heavy demand as "the best cake decorator in the tri-state area," boasts Dave, and with her son needing to pay his way through school, Tammy took on an enormous workload.
When she came to Columbus for games, it was not uncommon for Tammy to have been awake since Wednesday. The moment she returned to Whaley's apartment, she would fall asleep on the couch.
"She works extremely hard," Whaley said, "and she instilled in me those morals and beliefs, too, that if you start something, you'd better not quit."
So he endured. To make ends meet, he took a job working maintenance in Ohio Stadium. For two summers, Whaley painted trash cans, cleaned up trash and performed other odd jobs for about $7 an hour.
"That was strange because I was on the football team but I had yet to see the field," he said, "and here I am, seeing the field every day. It's hard to explain."
Slowly, the perseverance began to pay off. Before the 2006 season, Whaley was rewarded with a scholarship. When he called home, his mom screamed with joy.
That season, in the momentous game between No. 1 Ohio State against No. 2 Texas, Whaley played center when the Buckeyes put in their second-team line and drove for their first touchdown in a 24-7 victory.
On a small Christmas tree in the family house, there is an ornament containing a photo of Whaley about to snap the ball to Troy Smith. That appeared to be the high point of his career, snapping to a Heisman Trophy winner.
Instead, it just keeps getting better.
In July, he proposed to his girlfriend on bended knee on the Ohio Stadium 50-yard line.
Whaley was switched to fullback this past fall and played extensively, alternating with Dionte Johnson.
Against Illinois, he got his first offensive touch, a 4-yard pass. The next week at Michigan, he was on the field for the final snap, a kneel-down in "victory formation." He soaked in the atmosphere, thrusting both arms in the air, allowing himself a rare moment of gratification.
At the Buckeyes' banquet, Whaley was voted the team's most inspirational player.
"That award fits him perfectly," quarterback Todd Boeckman said. "He has been through a lot, he has battled through so many difficult situations out there. I have to give him a lot of credit."
Whaley is inspirational back home, as well. Last week, he and Marcus Williams, another Ohio State walk-on from Ironton, were treated like rock stars when they visited Whitwell Elementary to talk to students and sign autographs.
Tammy Vogelsong said kids will ring the doorbell at her house, asking, "Is Tyler here? Can we talk to Tyler?"
She tells them, "No, honey, he's in Columbus," but she'll let them in to look at his pictures on the wall.
Whaley plays for them, and for everyone back home who points to him on the TV screen and says, "He's from Ironton." He is a success story from a town that hasn't had enough of those lately.
"When I finally made it onto the field, I got like 10 or 12 (text messages) from people back home that they saw me," Whaley said. "That was pretty neat; a lot of people don't get that. For them to know somebody on the team, that makes them feel like they're a part of it.
"It's always gratifying to know people out there care about you. You're like, 'OK, this is why I came here and worked so hard.' "
kgordon@dispatch.com
