by Jordan Houser
Troy Spiker isn’t sitting back and dreaming about the future – he’s taking it into his own hands. The senior football player recently participated in a Division II and Division III regional combine and will soon be heading to Philadelphia for the national combine in March.
A middle linebacker from Rootstown, Ohio, Spiker has seen a successful career as a Crusader. In his senior year alone he finished First Team All OAC as well as First Team All-Ohio and Third Team All-Region.
This success gained scouting attention and garnered an invitation to the East Preps Regional Combine in Chicago, an opportunity for collegiate athletes to showcase their abilities.
With his father and a family friend, Spiker arrived in Chicago the night before the combine and to his surprise saw several familiar faces.
“There were actually three Ohio Northern guys checking into the combine at the same time,” Spiker said. Despite being on rival teams within the OAC, a friendship began.
“When we both checked in, we talked football. The camaraderie came together. The enemies were gone, we all stuck together,” Spiker said.
The following day was all business. Spiker did his own warm up and although he made small talk with other athletes, his mind was on the combine and staying relaxed for the upcoming events.
“I kept telling myself, ‘You’ve got nothing to lose, all to gain,’” Spiker said.
For Spiker, preparing for the regional combine was nothing more than a continuation of the training he had done in the past. He relied on his experiences at Capital and the relationships he has formed with both coaches and teammates to guide his way.
Spiker believes that despite being a Division III school, Capital has offered a lot to his football career.
“We’re a small school, Division III. But the OAC has always been very reputable for having some of the top competition across the National Division III Leagues out there. We’ve got Mount Union, Baldwin Wallace, Heidelberg, and ourselves. There’s always great competition within our league across the board,” he said.
This stiff competition coupled with an experienced coaching staff makes leagues such as the OAC what they are. Spiker directly points out several of these coaches, including both the linebacker coach and the defensive line coach.
“The skills of the coaches I’ve had here in the past at Capital have really taught me a lot. They’ve helped me understand the game from various points of views and various positions,” Spiker said.
Since his initial decision to participate in the regional combine, other members of the Capital football team have supported him. As captain of the team his senior year, Spiker was looked up to as a leader on the team.
“Spiker was the sort of guy that tried to keep everyone on track, and everybody would look to in order to remind us of our goals,” teammate Nate Nasrallah said.
Spiker’s love for football isn’t the only demanding part of his life. His occupational interest and major as a nurse is not only an ironic juxtaposition to his role as a linebacker, it is also considered one of the most demanding majors.
Nursing has been the plan for Spiker since his first year of high school. For him, the idea of playing in the NFL seemed like an impossibility, which made school the number one focus for his future. With the recent developments, however, it has become important to Spiker to consider all his options.
Spiker manages to take on such a major while also training for an hour and a half five to six days a week. This training has increased since his invitation to the national combine, which was a result of finishing in the top 100 at the regional combine.
Spiker has acquired a personal trainer in the Columbus area who has experience playing both in the Big Ten and in the NFL for the New England Patriots. They meet daily and work together to best fit the training into Spiker’s busy schedule as a student.
The most important thing for Spiker is making sure he has no regrets.
“Do I know I can make it? I don’t. Do I want to go out saying I’ve got no regrets?” Spiker said, “That’s what this whole process is about, is just basically down the road I can have no regrets.”
Spiker will be in Philadelphia March 1 and 2 for the national combine, where National Football League, Canadian Football League, Arena Football League and Indoor Football League scouts will begin pursuing athletes for their teams.
jhouser@capital.edu
