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MARSHALL SPORTS
Spann a model senior
Emmanuel Spann returns a punt during Marshall football special teams scrimmage Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- The following is all anyone needs to know about Emmanuel Spann.
"He's just your typical football role model," said his Marshall University head coach, Mark Snyder. "And that's what you're looking for."
In a separate interview a few days later, one of Spann's understudies echoed the coach.
"He's pretty much the model senior leader," junior receiver Tavaris Thompson said.
Team captains have yet to be named for the 2008 Thundering Herd, but Spann lives and defines the role. That the fifth-year senior receiver remains a versatile, impact player after two potential career-ending injuries is a significant chapter, but hardly the entire tale of Spann's perseverance.
Conversations can become mundane when coach and reporter speak every day following virtually every practice. When Spann reared as the topic, Snyder sidestepped coachspeak.
In his first season as head coach in 2005, Snyder viewed Spann's rehabilitation from torn knee ligaments. His rehab progressed ahead of schedule, in part because of a mentality steeled by a leg injury even more serious suffered at age 10. The youngster was struck by a car and the prognosis suggested any athletic pursuits were finished before they really had begun.
"We talked about that this camp, his injury," Snyder said. "He talked about it to the team. People told him he might not walk again. Never play sports again.
"So he doesn't take anything for granted. He's pushing himself. He's been a warrior. He knows all the positions. He never comes out."
Spann shed his redshirt in 2004, compiling 612 total yards, including 233 on 27 receptions. Then came the offseason knee injury, leading to a medical redshirt.
The Atlanta native ranked second on the team with 38 catches, 383 receiving yards and three touchdown grabs in his comeback season. Last year, Spann totaled 442 yards on 25 receptions (for a team-best 17.7 yards per catch) and served as the primary kickoff and punt returner.
He's absorbed each of the three receiver positions front to back and the 5-foot-11, 189-pound veteran will start in the slot in the Aug. 30 season opener against Illinois State.
"Spann pretty much is like a coach on the field," Thompson said. "He's one person that I know I can go to at any time. He's pretty much like an open playbook while you're out there on the run.
"When things get tough, he's there for all the guys. Mentally, he's one of those guys that you never have a problem with. If the day is not his day, he brings a good attitude to the receivers and he's always upbeat.
"A lot of schools don't have those kinds of people. In the meeting room I know I can turn to the right and he's right there and anything I'm not getting quite as well from (wide receivers) coach (Todd) Goebbel, he can break it down into player's terms and it will get across a little better."
Seemingly not content with roles as receiver and kick returner, Spann added kick holder to his resume in 2007. He's again holding this year, adding to his leadership duties; talent is unquestioned with first-year placekicker Craig Ratanamorn, but Spann offers needed calm.
"He's really good for him," Snyder said.
Driven to help Marshall turn a corner and enjoy a memorable senior season, Spann phoned and texted teammates as preseason camp neared. The message was simple -- get ready.
He similarly reached out to Thompson when the talented wideout experienced a year away from the game. After participating early in 2006's August camp, Thompson was sidelined by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He sat out the season, meaning he couldn't practice or attend team meetings.
"Through my prop year, I knew I could go holler at Spann from the little time I got to know him while I was on the field," Thompson said. "He's one of those guys who never really removed himself from me.
"Not that anyone did, but it was just a thing where I was out and pretty much roaming around the campus and he was one of the guys who would call and say, 'Hey we're doing such and such today and you can come over'."
Thompson accepted the invitations instead of gradually drifting in limbo. He's enjoyed a stellar camp, and is on course for a productive season, thanks to an off-the-field assist.
"(Spann wanted to) keep me around the team and let me know I'm still part of the family and let me know my limitations and the things I actually could do, like going and sitting in the stands," Thompson said. "He made me aware of stuff like that and he told me pretty much I don't have to stay away like I'm an outcast or anything."
Spann's leadership and intangibles sometimes overshadow the remarkable story that is his pair of returns from devastating injury. He's a dependable, go-to third down receiver, but also can stretch the field, even as the corps' elder pass catcher.
"With the adversity he's been through with his leg and everything when he was young and his knee, within 10 minutes you can know he's the person that can make it through something like that, because he's the kind of guy that takes the best of everything," said Thompson, who like Snyder, didn't lack words for arguably the team's most respected player. "It won't take you long to find out what type of guy he is. I can pretty much envision the doctor telling him what he needs to do to get to this point and him just getting it done easily and not emotionally let it break him down.
"He's a guy that really doesn't have to be pushed to do anything."
And that's about all anyone needs to know about Emmanuel Spann.
22nd Annual Quarterback Club Membership Party
When: 8 p.m., Saturday (doors open at 7:30 p.m.)
Where: Marshall Memorial Student Center (Don Morris Room)
Tickets: $100
Includes: Beverages, heavy hors d'oeuvres, music by Santa Cruz
Parking: Available on any Marshall University campus parking lot
Dress: Business casual
Features: Entire Marshall football coaching staff
Contacts: Edna Justice, 696-6464 and Mark George, 690-0602.
