This one is about the Shoe but not the 'Shoe.

I told you earlier I was saving room for one last interview. It was worth the wait. Friday afternoon found me sitting in the living room of a gentleman famous in the annals of Ohio State Football. Now in his early 90's, this former Buckeye is known for a game winning field goal he kicked in the late 30's. You know of whom I speak if you know your Buckeye football history. If not, well, look forward to the book.

I sat spellbound as this very nice fellow recounted in great detail his Ohio Stadium years. We started with how he became a Buckeye, discussed his teammates, his razzle dazzle Coach and then he started on "The Kick". When he finished I was mesmerized.

But it didn't end there. "You need to see these", his wife Clara softly said. With that, she unzipped a red duffel bag that was sitting at her feet. I first pulled out the thigh pads. Carefully and gently, I ran my fingers over them. Tattered with age, they bore the scars of battles fought more than seventy-one years ago. Next came the shoulder pads. Wilsons. Made of leather where today we find plastic, wool or cotton padding in place of foam. I turned them over in my hands. "Not much protection", I thought.

"In 3 years," he told me, "Tom Matte was the only guy to ever run over them."

I dug deeper and there was more. There it was. The shoe. The actual shoe that had kicked that winning field goal so many years ago. A square toe the dead giveaway. And with it, the ball. The actual ball that shoe had kicked thru the uprights, and bearing the signatures of all his teammates... Jim Langhurst, Esco Sarkinson, Don Scott, Jim Strausbaugh among the many.

There were reportedly more than 54,000 in the Stadium that day. After that kick, they saw his teammates carry this Buckeye on their shoulders and off the field. I know. He still has a picture of it on his wall, and as I left, it was the last thing he showed me!