A Tale of Two Mark Ingrams

Whether you watched the 2009 Heisman Trophy Award presentation live Saturday night, or maybe saw a short video report, or even read about it in your Sunday sports section, the story was as much about Mark Ingram’s acceptance speech as it was his winning the award.

Mark Ingram, Jr. became the first player in the storied history of Alabama football to win the coveted award. He did this in just his sophomore season of competition while leading the nation in rushing yardage totals and helping drive his Crimson Tide team to the national championship game on January 7th versus Texas.

A very solid, conscientious student, Ingram gave an emotional speech where he thanked all of the right people in his life from family members right down to the individual staff members at Alabama who have helped him develop his abilities. He noted his love and appreciation for his mother and grandfather who were in attendance. He did the same for his father who was such a strong factor in him becoming who is today.

Ingram, Sr. was not present at the nationally broadcast ceremony in New York City because he is in a Queen’s, NY correctional facility. The only good thing about the settings being within close proximity is that the two Mark Ingrams had a chance to spend a little time together when the son visited his father.

Turning back the clock, I was just a young 27 year-old college coach at Northwestern University, under head coach Dennis Green, when in the winter of 1982-83 I was dispatched to Flint, MI to recruit a talented wide receiver at Flint Southwestern High School. Because Coach Green was known for his offensive mind, especially the passing game, there was a strong mutual interest between Mark Ingram, Sr. and us. After flying aboard a small regional turbo prop plane into Flint, I visited with Mark at school and then at home with his family. He wanted to come to Northwestern in the worst way. As it turned out his college board scores were not as high as required for admission to NU, so he took Michigan State’s offer and went on to a great college career for the Spartans. Mark’s career blossomed and he became a late first-round pick of the NY Giants where he played from 1987-92 (including winning Super Bowl XXV) and finished his 10 year career in 1996 after playing for four different teams.

What happened after that time is a whole lot of bad decisions and just plain no good for Ingram, Sr. Possession of counterfeit cash, breaking and entering while stealing credit cards, as well as money-laundering are some of the reasons he has had to pay, and will continue to pay even more of a debt to society. In the Queen’s correctional facility he is awaiting sentencing for skipping bail late last year on charges of bank fraud and money laundering, for which he was originally sentenced to more than seven years in prison. While serving time Mark Sr. has kept regular communication between he and his son as they speak three to four times per week by phone and he has seen most of his son’s games this year on television.

When interviewed exclusively on the CBS Evening News last Friday he said this about his son, “He'll tell you. He'll say, 'My dad made a mistake, and he's paying for it and he's moving on and we're moving on,' and that's it," Ingram Sr. said. "You can't do anything else about it, and he can't let it affect him. What I'm going through, he can't let it affect him. He has to be his own person, be his own man, take and learn from what I've done, the mistakes that I've made, the experience that I had off the field, the experience I've had off the field and take it and use it to his advantage."

Mark Jr. acknowledged how his father, in a good way, was tough on him in his younger years and instilled in him the values of mental toughness, competitiveness, and the ability to stay focused on achieving through hard work. All of that combined with a great blend of speed, agility and power helped him win college football’s most prestigious award.

Such is the story for two Mark Ingrams. For Sr. we hope that the love, values and attitude which he used as a father to help raise a terrific son will help him through this rough patch in his life. For Jr. we hope that he continues to stay as well-grounded, focused and hungry to do the right things as he has shown to this point in his young life. If he does so, there will be more nights for him to humbly celebrate his outstanding successes.