Former Ironton And Ohio State Great Ken Fritz Has Died

 
I actually knew him. I was in 6th/7th grade when he was playing at Ironton. He was kinda a hero because not too many guys from Appalachia make it to Ohio State.

I was in awe of how big he was and how good of an athlete he was. He ran the 100 in track and benched 400!

Then I was a little stunned and disappointed when this consensus all-American was barely drafted and quit the Steelers after a few days of camp. Blocking Mean Joe Green will do that to you, I suppose.

If I recall correctly, he came home and bought a car dealership in Ironton. From there I lost track of him.

The only NFL player from the Ironton area I can remember was Coy Bacon who played for the Bengals on the DL in the 1970s.
 
Sadly, the QB Fritz protected for two seasons, Art Schlichter, was just busted again with crack cocaine in CBus. Fritz maxed out his ability and did everything the right way. Art had so much natural athletic ability it was ridiculous, but he wasted his golden ticket.
 
IVCguy said:
I actually knew him. I was in 6th/7th grade when he was playing at Ironton. He was kinda a hero because not too many guys from Appalachia make it to Ohio State.

I was in awe of how big he was and how good of an athlete he was. He ran the 100 in track and benched 400!

Then I was a little stunned and disappointed when this consensus all-American was barely drafted and quit the Steelers after a few days of camp. Blocking Mean Joe Green will do that to you, I suppose.

If I recall correctly, he came home and bought a car dealership in Ironton. From there I lost track of him.

The only NFL player from the Ironton area I can remember was Coy Bacon who played for the Bengals on the DL in the 1970s.
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Used to live in South Point in the 70's and followed the Tigers and Fritz quite closely. As to the NFL, I do not fault Frtz. Sometimes 10 years of scholastic football is enough and life goals have options other than the Leauge.
 
Omega said:
Used to live in South Point in the 70's and followed the Tigers and Fritz quite closely. As to the NFL, I do not fault Frtz. Sometimes 10 years of scholastic football is enough and life goals have options other than the Leauge.
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Very familiar with S Point. When I was little my dad took me to SP to watch a football game so that we could see a QB named Moo Pleasant. I was probably 5 or 6. Dad got so excited to see how quick Moo was and take off when he found daylight. When I lived on the Ohio side we played against a guy named Dale? West from SP. A RB who went to WVU. Beast.

You have to really love playing football to play and last in the NFL. I love football. I don't know if I loved playing through my college career.
 
IVCguy said:
Very familiar with S Point. When I was little my dad took me to SP to watch a football game so that we could see a QB named Moo Pleasant. I was probably 5 or 6. Dad got so excited to see how quick Moo was and take off when he found daylight. When I lived on the Ohio side we played against a guy named Dale? West from SP. A RB who went to WVU. Beast.

You have to really love playing football to play and last in the NFL. I love football. I don't know if I loved playing through my college career.
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Oddly enough, I lived in the shadow of the old stadium in South Point and never attended a game there. Had friends in Ashland, Ironton, and Ceredo, so I usually wound up at one of these venues.
 
Omega said:
Oddly enough, I lived in the shadow of the old stadium in South Point and never attended a game there. Had friends in Ashland, Ironton, and Ceredo, so I usually wound up at one of these venues.
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Been to all of those places.
 
Wow, sorry to hear this. I never knew or spoke to Ken Fritz at the time, but we were both new freshmen in the same PoliSci class in the fall of '76. Man, I was scared to walk past him. He was like a block of granite. And he earned his block O varsity jacket before the end of our first quarter.

Around 2001 during my OSU redcoat days, was working at the brand new stadium recruiting center before one game and welcoming the prospects and their families. And wow - here comes that familiar freckled block of granite, recognized him right away. I didn't bother to mention about us being in the same class, lol. But it was cool to meet him and son. Don't remember if his kid end up as a Buckeye or not.
 
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