On Saturday, Dr. Donald B. Weatherspoon will be honored as the recipient of the HENRY C. BULLOUGH VARSITY ALUMNI “S” AWARD during a gameday ceremony when the Spartans host University of Washington.

The award is presented annually to an MSU varsity letter winner who has demonstrated continuing outstanding volunteer service and devotion to MSU athletics on a local, state, national or international level and who possesses the highest standards of integrity and character to positively reflect and enhance the prestige of MSU.

Dr. Weatherspoon meets and exceeds the characteristics defined in the award and is emblematic of everything Hank Bullough stood for.

Dr. Weatherspoon, whom most remember as Don Weatherspoon during his playing days, or simply “Spoon” to his teammates and close friends, trekked an auspicious path from a tiny Michigan town to become an unlikely member of the Spartans 1965 National Championship team.

Born in South Bend, Indiana yet raised on a farm in the tiny southwest Michigan town of Cassopolis, (population 2,000 back in the day), the eldest of 9 children, ‘Spoon attended Cassopolis High School and then entered Michigan State University in fall of 1962.

Yet, despite coming from a tiny town like Cassopolis, ‘Spoon had the audacity to “walk on” with aspirations of making the roster of the Spartan’s consistently nationally ranked football team.

In those days, Michigan State was a football power of the highest order and not considered an inviting place for aspiring “Walk Ons” to earn a spot on the roster.

In fact, in those days, Michigan State was considered a premier pipeline to the NFL and “All American” High School players from across the US dotted the roster at every position, including a bounty of players from Texas and as far away as the Pacific Islands. The investment of recruiting championship caliber players was evident given the fact Michigan State won an unprecedented 4 National Titles in just 6 years including “back-to-back” titles in 1951 and 1952, closely followed by national titles in 1955 and 1957.

Yet, from 1958 to 1964, Spartan Football was on an unsteady trajectory, sometimes up and sometimes down and from 1958 to 1964, Spartan Football finished as low as #10 in Big Ten standings (out of 10) and as high as #2.

In order the Spartans finished #10, #2, #4, #3, #5, #2 and #6, and that included two losing seasons in 1958 and 1964 respectively.

So, the prospects for 1965 were unsteady at best.

But Duffy Daugherty’s staff had a plan to add more national titles to the trophy case and under the guidance of a brilliant young Defensive Coordinator who was in his early 30’s at the time, Hank Bullough, known as Dr. Defense, was setting about to mold one of the most dynamic and dominating Defenses of all time.

Hank had a mantra that changed the shape of Michigan State Defense from big and slow, to lean, fast and agile.

Keep in mind, Spartan Football finished #6 in 1964 with an uninspiring 4-5 record overall and just 3-3 Big Ten, so Spartan Football came into the 1965 season totally under the radar and totally disregarded.

 

1965: a Run for Big Ten Title and the Rose Bowl

The season commenced auspiciously on Sep 13, 1965, with a 13-3 victory over Mel Farr and UCLA at Spartan Stadium.

That was followed by a 23-0 victory on the road at Penn State, and those victories over highly regarded national opponents catapulted the Spartans to #9 in the nation.

Then Illinois, led by legendary coach Pete Elliott and still basking in its 1964 Rose Bowl victory, came to Spartan Stadium on a brilliant autumn afternoon and the Spartans posted a decisive 22-12 victory and the Spartans climbed to #5 in the country.

The Spartans totally dismantled Michigan 24-7 in Ann Arbor and thereby climbed to #4, then beat mighty Ohio State 32-7 at Spartan Stadium and climbed to #2.

The Spartans went on the road and beat #6 Purdue, led by All American and future Hall of Famer, Bob Griese 14-10 and at that point, the Spartans had climbed to #1 in the land and maintained the #1 ranking throughout the remainder of the football season.

Spartan Football wasn’t just winning a few football games, it was dismantling the best teams in the land one by one, and Spartan Football was the talk of the college football world.

The victory march continued as the Spartans beat Northwestern 49-7 at home, then beat Iowa 35-0 on the road.

The Spartans concluded the Big Ten season with a 27-13 victory over Indiana at Spartan Stadium and that clinched the Big Ten crown.

For good measure, the following week the Spartans beat #4 Notre Dame, led by Hall of Fame coach, Ara Parseghian 12-3 in South Bend and that victory sealed the Spartans ranking as #1 in the land.

The caption in the NY Times reads: Michigan State’s Don Weatherspoon (6’4” and 235#) completes the best possible punt defense there is as he tackles Indiana Punter, Joe Elckstead (88). (The 27-13 victory sealed the Big Ten title).

Of course, there were remarkable athletic contributions by both the Offense and Defense, yet the Defensive statistics were historic:

• Yielded just 456 Yards Rushing for the season…41 Rush Yards per game or a meager 1.4 Yards per attempt.
• Yielded a stingy 126 Passing Yards per game at just 45% completion percentage.
• Yielded a total of 76 points for the season at just 6.9 Points per game while holding Penn State and Iowa scoreless in their home stadiums.
• And one of the most remarkable feats of all time, the Michigan State Rush Defense, which was the proud architecture of young Hank Bullough, held Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State to negative Rushing Yardage. Here’s the summary:
  • Michigan (-39 Rushing Yards)
  • Notre Dame (-12 Rushing Yards)
  • Ohio State (-22 Rushing Yards)

That feat, holding Michigan, Notre Dame, and Ohio State to minus Rushing Yardage in a single season is a feat never achieved before and will arguably never be achieved again.

Unfortunately, we can’t list all the players on the 1965 team, yet “The Spartans” were “Kings of the Football World” and Don Weatherspoon, aka ‘Spoon, “walk on” from tiny Cassopolis, MI earned a spot on that historic team including being named player of the week when the Spartans clinched the Big Ten championship by beating Indiana in the last Big Ten game of the season.

 

Dr. Donald Weatherspoon professional career:

Don Weatherspoon earned a B.S. Degree from Michigan State University in Police Administration; an M.A. from Eastern Michigan University in Early Childhood Education; and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in General Education Administration.

 

Thereafter, Dr. Weatherspoon went on to a distinguished career serving the Maryland General Assembly and the Michigan Departments of Commerce, Corrections, Natural Resources, Family Independence Agency, and Education.

Dr. Weatherspoon’s abiding interest has been juvenile justice and improving educational outcomes for children.  To that end, he worked most recently in five Michigan school districts, serving variously as emergency manager, financial consultant, and interim superintendent.   He has also served on numerous Michigan commissions, including his current role as Chair of the Unarmed Combat Commission.

Dr. Donald Weatherspoon is a proud son of the tiny town of Cassopolis, a proud son of Michigan State University and a proud member of Spartans 1965 National Championship team.

 

At a time when negative publicity has overwhelmed Michigan State University, Dr. Weatherspoon will be honored during the Washington game because he represents the highest-level of integrity and character and is truly emblematic of the Hank Bullough award.

 

Congratulations and best wishes to Dr. Donald Weatherspoon.

 

Spartan Football was blessed to have ‘Spoon as a member of one of its most celebrated football teams of all time, and Dr. Donald Weatherspoon continues to serve as a beacon of integrity for the university at large.

 

Thank you for reading.