Clifton Ryan’s blood doesn’t boil when he sees maize and blue, and steam doesn’t blow from his ears when he hears the Michigan fight song.
The Michigan State senior defensive tackle might even cheer for Michigan at times during the football season, saying he has too many friends playing for that school down the road–friends such as defensive end LaMarr Woodley.
Even during weeks when the Spartans prepare for their annual rivalry game against the Wolverines, Ryan chooses to stay above the verbal fray.
“Once you get on the field, it’s a rivalry, but we’re not trying to kill each other,” Ryan said about his relationship with various Michigan players. “When we see each other, we speak. We’re regular people, like you guys. We have conversations.”
Ryan went to Saginaw Arthur Hill and Woodley attended Saginaw High. They formed a strong relationship despite playing for rival schools. Both became key members of the state’s top two college football programs, and both serve as captains for their respective teams.
And it was Ryan who reached out to Woodley to organize a charity benefit to maintain recreation options in their hometown after city government eliminated funding for youth programs. They co-sponsored the “Heroes for Kids” golf outing over the summer for a second consecutive year , raising close to $100,000.
Ryan said he recruited about 71 Spartans and Woodley got about 20 Wolverines to participate in the 2006 event, prompting a reporter to jokingly ask Ryan what Woodley did wrong.
“I don’t know–that’s his problem,” Ryan cracked back.
Players on both sides said they enjoyed the experience in Saginaw and said it helped them appreciate their roles as football players and citizens.
“That’s great that we can come together and realize there’s bigger things out there than football and a hatred and rivalry between two schools,” MSU quarterback Drew Stanton said.
This season, Ryan and Woodley have continued to support each other on the football field, cheering for each other’s teams each week and sharing tips on common opponents such as Notre Dame.
“I’ve been knowing the kid forever,” Ryan said. “He doesn’t put me down; I don’t put him down. We want to see each other succeed.
“We don’t say, `I got more tackles than you; I got more sacks than you.’ That’s not the type of relationship we have. We’re more like brothers.”
But Ryan and Woodley’s relationship only extends so far during Michigan week. The two talked last weekend before their respective games against Illinois and Minnesota but haven’t spoken since then.
They agree that sometimes their friendship has to take a temporary hiatus. “We really don’t talk when we play each other,” Ryan said. “That goes back to high school. I probably won’t talk to him until on the field in warmups.”
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While Woodley is having the best season of his career this fall at Michigan, Ryan is facing a more difficult time in his final year at MSU. The Spartans are 3-2 with seven games remaining, but the nature of their loss to Notre Dame and an unexpected loss to Illinois have the Spartans reeling.
The Spartans also will play the Wolverines with an injured Stanton, a banged-up offensive line and minus running back Javon Ringer, worsening the odds that Ryan will get a win against Michigan during his five-year Spartans career.
“It would mean a lot [to win] because right now I’m 0-4 against these guys,” Ryan said.