Michigan State Football :: Official Athletic Site
Sept. 5, 1997
Change Is Good
By Nate Ewell, MSU Sports Information
Todd Schultz is a changed man entering this football season.
You probably won't notice this difference as the senior quarterback takes to the Spartan Stadium turf and leads the offense in his second full year as the starter.
This change will be more evidenced when he leaves the field and spots his family in the stands. Whenever she can rearrange her work schedule, Schultz's new fiance, Debi Adair, will be among the supportive group of family and friends that follow the Spartans.
Debi is hardly a new addition to Schultz's life, as the two have been dating since high school. But Schultz admits that since the July 31 engagement, "It has been like starting the relationship all over again. It's exciting."
Debi, who will try to make as many games as possible around her work schedule as a nurse, will be part of a caravan of 10 to 15 fans the quarterback jokingly refers to as the "Schultz-mobile." Schultz's parents, Gary and Pat, three sisters, Amy, Kim and Heidi, and assorted aunts, uncles and friends from his hometown of Morris, Ill., always find their way to the Michigan State game each Saturday.
"My family goes everywhere," Schultz says. "I get a lot of support from a lot of different people -- not even just the family itself. Eighty people from Morris are coming up for one game this year."
Schultz was a two-year starter at Morris High School, where he met Debi and played for Coach Dan Darlington. Schultz led Morris to a 21-2 record in his two seasons and was SuperPrep's Midwest Offensive Player of the Year in 1992. Darlington has brought the whole Morris team to see Schultz play in East Lansing in the past, something the quarterback clearly appreciates.
"Coach Darlington has had some outstanding teams," Schultz says. "He can take an average player and turn him into a great player."
Despite the success he had at Morris and his second-team All-Big Ten selection a year ago, Schultz still considers himself an average quarterback. He has the credentials -- starting quarterback in the Big Ten, all-league honors -- which suggest a Big Man on Campus label.
But Schultz's humble demeanor quickly erases the perception of the pampered quarterback. He looks at people, not over them -- no small feat at 6-4 -- and speaks with an honest, believable voice.
"I don't consider myself a great player," Schultz says. "That's not my personality. I don't need to brag about being the quarterback or anything like that."
Similarly, he is humble enough not to bank on an NFL career once he earns his sociology degree next spring, although a strong senior season would certainly seem to put him in a good position. Schultz enters this season already ranked among MSU career passing leaders in attempts (10th at 294), completions (10th at 183), completion percentage (third at .620) and yards (11th at 2,270) -- numbers that place him in the company of several MSU quarterbacks who went on to NFL careers. He is one of 17 preseason finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation's outstanding senior QB.
"Right now I'm not basing my future on it," Schultz says. "If an NFL team picks me up, that's great. But I know that I could be the number-one quarterback and one injury would end my career. So right now I am going to try to get my degree and see what happens from there."
No matter what happens with his playing career, however, Schultz know that June 12, 1999, is reserved for he and Debi's wedding. And with that, his family life -- the most important thing -- is accounted for.
"That is kind of my security blanket right there," he says, smiling at the part of his future that isn't speculation. "I have my future all ready for me in my family life -- and that is more important than my job or playing football anyway."