The date was February 3, 2002, and Bill Belichick had a challenge on his hands. His New England Patriot
s were about to face the St. Louis Rams in the Super Bowl, and the Rams were a handful.
Quarterback Kurt Warner and running Marshall Faulk had already won one Super Bowl, and they were primed for another. To have any chance, the Patriots pinned their hopes on a new hot-shot quarterback of their own named Tom Brady, who seemeddetermined to make a name for himself.
The country was awash in post 9/11 patriotism. Over 86 million watched the Super Bowl telecast, including some football fans here in Springboro.
On February 3, 2002, Jake Ballard was an eighth grader at Springboro Junior High School. He and his twin brother Josh lived with their parents, Ben and Debby, in the family home on St. Rt. 741.
Jake and Josh had been watching the Super Bowl since they were in the third grade, when the Cowboys played the Steelers. Five years later, Jake watched Belichick and Brady on a television set 2,000 miles away from the stadium.
They watched with wide-eyed innocence young teenagers have. Wow. The Super Bowl. What are the chances of every getting there someday?
Those dreams were for another day. In the meantime, there was work to be done.
When school began the next day, Sheryl Winter, Jake’s language arts teacher, would have the class watch a movie called “Simon Birch,” then write a character analysis about the people in the movie.
Shane Estep, his American History teacher, was wrapping up a unit about the Revolutionary War before beginning a unit on the U.S. Constitution. “As you can imagine, the Constitution unit was quite a bit of lecture so there would have been complaints and moans about taking notes, Mr. Estep says.
Linda Gillum had Jake in her class. Randy Youst was his gym teacher. Chris Wylie had him in choir.
Jake was already 6’2” and showing signs that he was still getting bigger. He and Josh had played in the eighth grade football team that had gone 7-3. Now they were on the eighth grade white basketball team that would eventually go on to be 14-3.
The big game on the schedule was with a team that wore blue and white, with “Miamisburg” across the front.
“Jake had great hands, even as a 13-14 year old,” says Mr. Estep, who was also Ja
ke’s basketball coach. “Each coach we played against remarked about his ‘soft hands’ and touch around the basket.”
Jake was the inside threat, and Josh was the outside shooter. The future looked bright for both boys. But how bight was anyone’s guess.
We know now that Jake and his teammates eventually went 10-0 as seniors andadvanced to the state football playoffs. And then Jake played tight end for four years as Ohio State, twice playing for the national championship.
Now we fast-forward to February 5, 2012, when Belichick and Brady – both future football Hall of Famers -- take the field in Indianapolis for their fifth Super Bowl in 10 years. They play the New York Giants, and the Giants are a handful.
While Brady’s focus will be on the Giant defense, Belichick has to worry about their offense. Giant head coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning have already won one Super Bowl, and they appear primed for another.
And now the Giants have Jake Ballard as a starting tight end. He’s proven himself to be an effective blocker and an excellent receiver, using those soft hands that Mr. Estep said were evident 10 years ago. Earlier this season, he caught a last-second touch
Quarterback Kurt Warner and running Marshall Faulk had already won one Super Bowl, and they were primed for another. To have any chance, the Patriots pinned their hopes on a new hot-shot quarterback of their own named Tom Brady, who seemeddetermined to make a name for himself.
The country was awash in post 9/11 patriotism. Over 86 million watched the Super Bowl telecast, including some football fans here in Springboro.
On February 3, 2002, Jake Ballard was an eighth grader at Springboro Junior High School. He and his twin brother Josh lived with their parents, Ben and Debby, in the family home on St. Rt. 741.
Jake and Josh had been watching the Super Bowl since they were in the third grade, when the Cowboys played the Steelers. Five years later, Jake watched Belichick and Brady on a television set 2,000 miles away from the stadium.
They watched with wide-eyed innocence young teenagers have. Wow. The Super Bowl. What are the chances of every getting there someday?
Those dreams were for another day. In the meantime, there was work to be done.
When school began the next day, Sheryl Winter, Jake’s language arts teacher, would have the class watch a movie called “Simon Birch,” then write a character analysis about the people in the movie.
Shane Estep, his American History teacher, was wrapping up a unit about the Revolutionary War before beginning a unit on the U.S. Constitution. “As you can imagine, the Constitution unit was quite a bit of lecture so there would have been complaints and moans about taking notes, Mr. Estep says.
Linda Gillum had Jake in her class. Randy Youst was his gym teacher. Chris Wylie had him in choir.
Jake was already 6’2” and showing signs that he was still getting bigger. He and Josh had played in the eighth grade football team that had gone 7-3. Now they were on the eighth grade white basketball team that would eventually go on to be 14-3.
The big game on the schedule was with a team that wore blue and white, with “Miamisburg” across the front.
“Jake had great hands, even as a 13-14 year old,” says Mr. Estep, who was also Ja
ke’s basketball coach. “Each coach we played against remarked about his ‘soft hands’ and touch around the basket.”
Jake was the inside threat, and Josh was the outside shooter. The future looked bright for both boys. But how bight was anyone’s guess.
We know now that Jake and his teammates eventually went 10-0 as seniors andadvanced to the state football playoffs. And then Jake played tight end for four years as Ohio State, twice playing for the national championship.
Now we fast-forward to February 5, 2012, when Belichick and Brady – both future football Hall of Famers -- take the field in Indianapolis for their fifth Super Bowl in 10 years. They play the New York Giants, and the Giants are a handful.
While Brady’s focus will be on the Giant defense, Belichick has to worry about their offense. Giant head coach Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning have already won one Super Bowl, and they appear primed for another.
And now the Giants have Jake Ballard as a starting tight end. He’s proven himself to be an effective blocker and an excellent receiver, using those soft hands that Mr. Estep said were evident 10 years ago. Earlier this season, he caught a last-second touch
down pass that helped the Giants beat the Patriots.
So Belichick now has to worry about Jake, something that seemed highly unlikely a decade ago.
Springboro is officially crazy about the New York Giants, all because of Jake.
His family still lives here. His grandmother, Sarah Burson, works for Image Mark-It on Main Street and helped designed the "Boro's Own Giant" shirts that are all over the place.
TV sets all over town will be tuned in on Sunday, making up the more than 100 million people worldwide who will be watching. Springboro adults will talk about howthey know Jake’s parents. Coaches and teachers will take pride in their role in helping Jake along the way. Others will tell stories of Jake and Josh and their time together in school.
So Belichick now has to worry about Jake, something that seemed highly unlikely a decade ago.
Springboro is officially crazy about the New York Giants, all because of Jake.
His family still lives here. His grandmother, Sarah Burson, works for Image Mark-It on Main Street and helped designed the "Boro's Own Giant" shirts that are all over the place.
TV sets all over town will be tuned in on Sunday, making up the more than 100 million people worldwide who will be watching. Springboro adults will talk about howthey know Jake’s parents. Coaches and teachers will take pride in their role in helping Jake along the way. Others will tell stories of Jake and Josh and their time together in school.
And some Springboro Junior High eighth graders will take note that Jake Ballard once went to school where they do, sitting in classrooms where they do.
And for a moment their dreams won’t seem that impossible.