Noah Spence will not return to action Saturday for Ohio State because of a second violation of university and Big Ten rules, a university spokesman confirmed today. Though the junior defensive end’s college football career is in jeopardy, his parents said that’s secondary to the fact their son has come clean about having a “medical illness” and is seeking treatment for it.
“We love him dearly, and our focus is to get him the best medical attention we can,” Greg and Helen Spence said in an email to The Dispatch. “We are hopeful that Noah can get healthy and, at some point, resume his career with the Buckeyes.”
They were summoned from their Harrisburg, Pa., home to a meeting with coach Urban Meyer, defensive line coach Larry Johnson and their son late yesterday. Noah Spence, who had been suspended from the Orange Bowl the end of last season and the first two games of this year after his father said a Big Ten drug test at the league title game found traces of ecstasy in his system, apparently tested positive for it again. The results weren’t known until late this week, which explains why he was listed on the depth chart Tuesday for the first time this season.
At that meeting Noah Spence revealed his problem to his parents, they said. That’s opposed to what happened in December when he had said he thought someone had spiked his drink at a party. Greg Spence said that of course he and his wife were stunned by the latest revelation.
“But he had the strength to be honest with us about it, and he took ownership of it,” Greg Spence said in a brief interview with The Dispatch today.
