Sports

COLUMBUS — Marcus Freeman doesn't mind staying in the background while All-American James Laurinaitis gets all the attention.

He's also happy to stay in the shadows when two teammates are trading pranks.

"I'm not a huge fan of people pranking me back, so I just like to watch and get a good laugh," Freeman said of the almost constant give and take between Laurinaitis and his Ohio State backup at linebacker, Austin Spitler.

In the Buckeyes' solar system, everything seems to revolve around Laurinaitis, winner of the Butkus Award as the nation's best linebacker, a two-time All-American and last season's Big Ten defensive player of the year.

Freeman and the third starting linebacker, Ross Homan, along with Spitler, might be stars at another top 25 program.

"When you have such a great linebacker like James, it's tough to be in that spotlight," Freeman said. "But the good thing about us linebackers, we're not selfish guys."

Especially when it comes to giving each other a hard time. Laurinaitis and Spitler would not talk about their long-running pranking, since many are not exactly PG-rated.

Both Laurinaitis and Freeman elected to keep the NFL waiting for their final year of college eligibility. Laurinaitis has played almost every down the past two years with Spitler watching from the sideline.

Even though he's not a household name, Spitler says he's enjoying himself. Besides, he's biding his time for another prank on Laurinaitis.

"There's been a few things done," he said darkly, "and there's a lot more to come."