The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Motivated Kline ready to lead Chardon
Linebacker, who was picked on for sticking up for his sister, is headed to Michigan State
he hates people.” It wasn’t always like that. “Man, I was bad. Like really bad,” Kline said of his earliest days of football.
Nothing like the hardhitting linebacker he is now.
“I was in a 7-on-7 league because I was too small at one point,” Kline said. “I was considered not good enough. I was one of those kids.
“I was really scrawny and skinny. Kinda unathletic. I was kinda lurpy out there.”
Slowly things started to come around physically, to being a serviceable player in junior high.
By time he was a freshman, he was looking for a new home, and he found it at nearby NDCL.
“When I left for NDCL, I left with a big chip on my shoulder,” he said. “I gained a lot of weight and worked out crazy hard. I wanted to prove everyone wrong.”
Little did he know after two years at NDCL, he’d find himself back at Chardon after then-coach Ben Malbasa left NDCL to take the head-coaching job at his alma mater University School.
The Chase Kline Chardon gained was not the Chase Kline who had left two years earlier. Gone was the skinny and frail kid who resembled a baby giraffe more than a football player. Gone was the teenager angry at the world.
Back was a chiseled man with a sharp mind letting bygones be bygones.
“Funny where life takes you,” he said with a chuckle. “I was right back where I started . ... I was ready to come home. Coach Hewitt welcomed me with open arms.”
Through all those tumultuous years, Kline said he drew inspiration from sister Ashley.
He said it hurt him to see her struggle with her speech at times. He rejoiced in small victories like her learning how to tie her own shoes. He was excited when she was part of the Chardon band.
No matter what he was going through — his latearriving growth spurt, the harsh words of schoolmates, changing schools — he knew she had it harder.
“I swear to this day no one works harder than her,” he said. “She’s helped me. She makes me think, ‘don’t quit. She can’t do this. She can’t run. She’ll never play football like she wants.’
“Having her as my background helps me. I keep working for her.”
When Kline returned to Chardon for his junior season last year, a season in which he accumulated 122 tackles and earned All-Ohio honors, no one was happier than Ashley. He said no matter how large or loud the crowd gets, he can always hear his sister.
“She’s always right over there,” he said, pointing to the corner at Memorial Field where his sister views games with parents and older sister Carly — his “social media expert.”
Kline laughs when asked if he always envisioned himself being a differencemaking football player. He might have always wanted to be one, but being the last pick on youth teams might have put a seed of doubt in his mind now and then if not for reassuring words from his father to stick with it.
When the first college scholarship offer came — from Iowa State — it was a moment he will never forget.
The offers kept coming — 18 of them in all. He posed for pictures on a recruiting trip to Ohio State with Coach Urban Meyer. At a satellite camp at John Carroll University, he was shadowed at every drill by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh.
In the end it came down to Michigan State, a decision he pined over for a month before making the call and committing.
“Purdue. The ability to play very young there,” said Kline, naming off his finalists. “Iowa State. You never forget the first person to give you a Division I offer. Minnesota. PJ Fleck is awesome. I wish them all the best.
“I did my research on everybody. I though Michigan State was the best decision for my future.”
As much as he is looking forward to his college career, first comes his senior year at Chardon.
A year ago, the Hilltoppers went 11-1, losing in the second round of the Division II playoffs to Warren Harding. This year, Kline will not only be roaming the defensive side of the ball, but will also be playing running back for the Hilltoppers.
“We’re D-III,” Hewitt said. “Any coach who has a player like him who doesn’t play him both ways should potentially be fired for that.”
Kline is licking his chops at playing both ways, too.
“I want to bring our city a state championship,” he said. “I think we’ve got the guys to do it. Our guys are very driven I can’t wait for this year.”
Chase Kline’s present with the Hilltoppers is bright. His future at Michigan State is equally as bright.
But if not for his past — through a rough athletic beginning and the inspiration of a special-needs sister — he knows he might not be the person or player he is today.
“I’ve always had my eye on something else,” he said. “I’ve had it since I was a little boy. I want to go to the NFL. That’s the dream. Everything’s happening. So that’s going to happen, too, if I keep working.”