One of the hardest decisions Mike Labinjo has ever had to make was to play football exclusively, giving up his first love - hockey.
“It’s always in the back of my head,” Labinjo said. “Especially when I watch hockey on TV or watch the guys over at Munn Ice Arena. When I was 16, I had to decide which one I wanted to continue playing, hockey or football.
“Ever since then I’ve always thought about lacing back up and trying to get back out there competitively.”
That itch especially needs scratching these days as the MSU hockey team is set to face off against Michigan in “The Cold War” in Spartan Stadium on Saturday.
“It’s going to be awesome,” Labinjo said. “I actually was able to get a ticket, so I can get out there and see our boys play. I think it would be awesome to play in front of all those people.”
And although it took him some time to find prominence on the field himself, these days he’s tearing it up. Two weeks ago at Notre Dame he recovered a fumble and recorded three tackles for losses and a sack. At Northwestern on Saturday, he had eight total tackles.
Not bad for a Canadian-born hockey center, turned tailback, turned fullback, turned defensive end, turned linebacker.
After Labinjo settled on football, he became a human-version of a “Transformers” action figure. His metamorphosis began when the MSU football coaches moved him to a full back position his freshman year.
Then last spring, he made the switch to defensive end - but not for long. When senior linebacker Ivory McCoy was injured in August, Labinjo filled the gap and moved again.
His backfield experience has helped him make the adjustment, he said.
“Playing full back, that’s actually helped me to play defensive end and linebacker because full back is such a physical position,” Labinjo said. “When I switched to defensive end, that was another obstacle, trying to learn the defense so fast.”
The whole time, he has also had to adjust to American football, which uses a smaller field and a different set of rules than the Canadian version.
But the skills he has picked up on the ice and in the backfield has helped him find his way. And his natural athletic ability and good attitude certainly haven’t hurt, defensive coordinator Bill Miller said.
“He’s really adapted fast and well to what we’ve asked him to do,” Miller said. “Mike’s just a good football player. Hell, he’s a load out there (at 6-1, 260 pounds), he’s a pretty good little ball of power.”
And it’s a good thing he’s switched - the offensive coaches were always on his back, senior quarterback Ryan Van Dyke said.
“He was always getting yelled at, to tell you the truth,” Van Dyke said. “Just typical freshmen mistakes and coach would get on him. But he’d never get upset about it, he’d always respond well.”
But stellar stats or not, the defensive coaches still find something to get on him about, Miller said.
“Oh no, we’ll yell at him,” Miller said. “We’re nondiscriminating, we’ll still yell at him, but he isn’t giving us much of a reason to yell at him. He’s done a lot of good things.”
And those “good things,” don’t just happen on the field, Miller said.
“He’s a solid kid and tries to do the right thing, and I think all that stuff relates,” Miller said. “He’s got a good disposition - your attitude and how you look at things. He’s been very unselfish from going to offense to defense in the first place, so I think that says a lot about Mike.”
But Labinjo’s outgoing character is not just for his teammates’ enjoyment.
“I just think I’m really friendly,” Labinjo said.
“I like talking to people. Learning about people (and) new things. I like seeing what other people have to say. Other people’s opinions mean a lot to me, I care about stuff like that.”
Lately, he has become close with some of MSU’s hockey players. And whenever he has time, he loves to talk hockey with the players, junior left wing Steve Clark said.
“It’s funny listening to the football guys discuss hockey,” Clark said. “I remember one time we were in the training room over at the Duffy (Daugherty Football) Building. I overheard them fighting about who was better between Canadian hockey players and Russian hockey players.”
Clark said he got to know Labinjo this summer in the weight room.
“He’s a big intimidating guy,” Clark said.
“But as soon as you go up to him he just has a huge smile on his face all the time. He’s always willing to talk and he’s friendly to everybody.”
And Labinjo has offered a little friendly advice before it plays in front of 72,000 fans Saturday.
“Just pretend you’re playing back at Munn,” Labinjo said.
“Don’t let the crowd get to you. I know when I played my first game in the stadium the crowd got in my head right away and I was nervous.”
