Bo Marsh introduced his son, Doug, to the game of football when he was eight years old.

“I’d never throw it where he could catch it,” recalled Bo in a 1980 interview with the John Sonderreger of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. “I’d throw it high or low and he’d ask me if that’s the best I could throw. I’d ask him if that’s the best he could catch. I told him anybody can catch it when it’s on the numbers.”

“He’s a football fan—period,” Doug said of his father. “He never pushed me into the game; he just asked me if I wanted to play. You know, a father wanting to get closer to his son.”

The young Marsh would later become a high school All-American at Akron East High, playing both tight end and defensive end. He was recruited as a linebacker by Ohio State’s Woody Hayes, but Doug wanted to play offense.

Enter the University of Michigan. Marsh signed with the Wolverines, where he played tight end from 1976 to 1979. He was named first-team All-Big Ten and third-team All-American after leading the team in receiving in his senior season with 33 receptions for 612 yards.

Bo Marsh bought a motorhome after Doug enrolled in Michigan, and the family only missed five games over the course of four years.

“We’ve followed Doug all along,” Bo said. “We’ve always been sort of sports chasers anyway and we always took the kids with us.”

Doug’s numbers at Michigan caught the attention of the St. Louis Cardinals, who had been trying to fill a hole at tight end since the retirement of Hall of Famer Jackie Smith and the sudden death of J.V. Cain.