Ivan Pace Sr. first laid eyes on Ivan Pace Jr. in Cincinnati 23 years ago Saturday.
"You know those old Stretch Armstrong wrestler toys?" Ivan Sr. says of the day his son was born. "Ivan looked like that coming out of the womb. Short, all muscle, flexible. Always liked to wreck things."
In other words, born to play football.
"Been playing since he was 5," Ivan Sr. said. "I knew he was different because I kind of showed him the ropes, and he wanted to do what Daddy did, and that's what he did."
Cincinnati is home to a tale of two talented Ivans, two very different football journeys and how a father overcame his youthful "trials and tribulations" to help his namesake rise higher than a 5-foot-10 NFL linebacker is supposed to.