When Ted Szymanski was notified he would be inducted into the Lakeland College Athletic Hall of Fame, he could think of only one person he wanted to deliver the induction speech - his best friend, Wisconsin Army National Guard Master Sgt. Mark Smith.

"I was privileged to play football with him," Szymanski said. "I've known him more than half my life."

But Smith is presently deployed to Iraq with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. So he recorded a video of the introduction speech and e-mailed it from Iraq. The video was played during the Hall of Fame banquet Friday, Oct. 9.

"Ted played the game the way all the greats play the game - with his heart," Smith said in the video. "If you could count on one thing every Saturday, it would be that Ted would leave his heart and soul on the field. I was always so proud to be his teammate."

Szymanski said he was blown away by Smith's speech.

"There were very few dry eyes there," he said. "He was the brother my parents never gave me. If half the Soldiers are like Mark, then we're in good shape."

Smith's speech helped kick off the college's salute to the troops during its Homecoming game the next day. Members of the U.S. Army offered personalized dog tags to fans, and members of the Wisconsin Army National Guard fired a 105-mm howitzer to start the game and following each Lakeland score.

Lakeland College, a Division 3-level private college in northern Sheboygan County, was one of the few NCAA schools selected to honor the military Oct. 10.

"It's a great honor," said event coordinator Dan Burke. "This could have been done at a Big 10 school. We wanted to honor local troops that have deployed."

Several military units in proximity to Lakeland College have deployed in recent years, including Army National Guard units from Plymouth - Bravo Battery, 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery - and Fond du Lac - Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry - and an Army Reserve unit from Sheboygan, a detachment of the 330th Military Police Company.