KENNESAW, Ga. — Gina Tobey does not remember a time when her son did not want to win at everything.

That son, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields, fed on that hunger while growing into the starting quarterback for a national championship contender and a Heisman Trophy finalist. But the journey began at a kitchen table outside Atlanta before Fields could hold a football.

“We challenged him — never let him win anything,” Tobey said. "So if we’re playing Connect Four, I’m not letting you win. If we’re playing checkers, I’m not letting you win. You have to beat me.

“That was always his mentality — that he’s got to figure it out. I think that helped to shape his leadership skills.”

Fields starred at basketball and baseball growing up. With his combination of size, speed and athleticism — not to mention a hard-nosed edge that welcomes contact — you can imagine an alternate reality in which Fields lined up at another football position. However, you also cannot deny Fields’ natural quarterback gifts. Difficult throws, either in terms of distance or accuracy, seem routine. Fields’ vision and awareness make him a weapon with both his arm and his feet.

Beyond the physical gifts, the early influences in Fields’ football life also saw the intangibles that would one day make him a Heisman Trophy candidate.

"He has leadership skills, and his persona lets people know he's about his business," said Marquis Alston, one of Fields' close friends and teammates at Harrison High School and now a defensive back at Wake Forest.

"He does what needs to get done. He has the eye for it and the arm for it. It's the position he was made for."

‘He was just a natural thrower'

Ron Veal first met Fields, then a sixth grader, at a quarterback and receivers camp in the Atlanta area. He became one of Fields’ primary coaches through his early high school years.

Fields grew up admiring the play of quarterback Michael Vick, whose dual-threat talents made him one of the most electric players in football, first at Virginia Tech and later for Fields' hometown Atlanta Falcons.

By the time he arrived at that football camp, a sixth-grade Fields knew what position he wanted to play. Veal immediately noticed Fields possessed the arm strength and accuracy one might expect from a rising baseball prospect.

“The motion itself wasn’t hampered by like a three-quarter motion or over the top motion,” said Veal, a quarterback at Arizona from 1987-90. "It was just a good motion. It was something that you could tweak a little bit and not damage him.

"A lot of people will take up a perfectly fine throwing motion and damage it because they want to influence the kid with their knowledge. If he has it, he has it, and that's what he did. He was just a natural thrower to me."

Shortly after Matt Dickmann took over as Harrison’s head football coach, Fields’ father, Pablo, brought him video of his son. The athleticism showed up, but Dickmann kept a veteran coach’s perspective. He knew some players continue to grow and others don’t. Skills progress, or taper off.

When working with the high school team began the following spring, Dickmann took notice of Fields’ intellect — a mind “like a steel trap” — and the ability to quickly pick up and absorb instructions and information.

Harrison High School routinely sends players to major college football, including Power Five programs. Over time, Fields' physical gifts stood out even among other talented peers.

Dickmann saw other players over the years whose careers might have blossomed more had they given up a stubborn insistence to play quarterback. That was never a question for Fields, in part because his arm would have been wasted elsewhere.

“During the offseason workouts when the new kids had to step up, it was a little rough because they had to get used to the speed of the ball,” said Gavin Hall, Fields’ successor as Harrison’s quarterback who will play at Toledo next season.

“But they got used to it quick, because if not they would get hit right in the head.”

Justin Fields at Harrison HS in Kennesaw, Ga. — During his career at Harrison High School in Kennesaw, Georgia, Justin Fields developed from a relatively unknown quarterback to the No. 2 consensus prospect in the 2018 signing class.

‘The perfect mannerisms’

Warranted or not, quarterbacks receive an oversized share of attention and credit. They are also are burdened with a greater share of the expectations and blame. The best quarterbacks lift their teams to a higher level of achievement. Hall watched that aura play out around Fields. Harrison’s other players wanted to lift their performances to Fields’ level.

When he was not pushing teammates with his physical gifts, Fields calmed them with an even-keeled demeanor.

Other coaches noticed that years before. Tovey said she was initially surprised when one of Fields’ summer baseball coaches picked him as the starting pitcher of the championship game of a tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y.

“He’s steady," the coach explained, according to Tovey. “Nothing’s going to rattle him.”

That experiment was tested quickly when the opposing leadoff man took Fields deep for a home run. Watching video of the game later, Tobey noticed a smile on her son’s face. Fields found his groove and the team won the championship.

Veal later struggled to get an emotional read on Fields during their workouts. Was he frustrated? Was he enjoying himself? He considered that further evidence of Fields’ fit under center.

“I think he has the perfect mannerisms to play quarterback. I say mannerisms over aptitude, because he doesn’t get here,” Veal said, holding his hand over his head. “He doesn’t get there,” he added, holding his hand below his knee.

"You can watch him play a game. You don't know if he just scored or he just fumbled or just threw an interception or just threw a touchdown. He'll celebrate and show excitement in the end zone, but then he's right back to being calm."

Tobey said that demeanor, noticeable in her son at a young age, has helped him weather the criticisms and scrutiny that followed him as a highly-ranked national prospect to Georgia freshman to outgoing transfer to Ohio State starter.

She remembers her father overhearing some of Fields’ basketball competitors pointing him out around age 10. People were already taking notice of physical gifts that set him apart. It was still hard to predict what would eventually unfold, at least for some.

“As soon as I met him,” said Alston, his high school teammate. “I automatically saw his work ethic and talent would get him to where he is now.”

Where Fields is now is near the top of anyone’s list of the best quarterbacks in college football.

To the people who saw him progress along the way it almost seems like it was inevitable.

Get Buckeyes Insider texts in your phone from Doug Lesmerises: Cut through the clutter of social media and communicate directly with the award-winning OSU football reporter, just like you would with your friends. Sign up for insight on the Buckeyes for $3.99 a month. You can register in just a minute below by entering your phone number.

New Ohio State merchandise for playoffs: Here’s where you can get Buckeyes shirts and hats for men, women and youth commemorating OSU’s third straight Big Ten championship and berth in the College Football Playoff at the Fiesta Bowl

More Buckeyes coverage

Why is Ohio State football’s Justin Fields a quarterback? ‘It’s the position he was made for’

‘He was just a natural thrower'

‘The perfect mannerisms’