Between bites of omelets and waffles, Dwayne Haskins Jr.’s father, mother and sister are telling stories about the young man they love.

They recall when two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Shawn Springs marveled at Haskins’ throwing motion, telling his father, “When the body catches up to the mind, you are going to New York.”

As in, for the Heisman Trophy presentation.

Dwayne was in the seventh grade.

Going back to May 3, 1997, Dwayne Sr. recalls wife Tamara delivering the 7-pound, 11-ounce baby. He looked at little Dwayne’s head and told doctors he was concerned because the shape was “oblong.”

Yes, like a football.

The sport already has made Haskins famous. And one day, likely sooner than Ohio State fans would like, it will make him very rich.

Haskins enjoyed a historic 2018 season, breaking Big Ten records for passing yards (4,580) and touchdown passes (47). He threw for a program-record 499 yards against Northwestern in the conference championship game, earning MVP honors. Michigan allowed seven touchdown passes in its first 11 games — and six to Haskins in the Buckeyes’ 62-39 romp.

It’s no wonder Big Ten coaches voted Haskins the winner of the 2018 Chicago Tribune Silver Football, awarded annually to the conference’s best player. Illinois’ Red Grange won the first award in 1924, and Penn State’s Saquon Barkley received it last year.

Many of the greats on that list were driven by demanding parents who would “punish” their kids by having them do push-ups or sprints.

That’s not the Haskins family.

As they tell it at Maxine’s Chicken & Waffles in Indianapolis on the morning of the Big Ten title game, Haskins practically stumbled into football. During family Super Bowl parties, he would wander away from the TV after one quarter.

“Dwayne was never really into sports,” his father says. “He was into Power Rangers, Pokemon, Michael Jackson.”

Haskins made great grades, so his parents would reward him and sister Tamia with vacations to places such as Disneyland or Busch Gardens. Sometimes they would drop off Dwayne at a football camp. At the end they would notice a medal hanging from his neck.

“We’d be like: How did that happen? How’d you get that?” Tamara recalls.

Haskins loved math and did an eighth-grade science fair presentation on the aerodynamics of throwing a football, analyzing how one generates the highest velocity.

“He came in, I think, fourth place,” Dwayne Sr. says.

“Third,” Tamia responds.

“It’s been a while,” Dwayne Sr. says.

‘This kid was different’

The food arrives. Tamia, a 17-year-old high school senior and budding actress, asks to say grace.

“Father God, thank you for today. Please let everyone that sits at this table and everyone we encounter today be blessed by you. To know that everything is possible. Please watch over the hands that have prepared this food. Let this food nourish our bodies and our souls. In your name. Amen.”

Christianity is at the core of the Haskins family. At age 3, Dwayne asked for a little sister. Tamara endured a difficult pregnancy and emergency C-section, but the result was a beautiful girl who would become her brother’s best friend.

“Dwayne is so special,” Tamia says. “Everyone should have a Dwayne in their life. If you don’t, I’m sorry.”

Dwayne Sr., an entrepreneur who has developed and produced Christian-themed music and events, says of his son: “God gave gifts to him. He’s like a Stevie Wonder. God gave a gift to him with song. When it comes to football, Dwayne does everything at ease. It comes natural to him. He doesn’t struggle. His comprehension is such, you don’t have to repeat it.”

Tamara calls faith “our foundation.” Before major decisions, the family looks for a sign from God.

They got the equivalent of a lightning strike on Oct. 11, 2015, when Maryland fired coach Randy Edsall after consecutive blowouts by West Virginia, Michigan and … Ohio State.

Haskins had committed to Maryland five months earlier. His family had moved from New Jersey to Potomac, Md., so Dwayne and Tamia could attend the prestigious Bullis School. Dwayne bonded with Edsall and assistant Mike Locksley and intended to stay near home.

To look back now, how could Ohio State not have been his destination, his destiny?

Tamara’s sister, Trudy Gaillard, earned a Ph.D. at Ohio State, where she held a faculty position in the university’s college of nursing. She encouraged Haskins to attend a football camp there in the spring of 2008, when Haskins was 11.

Coach Jim Tressel took to him, insisting he play quarterback and telling him something along the lines of this: “When you grow up, come back and visit. We might have a scholarship for you.”

Haskins family An 11-year-old Dwayne Haskins Jr. poses with Jim Tressel, then the Ohio State football coach, at a football camp in the spring of 2008. An 11-year-old Dwayne Haskins Jr. poses with Jim Tressel, then the Ohio State football coach, at a football camp in the spring of 2008. (Haskins family)

Haskins family Jim Tressel poses again with Dwayne Haskins Jr. years later after Haskins joined the football team at Ohio State. Jim Tressel poses again with Dwayne Haskins Jr. years later after Haskins joined the football team at Ohio State. (Haskins family)

A home video from the camp shows Haskins, wearing a white headband and red Ohio State No. 7 jersey, throwing passes and saying he “wants to come to college here.”

Dwayne Sr.: “Now if you come to Ohio State, what position are you going to play?”

Dwayne Jr.: “Quarterback.”

Haskins loved Troy Smith, who won the 2006 Heisman Trophy.

On top of all that, Springs entered the picture when Haskins was in middle school. The former Ohio State All-American and 13-year pro was in New Jersey to visit his son, Skyler, a friend of Dwayne’s. Springs sized up Haskins at a football camp and was floored.