DALLAS — Cardale Jones had sat at a table and answered questions at Ohio State's National Championship Media Day for nearly 50 minutes Saturday when, all of a sudden, someone wanted to get an exclusive, 30-second interview in with the Buckeyes starting quarterback.
It wasn't a member of the media who wanted the one-on-one time with Jones, though. It was his teammate — and roommate — Tyvis Powell.
Powell — who jokingly calls Jones his son even though Jones is the older of the two —was more than happy to crash Jones' media session. The two delivered an exchange for the ages.
"Who took you under their wing, Cardale?" asked Powell.
"Don't make me call your mama," replied Jones. "You want me to call your mama?"
"Cardale, you was off the hook until you met me! I got your life together," Powell said. "You know, what? You’re ungrateful is what you are.”
Then, Jones delivered the punchline of Media Day.
“I should have never walked out on your mom all them years ago."
Laughter ensued from those surrounding them. It was just a small snippet, but it gave everyone around a little bit of insight into what life is like at the Jones/Powell residence.
Powell and Jones are two of the most charismatic players on Ohio State's roster. They'll also be two of the most important come Monday night when the Buckeyes take on No. 2 Oregon for the national championship.
Jones has the tall task of making sure Ohio State's offense keeps up with the Ducks as he will attempt to go score-for-score with Oregon's Marcus Mariota. Powell, and the rest of the Buckeye defense, has the difficult job of trying to shut down that high-powered Ducks attack.
But even with those challenges awaiting them, Jones and Powell seem as laid back as ever. Like it was just another day in their apartment.
“It’s hard to be nervous when you’ve got guys around you that when you give them the ball they can take it 80 yards or guys in front of you that give you all the time in the world,” Jones said.
Powell and Jones could (and should, really) have a reality TV show made about their relationship. It's that entertaining.
Last week, during Ohio State's on-campus media day, Powell was doing an interview for a local TV station when Jones videobombed him by doing cartwheels in the background.
When they're not at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center practicing or watching film, you can probably find them at their place playing NBA 2K15 against one another. And even though they haven't been playing against each other much of late — Jones has a newfound responsibility as the starting quarterback if you haven't heard — there is still plenty of trash talk between the two.
“He’s been duckin’ and dodging me. He don’t even wanna play me no more," Powell said, laughing. "I don’t know what his deal is. He’s got his little booth over there, he on the TV and everything. He’s too big time, man. Hollywood Jones!”
No video games of late and no cooking, either. Both Powell and Jones said they aren't much of a chef. After the season, though, that may change.
"Cardale swears up and down that after the season is over he’s going to attempt to make some taco salad," Powell said. "Please, please pray for us because he cannot cook at all.”
"We’ve got to get a fire extinguisher first in case anything goes bad,” Jones added with his larger-than-life smile.
As for who is the cleaner roommate of the two?
“Me. And don’t let him lie to you," Powell said. "If you ask him and he says him, he’s lying. It’s me. It’s obviously me. That house is uptight because of me.”
Jones added a simple response to Powell's claim of being the cleaner one: "No, he's not."
Powell and Jones are so much alike it's almost scary. They've known each other since they're playing days in high school back in the Cleveland area. Powell remembers picking off one of Jones' passes in a 7-on-7 camp to win the game. He still gives him flack about it today, of course.
And when Powell broke up Jones' press conference Saturday, he interrupted the second-most popular guy at Ohio State's Media Day aside from head coach Urban Meyer. But despite Jones' newfound fame, the guy who perhaps knows him best hasn't seen much of a change.
“For the most part, he treats it like it’s not even going on. He’s still the same person to me," He’s not doing anything out of the ordinary that he doesn’t normally do."
Well, everything except trying to cook.
