When you're a student-athlete at a power program like Ohio State, both ends of the spectrum of amateurism typically stand alone. You're a student when you're a student, and you're an athlete when you're an athlete.
But for Billy Price, the two have intersected more than they ever have before during this spring semester.
"I was joking with my stats instructor. She had an undisputed national championship T-shirt and I go, 'Oh, that's a nice shirt you got on there.' She knows we're football players and she's like 'yeah,'" Price said Saturday following Ohio State Spring Game. "It's very cool and you see people support us. That, you see memorabilia with shirts, hats, everything."
Sure, it's not hard to pick out a football player on campus due to their daily attire or immense, weight-trained bodies that stick out like sore thumbs. This time, though, is different — at least for Price.
"I didn't win a state championship in any event that I was involved in (high school). So to see there and look at the things, you look at them and you're like 'wow,'" Price said. "It's memories, it's mementos, it's memorabilia that really I was a part of."
The memories, rings, T-shirts and jerseys from that special night in Dallas against Oregon wouldn't have happened without an extensive amount of improvement from Price, especially following a ghastly performance in Ohio State's lone loss in 2014 — the 35-21 setback against Virginia Tech Sept. 6.
"Last year at this time with Billy we were like 'Well, we don't know. We're going to have to see how this works out,'" Ohio State offensive line coach and offensive coordinator Ed Warinner said. "He struggled early in the season but by the time midseason hit he was playing well and down the stretch he played great."
Price wasn't the only big guy up front who excelled in December and February. The entirety of Ohio State's offensive line came together to pave the way for running back Ezekiel Elliott and his ridiculous 696 total yards rushing and eight touchdowns against Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon.
"Billy Price is playing outstanding football for us right now," Urban Meyer said Saturday. "Billy Price is night and day what he was a year ago."
You could say that about the whole group of big uglies who block for Elliott and the other ballcarriers. As the youngest player in the first offensive line group as just a redshirt sophomore, though, Price is perfectly OK with coming to terms with how long it took him to be a worthy contributor.
"Went from a guy with no confidence, zero plays to a guy who played 1,176 snaps last year," Price said. "Really, really — it’s like watching a kid grow up essentially."
Price moved from defensive line to offense during his redshirt season two years ago, working his way into comfortability in his new position. The talent's always been there. He's far and away the strongest person on the team on weight room lifts like bench press, deadlift and squat. He just needed to fine tune his game to put it all together between the lines.
"I didn’t play since high school and to come in and continue to develop myself and become the player I am and the player I’m going to continue to become, it’s pretty cool," Price said.
"Billy Price is night and day what he was a year ago."– Urban Meyer
He has at least another season as a Buckeye, and even if he and his teammates don't have the kind of success they did in 2014 before he leaves Columbus, Price isn't likely to forget the memories he made with his teammates and even his professors following the national title run.
"For me, I look at the Alabama score, I have flashbacks of Zeke running by me," Price said. "We look back at Wisconsin, touchdowns where Zeke is parting the sea and he's running through the middle for 85 yards. To me it's really a memento. It's awesome."
