INDIANAPOLIS – Troy Vincent did his best to feign neutrality.
In a video posted on Thursday night, he sat in front of a screen featuring Ohio State and Wisconsin logos, wore a jersey split down the middle with 50 percent of it representing each team, held Brutus Buckeye and Bucky Badger dolls in each of his hands and had two helmets representing the teams on the table in front of him. It didn’t take long, though, for him to pick a side.
“You’re thinking about the playoffs. We’re thinking about the next game,” Vincent said in the video. “Beware of the Badgers. On Wisconsin.”
The #B1GFCG trophy is up for grabs for @BadgerFootball & @OhioStateFB, & it doesnt get any bigger for @VincentCountry, @cheftommiv & @t_lova23!@criscarter80, @JJWatt, @DangeRussWilson, @dh_simba7, @ezekielelliott - heres to a different outcome than last time... #OnWisconsin pic.twitter.com/AvHIE25CSm
— Troy Vincent (@TroyVincentSr) December 6, 2019
As a former first-team All-American Wisconsin cornerback, his allegiance to the Badgers won’t be viewed as any sort of surprise. His ultra-successful stint in Madison also included him winning co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 1991. However, his son, Taron, plays on the defensive line for the Buckeyes, meaning bragging rights were on the line. Or, as Troy put it, he had a divided house.
Two days after recording that video, Troy watched his son beat his former team for the second time in two months.
“I can't wait to see him,” Taron Vincent said after Ohio State’s 34-21 victory. “I'm about to go up there right now, go talk to him.”
Taron Vincent, a second-year defensive tackle, didn’t take a snap in either the win a month and a half ago or the victory on Saturday. Since the preseason, he’s been rehabbing from a torn labrum in his shoulder that is expected to keep him out for the remainder of the year. That, though, hasn't stopped him from taking pleasure in his team beating the Badgers.
He had previously seen his father's reaction after a loss to the Buckeyes less than two months ago when Ohio State beat the Badgers, 38-7, on Oct. 26. Troy Vincent wasn't in attendance, which allowed him to stop watching before the game ended.
“He was just salty,” Taron Vincent said. “He was talking about how he just cut the game off once he seen the fourth quarter.”
Troy Vincent, a five-time NFL Pro Bowler and the NFL's current executive vice president of football operations, had no escape on Saturday. He was at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
“He's going to be salty like he was last time,” Taron Vincent said with a smile.
The Buckeyes won’t face Wisconsin again in the regular season until 2022, meaning unless they both meet in the Big Ten championship in either of the next two years, the household would have to wait until Taron Vincent is a redshirt senior until they meet in the regular season again.
