Watching the U.S. Olympic Trials, I become instantly and unfathomably aware of just how out of shape I really am. Obviously these are highly trained athletes I'm watching, and it isn't fair to try and compare myself to their full athletic achievements, but like... I don't really have the desire to do any of what I'm looking at. A single hurdle looks as insurmountable as Denali, to say nothing of whatever is going on with pole vault or whatever. Multiple laps around a track? Get the hell out of here, that's not happening.
I do occasionally ride a bike a little bit and have gotten up to 30 mile solo training rides, and have done Pelotonia a few times to the tune of 50-ish miles. The latter, however, was aided by like five pit stops, unlimited food and drink, and dozens of very enthusiastic Boomers in recumbent bikes with portable speakers blasting Bob Seger right next to me for three and a half hours. But it was a mid-30's athletic accomplishment that I figured could at least put me in the same headspace galaxy as a Real Athlete.
And then I see this crap.
A "century" ride is 100 miles in one shot. Go to hell, coach.
So I don't even know, man. Watching the Tour de France, as I do every year, just hammers this point home. Those dudes are riding anywhere between 80-120 miles every day for the better part of three weeks (while, yes, doped to the gills) in probably the most insane display of endurance that humans subject themselves to while wearing lycra and pads on their butts.
Which left me wondering about the Ohio State football equivalent of this kind of madness. Chris Gamble is the immediate example that comes to mind, but two-way players are unbelievably rare and I had something a little more physical in mind. Given that the Buckeyes have a storied history of three yards and a cloud of dust, I thought that in honor of our fellow countrymen busting their asses to make the Olympics, we took some time to honor the guys who have carried the rock over and over and over and over again for Ohio State over the years.
Some general caveats apply here: the stats are for a full career and most players (with some exceptions) don't get a ton of carries early on, obviously. But we'll get into that.
JIM OTIS, 1967-69
Jim Otis was a rock for Woody Hayes; though he played in far fewer games than most of the other players on this list, he averaged nearly 21 carries per game during his Ohio State career. In 1969, Otis ran the ball 225 times in just nine games.
ARCHIE GRIFFIN, 1972-75
That Archie is on this list shouldn't come as a shock, but his numbers at Ohio State were pretty incredible in terms of both longevity and endurance. He's got the most carries for any running back ever at Ohio State by a wide margin (924, almost 200 more than J.K. Dobbins at number two), and averaged 20 carries per game for his legendary career.
KEITH BYARS, 1982-85
Byars is interesting. He only had two significantly productive seasons at Ohio State (and was robbed for the Heisman in 1984), but in those two years he was an absolute truck of a man. In the aforementioned 1984 Byars ran the ball an OSU record 335 times, averaging 28 carries per game and thus exposing a fantastic and frankly kind of beautiful lack of creativity on the part of Earle Bruce and company.
EDDIE GEORGE, 1992-95
Eddie had a similar situation as Byars; while he only had two enormously productive seasons at Ohio State, this time the right guy actually did win the Heisman, on the back of 328 carries that amounted to an average of over 25 per game in 1995.
PEPE PEARSON, 1994-97
Somewhat underrated and unheralded given who he followed, Pearson is deserving of recognition as a guy who filled in admirably for the departing George by taking on a rushing load just as heavy as his predecessor. In 1996, Pearson carried the ball 299 times, or roughly 25 totes per game.
J.K. DOBBINS, 2017-19
Dobbins would have a claim on being the real rushing Iron Man for Ohio State if Archie didn't exist. Though for his career he averaged around 17.2 carries per game, he frequently had random games where he was asked to take up essentially the entire offense himself. I'm particularly fond of the 2018 Maryland game where he ran the ball 37 freaking times for 203 yards, and the Buckeyes needed every single one of those as they escaped with a 52-51 victory over the Terrapins.
Football isn't just about huge plays and quarterbacks throwing bombs all over the field. Grinding out a ridiculous amount of punishment over the course of a career should be recognized as well, and the guys who put themselves through the wringer for Ohio State have done an incredible job for generations.
