What solidified you as a diehard Buckeye football fan?
Was it a particular, memorable season? A legendary coach? A specific player you recall making a momentum-changing play in a big game?
When doubts start creeping in during those big games - do we have what it takes? Are we strong enough? Is someone going to step up and rally us to victory? In most cases, and in typical Ohio State football fashion, someone from our enormously talented roster comes through and does something magical.
Whatever solidified you as a diehard Buckeye, that connection you feel becomes at part of who you are. You become a part of carrying on the tradition of excellence.
before the RPO, it was 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Before the BCS and CFP, it was Rose Bowl or bust.
My fandom for Ohio State began at birth. My dad played for Woody Hayes back in the 1970s, so it was pretty much a guarantee that the Buckeye nut wouldn’t fall far from the tree. I still remember going to my first OSU game.
I was about seven or eight, and my dad and I made the drive south to Columbus. We parked the car and walked across campus on a beautiful fall day. It was everything a first Ohio State football game should be.
We got to go into the locker room during pregame, watch TBDBITL do Script Ohio, eat hot dogs, see Neutron Man do his dance, and cheer the Buckeyes on to victory. I don’t know if I can recall a time where I didn’t want to be an Ohio State football player - but that day solidified it!
I grew up getting to watch some of the greatest players in Ohio State football history. I saw Eddie George win the Heisman while running behind my hometown hero, Orlando Pace (who, by the way, finished 4th in the Heisman voting the same year). I watched Bobby Hoying and Joe Germaine connect with Terry Glenn and David Boston, who both solidified themselves as two of the best receivers in Buckeye history.
And who can forget some of the defensive beasts like Andy Katzenmoyer, Antoine Winfield, Dan Wilkinson, Shawn Springs, Ahmed Plumber and Mike Vrabel who came through Ohio State in the 1990s?
These were still the good ol’ days of football, too. Before the RPO, it was 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Before the BCS and CFP, it was Rose Bowl or bust. Prior to NIL deals, players did it for their state, the guys lining up next to them and the fans in the stands.
There was no need to figure out how to spread around the billions of dollars college football generates annually nowadays. It was simpler before the acronyms and dollar signs. It was still great. It was still pure.
Dimitrious Stanley would play a modest, but pivotal role in my becoming a Buckeye for life.
It wasn’t until I was 10 years old that I went from being a Buckeye fan because my dad used to play, to being a proud and confident OSU fan. This was when Ohio State and Notre Dame scheduled home and home games in 1995 and 1996.
Led by Lou Holtz, the Fighting Irish rolled into the Horseshoe for the first time in 60 years. The inaugural meetings in 1935-36 ended in favor of ND, so the current Buckeyes had to step up in order to just even the series.
At that time, both teams were national title contenders too. I recall a friend of mine who was a Notre Dame fan doing plenty of trash-talking leading up to the game. Two football dynasties reigniting a fierce rivalry, and I wasn’t going to miss it.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but Dimitrious Stanley, a dynamic receiver and punt/kick returner from nearby Worthington would also play a modest, but pivotal role in my becoming a Buckeye for life. In the 1995 game - with only 49 seconds on the clock before halftime - Dimitrious made his only catch of the game:
He got around his defender with stoic composure and made an incredible catch in the corner of the end zone, giving the Buckeyes a pivotal boost of confidence heading into the locker room.
That momentum carried into the 2nd half and Ohio State came away with a big victory.
The following season, John Cooper would take the Bucks on the road to South Bend, to stop the Irish from achieving any form of payback - and tie the series 2-2. Once again, Dimitrious helped set the tone, returning the opening kickoff 85 yards and setting Ohio State up for the first touchdown of the day.
When the Buckeyes rolled out of South Bend with the W, D had two catches for 24 yards and three kick returns for 128 yards. A modest, yet pivotal contribution to coming away with a victory.
I remember watching those games as a kid and knowing how big of a deal it was to trounce Notre Dame in back to back years. My love for the Buckeyes was solidified. It became my number one goal to go to Ohio State and play football for the Buckeyes.
Exactly 10 years later, I was a sophomore wide receiver/punter at Ohio State, and I would get an amazing opportunity to be a part of a team that would beat Notre Dame 34-20 in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl, giving the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead in the series.
Dimitrious relentlessly fought every time he stepped foot on the field. Now, he’s using that same fight - but this time, it’s for his life. Unfortunately his prostate cancer, first diagnosed in 2019 has returned. It has metastasized and spread throughout his entire pelvic region.
Stanley undergoing a nephrostomy to help his kidneys drain properly.
It’s crushing to watch a Buckeye brother (and anyone else, for that matter) struggle like this. Dan Potokar (‘05-‘09) was one of my teammates, who won his battle with cancer while on the team. Dave Monnot (‘89-‘93) recently lost his fight with cancer, and sadly, the list goes on.
Watching Dimitrious battle cancer with the same stoic composure he showed time after time on the gridiron hits me in such a strange, fundamental way. He was an important part of my love of everything Ohio State when I was just that 10 year-old watching a spectacular battle of a different kind. Those guys I looked up to seemed so untouchable.
So it’s strange for me to see the vulnerable side of one of my childhood heroes.
That’s why I want to play a modest, but hopefully pivotal role in helping D continue his fight. I know he is staying positive and will never give up, but it’s always easier when you have an army behind you.
Just like Buckeye Nation helped me after my injury, and also provided incredible support during the first Go Fund Me campaign for Dimitrious, I am asking for help from the best damn fans in the land.
Please help spread the word and raise money so he can financially manage his battle more effectively and know that he’s not doing it alone.
Dimitrious, Dakota and Jessica Stanley. | Photo: Dimitrious Stanley
This year, as if the timing was ordained by the football gods, Ohio State and Notre Dame are slated to clash in the season opener on September 3. In typical fashion, this game has major national championship implications, as both teams are title contenders once again.
A major part of Ohio State’s greatness comes from the incredible players that have paved the way, making it the national powerhouse it is today. I would love to see Dimitrious attend this game with his family and Buckeye brothers, watching as the next generation of guys battle it out against an historic rival.
Who knows, maybe some 10-year-old will watch and realize he too wants to be a Buckeye for life.
