One year after winning a national championship as a Michigan Wolverine, Joey Velazquez has a chance to win another national championship as an Ohio State Buckeye.
A walk-on linebacker who joined the Buckeyes for his final year of collegiate eligibility after five years at Michigan, Velazquez would be a national champion for the second year in a row if Ohio State defeats Notre Dame on Monday.
“Just being able to play for both is pretty awesome in itself,” Velazquez told Eleven Warriors at Saturday’s national championship game media day. “To be back-to-back in the national championship, no matter what team I was part of, it's pretty awesome just to be able to have that opportunity, and it's something I'm excited for.”
Despite switching sides in the rivalry, Velazquez still has good things to say about his time up north. He’s grateful to Jim Harbaugh and Michigan for the opportunities they provided him in Ann Arbor, where he played both football and baseball.
“They were awesome,” Velazquez said of his years at Michigan. “Coach Harbaugh and (Michigan baseball coach Erik Bakich) both gave me a chance to play football and baseball there, and that was my dream come true. I've always wanted to play both sports in college, and they provided that opportunity for me. And I’m very blessed for that.”
A native of Columbus who attended St. Francis DeSales High School, Velazquez said he grew up rooting for the Buckeyes before becoming a Wolverine. His decision to transfer to Ohio State, though, was primarily driven by a desire to be closer to home.
“My dad had some serious health issues, and I have nine siblings and I'm the oldest boy of the family. So when I was away, I didn't really know how bad it was, but when I got back home, I just wanted to be close to my family,” Velazquez said.
Even though he spent five years playing for the enemy, Velazquez said his Buckeye teammates welcomed him with open arms when he joined the team.
“It's interesting just because of the biggest rivalry in sports and going from both teams, but the guys are so awesome,” Velazquez said. “They were so accepting and bringing me in, and it's just a cool group of guys.”
“To be back-to-back in the national championship, no matter what team I was part of, it's pretty awesome just to be able to have that opportunity.”– Joey Velazquez on playing in a second straight national title game
Velazquez, who went 3-1 against Ohio State as a Wolverine and 0-1 against Michigan as a Buckeye, said he thinks both teams approach the rivalry with a similar level of intensity.
“I think both teams are very intense about it,” Velazquez said. “It's called The Game for a reason … they both prepare for it very seriously. They have a seriousness about it. It's like no other game.”
Having experienced the rivalry on both sides, Velazquez doesn’t think there’s any cultural issue that has led to Ohio State’s recent struggles against Michigan; he thinks the Buckeyes’ 13-10 loss to the Wolverines this year was simply a matter of not executing well enough.
“We just got to keep being us,” Velazquez said of what Ohio State needs to do to get back on track in The Game. “We prepared. We tried our hardest. The coaches prepared us the best we could. And it just didn't come out our way that day.”
The Buckeyes have responded to that loss at the end of November as well as anyone could have hoped, defeating Tennessee, Oregon and Texas in the first three rounds of the College Football Playoff to earn a berth in Monday night’s national championship game. Now, as someone who knows what it takes to complete a national championship run having done so last year at Michigan, Velazquez said the Buckeyes just need to keep doing the same things they’ve been doing throughout the CFP to have a chance to hoist the trophy.
“The biggest thing is just keep routine,” said Velazquez, who’s played just one defensive snap for the Buckeyes but has played in every game this season on special teams. “Just keep going through what we've gone through each week. Just prepare the same way, have the same routine, and just do what you do.”
If Ohio State defeats Notre Dame on Monday, Velazquez would become the second player to win national championships at both Ohio State and Michigan, joining J.T. White, who was a member of Ohio State’s 1942 national championship team and Michigan’s 1947 national championship team, serving in the U.S. Army during World War II in between his time at both schools.
Velazquez would be the first player in the College Football Playoff era to win back-to-back national championships with two different schools.
