Skull Session: Carlos Snow's Unbelievable Path to Graduation, Denzel Burke Draws Praise, and Ohio State Sends Plenty of Tight Ends to the NFL

In case y'all needed a little joy on to start your Thursday, these ducklings are glad to provide.

Everyone loves a campus tour!

: j_habe (IG) pic.twitter.com/x2GKluMq2H
— Ohio State (@OhioState) May 11, 2022

Word of the Day: Acheronian.

READY TO MAKE AN IMPACT. My regular readers (if such people exist) will remember me mentioning former Buckeye back Carlos Snow on Monday – overcoming alcoholism, homelessness and suicidal thoughts to graduate from Ohio State 30 years after his playing career.

Well, he ain't happy with simply changing *his* life – now he wants to help change others' lives, too.

“One of my goals is to change the life of young men for the better,” he said, noting the success of friend and former Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett, who used his troubled past as an object lesson to advise young men how to avoid similar slip-ups.

“When I talk to young men in the city, I explain to them how important education is,” Snow said. “I tell them to pick out their favorite athlete, past or present. Then look how short their career is. Even if they play 13 or 14 years, that’s pretty successful, but life goes on. Life is a lot longer than that. That degree gives them an opportunity to get a career and have something to retire from.

“That’s what I want to explain to them, and what better person to listen to than the person who has been through it? Not reading it from a book or someone else’s memoir. I’m giving it to you straight. I can’t wait to get the word out.”

One of my favorite things about Snow is that he realizes his work ain't magically done after walking across the field and getting that piece of paper. Now, he has to actually get a job, start putting everything he learned to practice, and start earning that glorious paycheck.

He's fully prepared to keep working his ass off to change his life – even after accomplishing one of his biggest goals.

Dude's a straight-up grinder. Nothing but respect.

“HE CAN PLAY IN THE LEAGUE RIGHT NOW.” Denzel Burke is a sentient recruiting pitch for the Buckeye coaching staff – it does not matter who you are, how long you've been in the program or what your recruiting ranking was coming out of high school.

If you're the best player, you're going to play.

And according to NFL defensive back Logan Ryan, he might even be a step above "can start at Ohio State as a true freshman" good – he might be "could start in The League right now" good.

CFB Fans: This young man @King10Burke out of @OhioStateFB skill set its ridiculous for his age.

He can play in the league right now! Only HS kid we ever allowed in our training sessions. Fast forward to 6 workouts in the last 3 days and he didnt back down once. pic.twitter.com/SPxd3SiXNf
— Logan Ryan (@RealLoganRyan) May 11, 2022

Reminder: he's entering his true sophomore season. He's gotta play against college kids for two more years.

Best of luck, everybody else!

TIGHT END FACTORY? At this point, the endless "is this the year Ohio State starts to use the tight end in the passing game?" conversation kind of just feels like an inside joke that pretty much everybody in the world is in on.

It's gotten to the point that one of us literally just wrote an article about men failing to give pleasure to women instead, in an effort to keep the conversation fresh.

But what if I told you that Ohio State is a low-key factory for NFL tight ends? The numbers don't lie!

Most Tight Ends Drafted the last 10 years pic.twitter.com/taRe3sHGBd
— NCAAF Nation (@NCAAFNation247) May 11, 2022

I don't know where I expected to see Ohio State on this chart, but "tied with Iowa" was certainly not it.

I guess it's just proof that for all the talk about changing things up, getting the tight end more touches, making them a more integral part of the offense, and recruiting more high-level prospects at the position, they're clearly doing something right currently.

BEST NIL ADVICE YET. I have found it – the single best #take regarding NIL, the transfer portal, the one-time transfer, and all the other major changes that have come to college sports the past few years: "shut up and adjust."

Notre Dames Mike Brey with a unique approach to the NIL/portal world: We've got to stop complaining. This is the world we're in, and last time I checked, we make pretty good money. So everybody should shut up and adjust."
— (@ADavidHaleJoint) May 10, 2022

This is one of the single most refreshing quotes I have ever read on the current state of college sports, especially after having to listen to guys like Dabo Swinney – who's going to make $8.5 million this year – do nothing but bitch about things every time he steps behind a microphone.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Eliot's Song" by Dominic Fike.