Welcome to the Skull Session.
Next week, Marvin Harrison Jr. returns to Indianapolis.
.@MarvHarrisonJr returns to Indy next week
— NFL (@NFL) February 22, 2024
: 2024 #NFLCombine begins February 29 on @nflnetwork
: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/ny7cszKfZy
Have a good Friday.
AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE. On Wednesday, former Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields appeared on the “St. Brown Brothers” podcast with Amon-Ra and Equanimeous St. Brown, wide receivers for the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. Fields discussed several topics with the brothers, namely his uncertain future as Chicago’s starting quarterback.
In this section, we’ll cover Fields’ comments on Da Bears and his decision to unfollow the franchise on Instagram this week. We’ll also look at Fields’ Mount Rushmore of Ohio State football legends and his (correct) claim that Ohio State is Wide Reciever U.
On his decision to unfollow the Bears' Instagram account
“I’m glad we’re talking about it because, man, why do people take social media so seriously? Just because I unfollowed this and that — I still mess with the Bears. I’m just trying to take a little break. I unfollowed the Bears and the NFL. I’m just not trying to have football on my timeline. I know y’all mess with a girl — EQ, especially you — just because you don’t follow the girl on IG doesn’t mean you’re not messing with them. … It’s something that I don’t want to see on my timeline. I’m about to go on vacation. I don’t want to see football on my timeline. In every Bears post (there are comments), ‘Keep fields!’ or ‘Draft Caleb (Williams)!’ I’m tired of hearing the talk. … I follow Ohio State football. I don’t follow the NFL. I don’t follow the Bears.”
On his future in Chicago
“If it was up to me, I would want to stay in Chicago. I love the city. The city is lit. The fans there, they’re great. The people, too. But it’s a business. I ain’t got no control over it, so whatever happens happens. But I feel like the biggest thing with all this going on right now is that I just want it to be over. Like, just let me know if I’m getting traded. Let me know if I’m staying.”
Note: To me, all signs point to Fields being traded. During the NFL Combine in Indianapolis next week, the Bears’ front office will be moving around the tables at St. Elmo’s, working to find the best trading partner that gives them the best return. As a Browns fan, I sincerely hope that partner is not the Steelers. Keep that man away from the AFC North!
On who would make his Ohio State football Mount Rushmore
“We have a lot (of legends). We have a lot. I’ll put Zeke up there. And here’s a disclaimer (before I do the rest): I never watched Ohio State before I went there. I went to Georgia. I was a Georgia and SEC fan. I never watched Ohio State. I didn’t know anything about them before I transferred. I never even took a visit before I went up there, but they said I could play, so I took off and slid. My Mount Rushmore of the four Ohio State players, shoot. I have to give one to Troy Smith because he won a Heisman. I have to give Zeke the second. Ted Ginn (Jr.), I think he was going crazy at Ohio State. Eddie George, too, that’s the last one.”
Note: Amon-Ra criticized Fields’ list for not including Archie Griffin because — duh — an Ohio State football Mount Rushmore should always include college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. Fields missed the mark there, for sure.
On his favorite memory at Ohio State
“Beating the ‘Team Up North.’ Beating them, away stadium, away game. One of my favorite plays was when I got hurt — sprained my MCL — but boom, next play I came in and threw a dot to Garrett (Wilson) for a touchdown. That was one of my favorite plays in college. … My second favorite memory was the Sugar Bowl during my last year there. We lost to Clemson the year before, and I threw a game-winning pick, but we came back the next year and beat them. I threw six touchdowns. Those are my two favorite moments in college.”
Note: That 2020 Sugar Bowl win over Clemson will forever be one of my favorite games in Ohio State football history.
On whether Ohio State or LSU is Wide Receiver U
“Probably Ohio State. I think we just passed them. It’s between Ohio State and LSU. LSU has Justin Jefferson, Ja’Marr Chase, DJ Chark, Odell (Beckham Jr.) and Jarvis (Landry). Ohio State has Michael Thomas, Chris (Olave), Garrett (Wilson), Marvin (Harrison Jr.) when he comes out, Ted Ginn Jr. and Brian Hartline, too.”
Note: Terry McLaurin is so underrated that Fields and two NFL wide receivers forgot about him. It’s a cold world.
Not being a Bears fan, I think what I took from this interview is that Fields needs to do some more research into the rich history of Ohio State football. I mean, I was stunned (and still am) that Fields didn’t name Griffin to his Mount Rushmore. Like, how do you have to think about where Griffin went to school? That’s wild to me.
Also, Ohio State has been Wide Receiver U and will continue to be WRU. While I didn’t love that Fields and the St. Brown brothers failed to mention McLaurin when naming former Buckeye pass-catchers, I love that Fields named Hartline. Like he said, Hartline could “slide” back in the day.
COACH ADOLPHUS WASHINGTON. Former Ohio State defensive lineman Adolphus Washington has returned to football, but not in the NFL or another professional league. This time around, Washington will be an assistant coach for Colerain High School in Cincinnati.
“Colerain is excited to add him to our staff,” head coach Carl Huber told WCPO this week. “He brings a lot of energy and knowledge to our program. His expertise will really help with the development of our athletes here at Colerain.”
Washington graduated from Taft High School in 2012. A two-sport athlete for the Senators, Washington was a high school All-American in football and was named Ohio’s Gatorade Player of the Year in basketball.
As a senior, Washington had 90 tackles, 23.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception and two defensive touchdowns for the football team. He also averaged 23.1 points and 14.4 rebounds per game for the basketball team. As a junior, Washington helped Taft win its first Ohio state championship on the hardwood. He and Dwayne Stanford, who later played wide receiver at Oregon, led the Senators to a 95-52 victory over Cleveland Central Catholic in the Division III state final.
At Ohio State, Washington appeared in 47 games and recorded 142 tackles, 25 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks and one interception. He was one of the team’s top performers in its win over Oregon in the College Football Playoff national championship, collecting three tackles and one sack as the Buckeyes defeated the Ducks, 42-20, at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
When Washington’s college career ended, the Buffalo Bills selected him in the third round of the 2016 NFL draft. Washington spent two seasons with the Bills and one season each with the Dallas Cowboys, Cincinnati Bengals and Miami Dolphins.
Following his retirement, Washington became the co-founder of Trenches Academy in Cincinnati, where he conducts offensive and defensive line training for Southwestern Ohio youth. He now looks forward to the opportunity of coaching at Colerain.
“It’s a chance for me to give back knowledge that I’ve learned during my journey and for the student-athletes to get an advantage on and off the field,” Washington said.
IT’S IN THE GAME. Each time new information comes out about EA Sports College Football 25, I feel like Michael Scott in the “Fire Drill” cold open of “The Office.”
OH, MY GOD. OK. IT’S HAPPENING. EVERYBODY STAY CALM. EVERYBODY STAY CALM. EVERYBODY STAY F— CALM!
On Thursday, EA Sports finalized its NIL plan and started the opt-in process for college football players at the 134 FBS programs, which will allow over 11,000 college football players to get paid for the likeness in EA Sports College Football 25.
Athletes who opt-in to the game will receive $600 and a copy of the game. They can opt in or out each year they’re in college. Most players who opt in will receive between $1,800 and $3,000 in their college careers — the former number for a three-year career and the latter for a five-year career that includes a redshirt. Up to 85 players per school will initially appear on rosters when the game releases this summer.
EA Sports vice president of business development Sean O'Brien told ESPN that the company arrived at its $600 number after it looked at deals completed with its other sports titles, including the Madden NFL series, the NHL series and the FC (soccer) series. Great news for the players: EA Sports' college football deal comes with no expectation of services provided by the athlete and will be guaranteed regardless of the game's success.
In addition to EA Sports’ standard payouts, the company plans to create additional NIL opportunities for players to eventually market the game, presumably for cover athlete(s).
While we’re on that topic, it’s kind of crazy that an Ohio State player has never graced the cover of an EA Sports college football game before. You would think being the most consistently dominant program of the past 50 years would get you some love there.
But I digress.
All 134 programs, including the service academies (whose players cannot receive NIL payments) and Notre Dame (who, for some reason, chose to decline its participation until Tuesday?) will appear in the game. That awesome fact was evidenced by this EA Sports College Football post on Thursday:
Theyre in the game.
— EASPORTSCollege (@EASPORTSCollege) February 22, 2024
College Football 25 will feature all 134 FBS schools #CFB25 pic.twitter.com/WLH3DEXdv0
Of the 11,000+ athletes from the 134 programs, 5,000 have already opted in to have their likeness the game. Among them were Ohio State cornerback Denzel Burke and running back Quinshon Judkins.
Im in the game #CFB25 @EASPORTSCollege #EAAthlete pic.twitter.com/Z3JyQf35IN
— Denzel Burke (@King10Burke) February 22, 2024
Im in the game. #CFB25 @easportscollege #EAAthlete pic.twitter.com/MIh92xGOLm
— Quinshon Judkins (@qaj4_) February 22, 2024
I can’t wait to play this game.
It’s been over 10 years since a new college football video game has come out. Sure, as the years went on, somebody would update the rosters year after year and upload a community code to the Internet (and bless them for that), and that was lots of fun. But it will be so much better to play with the Local Team on a brand-new game with modern graphics and mechanics.
We’ll be taking Ohio State to national championships in no time (once we work our way up the coaching ladder from Kent State, of course).
WHAT MAKES US BUCKEYES. In the latest release of the Ohio State Alumni Magazine, Daniel Connor (B.S. 1961, JD 1968) shared some of his favorite memories of the Shoe, from walking the grounds as a newspaper carrier at 11 years old to playing for Woody Hayes at 20.
To wrap up the Skull Session (and this week), I wanted to share some of his experiences here:
Little boy, big impression
As “little Danny Connor,” a boy of 10, I sat in my parents’ bedroom listening to the Big Ten champion Buckeyes play the third-ranked California Golden Bears in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1950. The teams were tied as the clock ticked down. When Ohio State kicked a field goal to win 17-14, my father jumped out of his chair in celebration. His reaction conveyed how exceptional the moment was. I look back on that as the start of my connection with The Ohio State University.
The following fall, as a newspaper carrier, I had the opportunity to sell special game preview editions to fans filtering into the stadium. I did this as often as I could and, for a kid, made good money. My fellow carriers and I were allowed to watch the games for free after our sales had been finalized near the end of the first quarter. How exciting it was to go find an empty seat or open aisle to watch the Buckeyes.
My first game was against Iowa. From outside, we could hear the crowd repeatedly roar. The sound was deafening, and we gathered with excitement for our chance to watch the Buckeyes play. Once inside the stadium, we saw that Vic Janowicz was in the throes of leading an 83-21 victory for our team. I vividly recall our vibrant scarlet jerseys and the high-caliber athleticism of Janowicz, who went on to earn the Heisman Trophy at the end of that 1950 season.
Labor of love
At 15, I was offered a part-time job at General Maintenance and Engineering, which was hired to reinforce the outside of the stadium. My role was to keep the surface wet while other workers applied gunite, a mixture of cement, sand and water, to repair gaps in the concrete. The company paid me $1.25 per hour, for $40 a week, an impressive sum for a teenager!
Unexpected opportunity
Six years passed, and I was in my 20s, playing football at the University of Dayton. After learning I wouldn’t get to play in games, I left and joined the Ohio State football team that had been my inspiration for so many years. It was a dream come true to be on the field in Ohio Stadium during the 1960 and 1961 seasons. Sporting News named our 1961 team national champions based on our difficult schedule. Being on that team and getting to know Woody and the other coaches and players is one of the great honors of my life.
Solid career advice
In 1964, when I returned from the Navy, I met with Woody in his stadium office and shared my interest in a career as a football coach. Woody told me he would be happy to bring me on as an assistant coach, but first, he wanted me to commit to pursuing a law degree. I had never even thought about becoming a lawyer, so I initially rejected his recommendation. But my admiration for Woody and his wisdom eventually led me to follow his advice. I graduated from the law school in 1968 and went on to advise Woody and some of his players on legal matters through the years.
And, true to his word, Woody hired me as a student assistant coach for the 1966 and 1967 seasons. Players whom I worked with won the Rose Bowl and became the 1968 national champions. Getting to know the coaches and players during that era was beyond thrilling.
I loved this article.
Really, I love hearing stories about how people became fans of Ohio State football. With over 11 million members of Buckeye Nation, there are so many stories — none of them the same.
If you have the time, I’d be honored to read how some of you became Buckeyes. When did your fandom start? How did your fandom start? Where has your fandom taken you? Let me know in the comments below.
SONG OF THE DAY. “Paranoid” - Black Sabbath.
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