'08 OH OL Elliot Mealer (Michigan Signee)

[JCOSU86]

Originally Posted by MililaniBuckeye

Sorry, but 90-year-olds should not be driving...

An old farmer ran a stop sign and almost took me out a few years ago.

Condolences to the Mealer family.

[wadc45]

http://www.mgoblog.com/

Mealer. I have been remiss in not mentioning the tragedy that befell Elliot Mealer and his family over Christmas. Mealer's father and girlfriend died in a car accident and his brother is unlikely to walk again; Mealer escaped without serious physical damage, but... yeah. Brock, Elliot's brother, has been moved to UM's hospital. The Diag swiped a post from GBW's premium boards and I'll swipe it from there:

[WiseBuck]

I wish the very best to the Mealer family and others affected by this tragedy. I know that Elliot and others will get the support they need in times like this. Ohioans help Ohioans!!!!!

[jwinslow]

Toledo Blade

Wauseon senior Elliott Mealer has been lost for the remainder of the season because of a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Mealer suffered the injury in the Christmas Eve crash that claimed the lives of his father, David, and girlfriend, Hollis Richer, and seriously injured his brother, Brock.

Mealer, who has verbally committed to play football at Michigan, was a four-year starter in basketball and was selected to the All-Northwest Ohio Athletic League first team last season when he averaged 12.8 points and 9.4 rebounds.

“Offensively Elliott was a presence for us, and defensively he was a huge presence,” Wauseon coach Ken Burgei said. “But as a four-year starter for us, the biggest thing we’re going to miss is his leadership.”

Burgei said Mealer will have surgery on the shoulder this week in Ann Arbor.

Doctors expect the shoulder to heal in time to allow Mealer to begin practicing football as early as July.

[osugrad21]

Congrats Elliott...

Blade

Article published Thursday, February 7, 2008
Signing, and healing, at UM
Bittersweet day for the Mealers


Brock Mealer greets brother Elliott just before the Wauseon standout signed his letter of intent yesterday in Ann Arbor.
( THE BLADE/ANDY MORRISON )


By ZACH SILKA
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

ANN ARBOR - For most high school seniors, signing day marks a day of celebration for four years of hard work and dedication to the game of football. For Wauseon senior Elliott Mealer, signing his national letter of intent yesterday to play for the University of Michigan was all of that, but it also signified a "bittersweet" moment that was just one of many steps in the healing process he and his family are going through. Mealer lost his father, David, and girlfriend, Hollis Richer, in a car accident that also left one of his brothers, 23-year-old Brock, with a crushed lower vertebra while the family was traveling to church this past Christmas Eve. Mealer and his mother, Shelly, were able to walk away from the crash. "It's a bittersweet day," Shelly Mealer said shortly after Elliott signed his letter of intent in front of a few dozen family and friends in the Michigan Room of Damon's in Ann Arbor. "I'm very proud of Elliott and his accomplishments. This has been his dream since the fourth grade."

Cont....

[three7]

FWIW... Brock asked RR to give Elliot the #57 while they were watching the Super Bowl together.


Elliot will wear #57.

[Buckskin86]

Ohio player at Big 33 clinic is upbeat despite accident
by BOB FLOUNDERS, The Patriot-News
Saturday June 14, 2008



JOE HERMITT/The Patriot-News

Elliott Mealer of the Ohio team shakes hands with teammates after being announced during the Big 33 youth clinic at Hershey High School on Thursday.


The Big 33 football game, host to all those great high school athletes who went on to play in the Super Bowl, has featured few young men as extraordinary as Michigan-bound Elliott Mealer.

Remember that, Penn State fans, when Michigan visits Beaver Stadium this fall.


Mealer, an out-of-uniform football player who will be on the visiting sideline tonight when Pennsylvania faces Ohio, is a young man worth rooting for.

The 5-foot-6, 295-pound Mealer, an Ohio offensive lineman, has been upbeat all week during practice. His personality is infectious, and it fosters brotherhood among his teammates.

His positive attitude the last six months is a tribute to the love of two families, to Mealer's faith, and to Mealer himself.

Ohio player at Big 33 clinic is upbeat despite accident - Midstate PA Local News, Weather, Sports & Entertainment - PennLive.com

[Tresselbeliever]

He's carrying his weight pretty well for a 5-6 guy.

[BuckTwenty]

The writer meant 6 foot 5. You'd think you would get mistakes like that corrected before they are printed.

[BuckeyeSoldier]

lmao... i thought when i first read it that 5-6 was accurate and was trying to picture the tank that must live inside that body... kinda started to bad we missed out on him

[sandgk]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeSoldier

lmao... i thought when i first read it that 5-6 was accurate and was trying to picture the tank that must live inside that body... kinda started to bad we missed out on him

A - I'm glad to hear of his (and Brock's) continued recovery.
B - You can't miss out on a player to whom an offer is not extended.
C - The article clearly underestimates his true stature.

[MONTbigBuck]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeSoldier

lmao... i thought when i first read it that 5-6 was accurate and was trying to picture the tank that must live inside that body... kinda started to bad we missed out on him

Don't think we "missed". I remember reading that the staff informed Elliot early in the process that he likely wouldn't be receiving an offer. I truly hope Elliot has a nice career up north, except of course one game a year.

[osugrad21]

Link

Freshman from Ohio overcoming tragedy with Michigan football squad

14 hours ago
ANN ARBOR, Mich. ? Elliott Mealer always believed he was destined to play U.S. college football.
Just not at Michigan.
But there was the six-foot-six, 298-pound Mealer emerging from Schembechler Hall on Sunday in a uniform he grew up despising. Now it's part of a new beginning that's helping him slowly replace tragedy.
Mealer's new football home has provided solace 90 kilometres from Wauseon, Ohio, the small town where Mealer learned to love football and where last December, his life was changed.
There isn't a day when Mealer's mind doesn't flash back to Christmas Eve, when the Mercedes sports utility vehicle he was riding in was struck by another car. The crash killed Mealer's father and 17-year-old girlfriend and paralyzed his brother.
"Whenever I'm in a car I think about that," Mealer said. "I'll never be able to get that out of my head.
"I guess you learn to move on and it's something you have to live with."
Cont...

[MaxBuck]

I hope I don't catch too much flak for this, but this is one Wolverine that I will be pulling for. The young man has had a tough row to hoe.

[RB07OSU]

Originally Posted by MaxBuck

I hope I don't catch too much flak for this, but this is one Wolverine that I will be pulling for. The young man has had a tough row to hoe.

I sure hope you wouldn't...there are things that go deeper than football, and this is a good example. I just hope his time in Michigan helps the healing process and that he has a successful career up north. He would have been a Buckeye with an offer. I just can't imagine being put in his shoes and things like this can put perspective on how fortunate we are, and as JT says, how grateful we should be. Best of luck to you Elliot.