Thread: OL T.J. Downing (official thread)
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Old 08-18-2006, 06:14 AM
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Downing has spot up front
Friday, August 18, 2006 By Todd Porter REPOSITORY SPORTS WRITER

During his six seasons in the NFL, Walt Downing can count on one hand the number of times his picture appeared in Sports Illustrated.
With one magazine cover, his son, T.J., one-upped dad.
T.J. Downing, a fifth-year senior at Ohio State and GlenOak High School graduate, appears on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated along with quarterback Troy Smith and center Doug Datish. The photo adorns SI’s College Football Preview, in which Ohio State is picked No. 1. The Buckeyes also were picked No. 1 in the USA Today preseason coaches’ poll. The Associated Press poll comes out today.
Downing is the first Stark County player or coach to land on the cover of Sports Illustrated since Todd Blackledge on Oct. 4, 1982. The former Penn State quarterback led the Nittany Lions to a national title that season.
“It’s real neat,” Walt Downing said. “Some people will say they have a bull’s eye on them. You know what? They have all the talent in the world. They’ve got to raise their game to the next level.”
The proud father went out and bought 15 copies of the magazine. He is ordering another 20.
Dad isn’t worried about the so-called Sports Illustrated jinx — a curse that falls on some athletes who have graced past covers — in part because Ohio State isn’t the only team featured. Sports Illustrated did regional covers with each of its top six teams. Other cover teams are Notre Dame, Texas, LSU, Southern Cal and West Virginia.
“Now, if it was a solo thing, then maybe,” Walt Downing said. “It boils down to this: They know they have to bring their ‘A’ game every week. If they do it 13 times, it will be one helluva year.”
Walt Downing was All-America at Michigan but is a converted Buckeye fan as he draws the line at blood. He has rooted for Ohio State the last five years at the Michigan game. He wore his son’s jersey last season to at Michigan Stadium.
T.J. Downing is entering his second season as a full-time starter. As a sophomore, Downing played considerable time early in the season, then less during a three-game losing streak. He made his first career start against Michigan State during the second half of the year and has been a mainstay since at left guard.
“T.J. has endured a lot,” Walt said. “He’s reaping the rewards now for all the hard work. There were a lot of times the kid could’ve given up. When he went down there, the plan was to redshirt because they had a lot of junior linemen, and then he would learn from them when they were seniors. His third year, he played well in the first game, and then didn’t play. It was tough. It took them three losses to get their heads out of the butts and get the right rotation of guys in there.”
T.J. Downing told his father about the Sports Illustrated cover shoot about three weeks ago. When the magazine was released Wednesday, T.J. called his dad.
“He said it looks sweet,” Walt Downing said. “Then he told me he lived up to the billing, because he called after their first practice Wednesday. He said they laid the lumber in the morning.”
T.J. Downing was not available to comment.
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