
10-21-2007, 09:22 AM
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Head Coach
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Quote:
Home sweet Ohio for Jets' trio
Sunday, October 21, 2007
By J.P. PELZMAN
STAFF WRITER
CINCINNATI -- When he was very, very young, Nick Mangold had dreams of being a quarterback.
Reality, however, quickly set in for the Jets' center, who knew his body type would make that an impossibility.
"At about 4 or 5 years old," the 6-foot-4, 300-pound Mangold said, "I realized that I wasn't going to be able to do that. So, it was neat to be able to watch Boomer" Esiason.
Uh, Nick, that makes the former Bengal and Jet sound kind of old, doesn't it?
"Yeah, he'll really appreciate that," Mangold said dryly.
Esiason is one of the few historical connections between the two teams, who will meet today at Paul Brown Stadium for only the fourth time in the last 14 seasons.
But Mangold is one of several current connections. He and kicker Mike Nugent both went to Ohio State, and both are from Centerville, Ohio, which is about 40 minutes from Cincinnati. And left guard Adrien Clarke also played for Ohio State, and is from Shaker Heights, a Cleveland suburb.
"It's neat," Mangold said, "because I have a couple of family members who aren't able to get away for a game, so it's nice for them to come and be able to see a game."
Mangold said he left about 20 tickets for friends and family, but Nugent's list is about three times as long.
"He has a lot more than me," Mangold said, smiling, "almost double the amount of people that I do. Maybe he has a bigger family."
Mangold said he "never got to too many [Bengals'] games but always followed them on TV" and added that one of his favorite players besides Esiason was Dan "Big Daddy" Wilkinson, the defensive tackle who was the No. 1 overall draft choice in 1994.
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