Tyler "Tank" Whaley (official thread)

[MililaniBuckeye]

I just got a PM saying that Biddle says in a Bustnuts premium article that Whaley will be a 4th-year junior this upcoming season. WTF is the real scoop?

[sandgk]

Reform Math?

[Buckskin86]

saw this posted on Scout

Ironton's Whaley pops the question at stadium
By BILLY BRUCE
The Lawrence Herald

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ironton's Tyler Whaley is known by his teammates on the Ohio State Buckeyes football team for his heart. Add a young woman named Brittany Benjamin to that list.

Last Sunday, Tyler proposed to Brittany on the block "O" at midfield of Ohio Stadium's new turf. It was a first for the new turf and a big surprise to his new fianc?e, according to his grandmother, Dotty Tipton.

Lawrence News: Ironton's Whaley pops the question at stadium <span class="story_bodycopy"> <p>COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ironton's Tyler Whaley is known by his teammates on the Ohio State Buckeyes football team for his heart. Add a young woman named Brittany

[BB73]

I did see Tank get in the game on some goal-line situations Saturday.

This is from SusanZ's game story.

scout

As soon as the team was well on their walkabout to the stadium, we ran into Tyler Whaley's family who had been standing nearby. Last season, down in Austin, I sat next to Tyler's grandpa and his dad Dave. I then ran into them again, while tailgating outside of the University of Phoenix Stadium on Jan. 8, and incidentally, we bumped into each other leaving the venue that awful night. Dave actually said some comforting words to me late that night back in January and insisted for me to not worry and that the team would be all right. He was very confident that the staff would turn that beatdown into something great. I remember feeling just a little bit better having heard those words coming from a player's father.

Dave did have a neat story to tell about Tyler. Earlier this summer and just a couple of weeks before OSU's Photo Day, Tyler arranged to take a large group of family members and his girlfriend on a tour of Ohio Stadium. They explored all of the suite decks and press box area along with the locker rooms, press room and recruiting rooms. Before leaving, Tyler took them all on to the field where they decided it would be a great family picture for them to line up on the 50-yard line so they proceeded to do so, with the giant scoreboard as a backdrop.

Suddenly, Tyler dropped to one knee, pulled out a ring and proposed marriage to his girlfriend smack dab in the middle of the Block 'O.' The entire family was in on the "surprise" for the future Mrs. Whaley but from Dave's description, it was quite a moment that was captured on video. Tyler and his fiancee will marry in December 2008. Congratulations to them both.

Cont'd ...

[Buckskin86]

Tank a Blocking Tiger in OSU Backfield
By John Porentas

A lot of you are probably way too young to remember this, but in 1964 the Esso Oil Company ran a very successful ad campaign encouraging their customers to "Put a Tiger in Your Tank." That ad campaign is long-gone, but In 2007, the Ohio State Buckeyes did something vaguely similar. They put a tiger named Tank in their backfield. When they did that they got a high-octane blocker that is intent on extending the mileage that OSU running backs cover this season.

"I've always said that taking a 10 yard sprint then hitting somebody is definitely better than locking up right off the bat," said a grinning Whaley in comparing blocking as a fullback to blocking as an offensive lineman.

"That's the biggest change is getting that 10 yard sprint. Believe me, if I can get my 265 pounds going it's a great collision if I can hit somebody like that. It's a lot more freedom. It's fun," Whaley said.

"My job is run over people, so if somebody wants to call me Tank I figure that would be about the best nickname I could have," Whaley said.

"It's been wonderful. I just wanted to get in there and lead the way for Beanie and all those other great tailbacks we have."

http://www.the-ozone.net/football/20...ota/whaley.htm

[rocketman]

On Beanie's TD, Tank absolutely crushed his man. Funny he's #3 on the depth chart but seemed to get most of the playing time last week.

[osugrad21]

Lima

Whaley wings it in first year at fullback

Jim Naveau | jnaveau@limanews.com - 09.27.2007
COLUMBUS ? Tyler Whaley didn?t have to get Tom Brady or Vince Young?s life to have his football dreams come true. It was simpler than that. He just wanted a chance to play Division I football. And now, after a position switch in his fifth year at Ohio State, he?s getting to do that.
Tyler Whaley offensive lineman has become Tyler Whaley fullback. Four years of patience and four years of hard work have paid off with some playing time for the 265-pound blocking back.
But his good fortune hasn?t come without some sacrifice. In his transformation from center to fullback, he has had to drop around 15 pounds.
And that has meant giving up ?pizza, buffalo wings and all that good stuff,? Whaley said, with a smile. ?I was the guy who was kind of into competitive eating. I was going to Hooters and eating 65 wings, trying to keep up with Boonie (offensive tackle Alex Boone) and those guys.?

Cont...

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Rivals.com$ (Brandon Castel)

Tank gets a head start..........article discusses the journey of Whaley from the offensive line to fullback.

[osugrad21]

BN

Good read on Tank's journey from walk-on scout teamer to significant contributor.

[OSUBuckeye4Life]

With Whaley in the game our I Back formations are taken to another level. I really hope his injury yesterday is nothing serious. By far the most effective FB when insterted in the game IMO.

[heisman]

Originally Posted by OSUBuckeye4Life

With Whaley in the game our I Back formations are taken to another level. I really hope his injury yesterday is nothing serious. By far the most effective FB when insterted in the game IMO.

Hopefully the staff can get his pad level lower so it doesn't happen again.

[kippy1040]

I really love the way Jim Tressel holds on to his list of the walk on's at Ohio State. He did this at Y-town when I lived there. He used every player on his roster at YSU. He is doing this at Ohio State also. And to see a player of Tank Whaley's ability, its great to see a great performance from a player like Tanks efforts, play after play. Here we are in 2007 and we are rated 4th in the country, a little pre-mature at this point and time of our game plan. But he seems to becoming a little more easy wity his staff and the press at Ohio State. I think that afer 6 years columbus has truley embraced Jim Tressel and wht he is worth for Columbus and the rest of the State of Ohio.

[lvbuckeye]

Originally Posted by osugrad21

BN

Good read on Tank's journey from walk-on scout teamer to significant contributor.

Whaley has not pulled out of the unofficial cheeseburger club that meets covertly on Friday nights before games.

i love it. the guys last year inadvertently created a new tradition.

[Buckskin86]

'Tank' treads on would-be tacklers
Whaley goes from reserve center to fullback duties
Tuesday, October 2, 2007 3:37 AM
By Tim May

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Tyler Whaley has proof that anything is possible for a hard-working walk-on at Ohio State. He looks at it every day in the mirror.

Five years ago, he was a tenacious but undersized offensive lineman. Now, he sees a 6-foot, 265-pound fullback staring back at him, one who, after four years in the mill, has earned a scholarship and wound up being reclassified as an oversized fullback this past spring. Whaley sees it as the product of a process that started when he walked on from the southern Ohio city of Ironton, determined to play for the Buckeyes.

"You do some scout-team work, you get better at the things you do, and eventually you pay your dues," Whaley said. "And once you find that little thing you're good at and the coaches see that, they know how to get you out there and give you those opportunities to excel at what you're good at."

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : 'Tank' treads on would-be tacklers

[BB73]

Comments from yesterday's media session.

official.site

Tyler Whaley, senior fullback

On going back to Penn State, the site of their last regular season defeat

"I think of the loss more than anything, really. It was the first trip I traveled on so it really stuck in my mind. We have to be prepared for the crowd but we really just have to focus on playing football."

On the atmosphere inside Beaver Stadium

"It gets me revved up to play. We get to be the bad guys for once, so that?s nice. We expect loud and crazy fans, so we just have to execute and be ready to do our thing."

On the offense's performance against Michigan State

"The defense was playing so well we didn't want to blow it. We made too many mistakes and let them creep back into the game. We just have to be certain we don't have any more mistakes and hold on to the ball."

On letting teams hang in games

"Football is a game of mistakes. More times than not, making mistakes will cost you a game, especially against a quality Big Ten opponent. We have to minimize our problems or we'll be in a really bad spot."