Buckeye FootballOhio State football, moderated. Consider this the general community forum, but with a theme. Completely off-topic chatter should start at, or move to, the Open Discussion forum.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckinMichigan
Congrats to the whole team for increasing that GPA!!!
Have we ever had a Buckeye football player as a Rhodes Scholar?
Lanese is the last that comes to mind.
Maybe clutch receivers and Rhodes Scholarships can become a great Buckeye tradition.
Congrats to all who put in the hard work with the books. They are the best example to the rest of the squad on how to raise your game on and off the field.
The Buckeye football team capped a very fine season in 2005 with a win over Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. They followed up with a very fine showing academically winter quarter, as well. A full 52 OSU football players achieved at least a 3.0 last winter, a fact that had OSU Head Coach Jim Tressel beaming.
"It great when you have three guys with a 4.0 and 49 other guys with over a 3.0 at a great school. We're awfully proud of that and we're working hard and I think we're right in the neighborhood of 2.85 as a team GPA. Our goal is 3.0 so we're going to keep working. We've got a fantastic support system here and we're proud of them," said Tressel.
"It's what we believe in. We believe in academics. A lot of our guys will get to go to the NFL, but not for real long. We want to make sure they're prepared to have some choices after that."
According to Tressel, the academic progress is not an accident, but part of a plan.
"Bo Schembechler used to say that Woody Hayes taught him that you get what you emphasize," said Tressel.
"If you want to become a good blitzing team, then you emphasize that. It's the same thing with academics. You have to talk about it, talk about it, talk about it and pound it, now all of a sudden guys realize that they can be good at blitzing, because they know how to do it, they can be good a academics, because they know the plan, they know how to do it. When we go out recruiting we brag about how Ohio State has been raising the bar academically, and I think that attracts a person who wants to compete academically as well," said Tressel.
Linebacker Austin Spitler, wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez, and linebacker James Laurinaitis all attained a 4.0. Gonzalez shared the secret of his academic success.
"Take easy classes," said Gonzalez, tongue firmly in cheek.
Gonzalez then answered a bit more seriously.
"You have to study hard. That's the main thing.
"Once I decided I wanted to be a lawyer I realized I had to have a higher GPA, so I set my sights on a 4.0," he said.
Gonzalez earned his 4.0 taking classes like symbolic logic, medieval philosophy, and latin. Not exactly lightweight stuff. Laurinaitis' class load was also impressive. He took a calculus series math course, a history course, and a course in Yiddish.
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=80 align=center><CAPTION align=top>The OSU football program's three 4.0 student-athletes </CAPTION><TBODY><TR><TD></TD><TD> </TD><TD></TD><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Austin Spitler
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Anthony Gonzalez
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James Laurinaitis
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandgk
Lanese is the last that comes to mind.
Maybe clutch receivers and Rhodes Scholarships can become a great Buckeye tradition.
Congrats to all who put in the hard work with the books. They are the best example to the rest of the squad on how to raise your game on and off the field.
Just to emphasize how impressive being a Rhodes scholar (or merely a candidate), only 32 Rhodes scholarships are awarded to US students every year. If any student from OSU receives a Rhodes scholarship, it is a big deal. Especially impressive considering the pressures of being on a major football team, although I have to think that would work to Gonzo's advantage if he does go through the application process. I think at one time the Rhodes was only meant for student-athletes, but that's no longer the case.
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This is really good news and shows excellent progress. Great coaching of life skills!
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