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- Thread starter Buckskin86
- Start date
Why link to BN's two-day old link to the OSU Athletic Dept?
http://ohiostatebuckeyes.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011306aaa.html
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From a Plain Dealer article on tOSU's Pro Day - I've only posted a small part of the article.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus-
Sophomore receiver Anthony Gonzalez was the most prominent underclassman to perform and opened eyes for scouts by running a time that one scout timed at 4.29. Others had him in the low 4.3s.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus-
Sophomore receiver Anthony Gonzalez was the most prominent underclassman to perform and opened eyes for scouts by running a time that one scout timed at 4.29. Others had him in the low 4.3s.
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barlow1802
Troy Has Legs
he'll stay.. ginn may be gone which means gonzo's the #1 guy. The only way I see him leaving is if ginn has a shit year or gets injured and gonzo has an unreal year.
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scarletngrey11
All right, all right, all right.
I actually know Tony personally, and there is no doubt he will stay. He comes from a good family that is very well off, he will stay to complete his education, no doubt. Dont even sweat it.
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BuckBojangles
Jooooooonyer
Bucknuts Article
http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/517560.html
Headline: A Play-Making Machine
By Dave Biddle
(From April 2006 issue)
With the departure of star wide receiver Santonio Holmes to the NFL, rising junior Anthony Gonzalez could step up as Ohio State’s No. 1 target in 2006.
In 2005, the 6-0, 195-pound Gonzalez had 28 receptions, 373 yards (13.3 per reception) and three touchdowns. He usually worked out of the slot in three-receiver sets.
With the majority of opposing defenses trying to contain Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr., Gonzalez usually faced single coverage. His precise route-running, sure hands and deceptively fast speed (sub-4.4 seconds in the 40) made him one of the best-kept secrets in the Big Ten for much of the season.
Gonzalez had two touchdown receptions in OSU’s 31-6 win over Iowa, and made several clutch receptions throughout the season.
However, his 2005 campaign will forever be known for “The Catch.”
No, we’re not talking about Joe Montana-to-Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC Championship game. We’re talking about Gonzalez’s 26-yard leaping reception of a Troy Smith which all but sealed the deal in Ohio State’s 25-21 comeback victory at Michigan.
The play gave OSU a first-and-goal at UM’s 4-yard-line with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, Antonio Pittman scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Buckeye defense held on and OSU claimed just its third win in Ann Arbor since 1987.
On Gonzalez’s clutch play, he saw Smith roll out of the pocket, so he decided to break off his route and run towards the end zone. Smith lofted the ball up and Gonzalez went high over Michigan defensive back Grant Mason to haul in the pass.
“It was a big play. I’m not going to say it wasn’t,” Gonzalez said. “It was on first down and I have no doubts in my mind that if that ball hits the ground that we would still march down because of the way Troy was playing. He was unbelievable on those last two drives. That was impressive.”
Gonzalez actually ran out of bounds on the play, but it was ruled he was forced out by Mason. (A receiver cannot be the first one to touch the ball if he runs out of bounds on his own.)
“It was a little deceptive what coverage they may have been running,” Gonzalez said. “It looked like they were about to back off. I had an out route. If he backs off, that’s where the ball should go. But he stayed there and blocked me out of bounds, so I turned it up.”
Gonzalez does his best to downplay the catch, but admits it was a boost for his self-assurance.
“It does help your confidence,” he said. “For me, that’s always been a big part of my game. Whenever I have struggled at anything in my entire life, it’s been because of a lack of confidence. Anything that happens that increases my confidence is good for me.
“Not that I was unconfident – I feel that I’ve played confident the whole year – but something like that certainly boosts the confidence a little bit.”
Smith, who has made a habit out of producing big games against Michigan, explained what Gonzalez did well on the play.
“I think (it showed) tremendous progress on Tony’s part,” Smith said. “Not a lot of people know him as a high point guy, one with the ability to go up and get the ball like he did. I wouldn’t take the play back and throw the ball anywhere else. I believe in Tony the whole way around. If anything, I would have thrown it a little harder so he could have had a chance to get into the end zone instead of jumping over the guy.”
Smith also gets a lot of credit for the play. It looked like he was going to run, but instead he juked a Michigan defender, rolled right and let it fly.
“I was just trying to keep the play alive as long as I could,” Smith said. “Gonzalez made a great play. The line held everybody off as long as they could.”
But where did Gonzalez get the hops? How was he able to get up so high?
“I don’t know,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t go up that high. It wasn’t that I got up that high; it was that I got turned in an awkward way and made it look like I was up real high. I don’t jump very high.”
Gonzalez says he has made better catches in his lifetime. Not necessarily bigger, just more difficult.
“It’s one of those things where the more focus there is on the game, the bigger it seems to outsiders and the better it seems, I guess,” he said.
When Gonzalez says he has made better catches, he means in high school, or in the backyard. The play at Michigan was definitely his best catch in an OSU uniform. But he has seen better catches from other OSU receivers.
“I’ve seen Santonio make better catches, and Mike Jenkins as well,” he said. “He caught a pass at Penn State his senior year (in 2003) and he kind of grabbed it over the top of the DB and got hit in the mouth pretty hard too. It was a fade-stop for a touchdown (and sealed a late win for OSU). So, I’ve seen lots better catches than mine since I’ve been here.”
Gonzalez was asked how he would feel if “The Catch” is still being talked about 20 years from now.
“I don’t think it will be,” he said. “But how would I feel? I don’t know. Ask me in 20 years, I guess.”
Gonzalez’s humble approach is not an act. He’s intelligent, laid-back and doesn’t spend time reading his press clippings.
But surely he’s watched several replays of “The Catch,” right? “Honestly, people are making such a big deal out of it, but I’ve seen it maybe three or four times,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve seen much better catches. It happened to be at a big time in the game. But I maintain if that ball hits the ground, we still drive down and score. No doubt in my mind.”
Bigger Role For Gonzo?
And while Gonzalez was able to somewhat sneak up on defenses last season, that won’t be the case in 2006. He is a known commodity and defenses are now aware of just how dangerous he can be.
The flashy Ginn is a candidate to be Ohio State’s No. 1 receiver in 2006. But OSU’s coaches might be content to leave him in the No. 2 role. That would mean Gonzalez would have a much bigger part in the offense.
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about that,” Gonzalez said. “I have yet to get that far in my thinking.”
One person who has given it some thought is OSU receivers coach Darrell Hazell. He has witnessed the maturation of Gonzalez as a football player and believes that his best is yet to come.
“I love the kid,” Hazell said. “He’s a student of the game. He’s a play-making machine. Last year, when ‘Tone (Holmes) would get the double team, or Teddy would get the double team, Tony always showed up. He’s a kid that works tremendously hard and he has really good skills.
“I need to get more leadership out of him this year with Santonio gone, but I think he will step up and do a good job there. I think he’ll have a great year.”
As for Ginn, he finished the 2005 season with 51 receptions, 803 yards (15.7) and four touchdowns. He entered the season as a Heisman Trophy candidate, but had trouble living up to expectations. However, don’t dare tell Gonzalez that Ginn had a “down” year.
“I think he did a very good job,” Gonzalez said. “People set these ridiculous expectations for everyone. If Ted doesn’t have six catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown, somehow everyone thinks he had a bad game. But I think he’s done a really good job. He’s been solid. His route running – which for some reason people harped on that – but his route running is great. He’s developed as a blocker, I think. He’s young and we’re all doing what we can. I think he had a great season.”
A few young receivers will need to produce for the Buckeyes in 2006. Gonzalez thinks there are several players that are capable of getting the job done.
“It’s tough, because I think everybody on our team is good,” he said. “Somebody will step up, but I don’t know who it will be. I can’t pick out one in particular. Everybody has done a solid job. All the young guys are coming on.
“(Brian) Hartline, you’ll see Hartline make some good catches. You’ll see (Brian) Robiskie make some good catches. You’ll see (Albert) Dukes make some good catches. Roy Hall, of course he’s a little older. But all the young guys came on and they had a great guy to learn from in Santonio.”
Even without Holmes, Gonzalez thinks that OSU will be in good shape next year at the receiver position.
“I would hope so. I really do,” he said. “I refuse to believe that we won’t have the talent. Now whether or not we’re going to step up and make the plays that we need to, obviously that has yet to be determined, but I feel that we will have a good group of receivers next year.”
Ohio State finished the regular season ranked 32nd in the country in total offense, averaging 422.3 yards per game. It was the highest ranking for an OSU offense thus far in the Jim Tressel era.
But the offense didn’t come on until mid-way through the season. Early in the year, the Buckeyes sputtered at times. The second-half turnaround was nothing short of impressive.
“It seems like in the beginning of the season, we were real close to making big plays, but for some reason we just weren’t making them,” Gonzalez said. “Whereas the last month and a half of the season, it does seem like we started to turn the corner a little bit.”
Ohio State finished 10-2, claimed a share of the Big Ten championship, won a BCS bowl game, and finished ranked No. 4 in the nation. But for many OSU fans, it was a “what if” season. What if the Buckeyes would have received the breaks in the Texas and Penn State games?
“If you think about it, what’s the difference between an undefeated season and what we have? It’s two plays,” Gonzalez said. “If we make a big play against Penn State, that turns that game around. If we make a big play against Texas and turn that game around, we win that one, too.
“All of a sudden, we’re not talking about where we were the first few weeks. We’re talking about how exciting it will be to play in the title game.”
The good news for Gonzalez is he still has two years to try and claim a national championship at Ohio State.
And beyond the playing field, he is an excellent student with a 3.42 GPA in philosophy. In fact, he could become the first OSU football player to become a Rhodes Scholar since wide receiver Mike Lanese in 1985.
“It is definitely something I am thinking about and would like to pursue,” Gonzalez said. “But it is a very competitive process, so there are no guarantees. Still, I would like to try.” Somehow, nothing seems out of reach for him.
http://ohiostate.scout.com/2/517560.html
Headline: A Play-Making Machine
By Dave Biddle
(From April 2006 issue)
With the departure of star wide receiver Santonio Holmes to the NFL, rising junior Anthony Gonzalez could step up as Ohio State’s No. 1 target in 2006.
In 2005, the 6-0, 195-pound Gonzalez had 28 receptions, 373 yards (13.3 per reception) and three touchdowns. He usually worked out of the slot in three-receiver sets.
With the majority of opposing defenses trying to contain Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr., Gonzalez usually faced single coverage. His precise route-running, sure hands and deceptively fast speed (sub-4.4 seconds in the 40) made him one of the best-kept secrets in the Big Ten for much of the season.
Gonzalez had two touchdown receptions in OSU’s 31-6 win over Iowa, and made several clutch receptions throughout the season.
However, his 2005 campaign will forever be known for “The Catch.”
No, we’re not talking about Joe Montana-to-Dwight Clark in the 1981 NFC Championship game. We’re talking about Gonzalez’s 26-yard leaping reception of a Troy Smith which all but sealed the deal in Ohio State’s 25-21 comeback victory at Michigan.
The play gave OSU a first-and-goal at UM’s 4-yard-line with 37 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Two plays later, Antonio Pittman scored on a 3-yard touchdown run.
The Buckeye defense held on and OSU claimed just its third win in Ann Arbor since 1987.
On Gonzalez’s clutch play, he saw Smith roll out of the pocket, so he decided to break off his route and run towards the end zone. Smith lofted the ball up and Gonzalez went high over Michigan defensive back Grant Mason to haul in the pass.
“It was a big play. I’m not going to say it wasn’t,” Gonzalez said. “It was on first down and I have no doubts in my mind that if that ball hits the ground that we would still march down because of the way Troy was playing. He was unbelievable on those last two drives. That was impressive.”
Gonzalez actually ran out of bounds on the play, but it was ruled he was forced out by Mason. (A receiver cannot be the first one to touch the ball if he runs out of bounds on his own.)
“It was a little deceptive what coverage they may have been running,” Gonzalez said. “It looked like they were about to back off. I had an out route. If he backs off, that’s where the ball should go. But he stayed there and blocked me out of bounds, so I turned it up.”
Gonzalez does his best to downplay the catch, but admits it was a boost for his self-assurance.
“It does help your confidence,” he said. “For me, that’s always been a big part of my game. Whenever I have struggled at anything in my entire life, it’s been because of a lack of confidence. Anything that happens that increases my confidence is good for me.
“Not that I was unconfident – I feel that I’ve played confident the whole year – but something like that certainly boosts the confidence a little bit.”
Smith, who has made a habit out of producing big games against Michigan, explained what Gonzalez did well on the play.
“I think (it showed) tremendous progress on Tony’s part,” Smith said. “Not a lot of people know him as a high point guy, one with the ability to go up and get the ball like he did. I wouldn’t take the play back and throw the ball anywhere else. I believe in Tony the whole way around. If anything, I would have thrown it a little harder so he could have had a chance to get into the end zone instead of jumping over the guy.”
Smith also gets a lot of credit for the play. It looked like he was going to run, but instead he juked a Michigan defender, rolled right and let it fly.
“I was just trying to keep the play alive as long as I could,” Smith said. “Gonzalez made a great play. The line held everybody off as long as they could.”
But where did Gonzalez get the hops? How was he able to get up so high?
“I don’t know,” Gonzalez said. “I can’t go up that high. It wasn’t that I got up that high; it was that I got turned in an awkward way and made it look like I was up real high. I don’t jump very high.”
Gonzalez says he has made better catches in his lifetime. Not necessarily bigger, just more difficult.
“It’s one of those things where the more focus there is on the game, the bigger it seems to outsiders and the better it seems, I guess,” he said.
When Gonzalez says he has made better catches, he means in high school, or in the backyard. The play at Michigan was definitely his best catch in an OSU uniform. But he has seen better catches from other OSU receivers.
“I’ve seen Santonio make better catches, and Mike Jenkins as well,” he said. “He caught a pass at Penn State his senior year (in 2003) and he kind of grabbed it over the top of the DB and got hit in the mouth pretty hard too. It was a fade-stop for a touchdown (and sealed a late win for OSU). So, I’ve seen lots better catches than mine since I’ve been here.”
Gonzalez was asked how he would feel if “The Catch” is still being talked about 20 years from now.
“I don’t think it will be,” he said. “But how would I feel? I don’t know. Ask me in 20 years, I guess.”
Gonzalez’s humble approach is not an act. He’s intelligent, laid-back and doesn’t spend time reading his press clippings.
But surely he’s watched several replays of “The Catch,” right? “Honestly, people are making such a big deal out of it, but I’ve seen it maybe three or four times,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve seen much better catches. It happened to be at a big time in the game. But I maintain if that ball hits the ground, we still drive down and score. No doubt in my mind.”
Bigger Role For Gonzo?
And while Gonzalez was able to somewhat sneak up on defenses last season, that won’t be the case in 2006. He is a known commodity and defenses are now aware of just how dangerous he can be.
The flashy Ginn is a candidate to be Ohio State’s No. 1 receiver in 2006. But OSU’s coaches might be content to leave him in the No. 2 role. That would mean Gonzalez would have a much bigger part in the offense.
“Honestly, I haven’t even thought about that,” Gonzalez said. “I have yet to get that far in my thinking.”
One person who has given it some thought is OSU receivers coach Darrell Hazell. He has witnessed the maturation of Gonzalez as a football player and believes that his best is yet to come.
“I love the kid,” Hazell said. “He’s a student of the game. He’s a play-making machine. Last year, when ‘Tone (Holmes) would get the double team, or Teddy would get the double team, Tony always showed up. He’s a kid that works tremendously hard and he has really good skills.
“I need to get more leadership out of him this year with Santonio gone, but I think he will step up and do a good job there. I think he’ll have a great year.”
As for Ginn, he finished the 2005 season with 51 receptions, 803 yards (15.7) and four touchdowns. He entered the season as a Heisman Trophy candidate, but had trouble living up to expectations. However, don’t dare tell Gonzalez that Ginn had a “down” year.
“I think he did a very good job,” Gonzalez said. “People set these ridiculous expectations for everyone. If Ted doesn’t have six catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown, somehow everyone thinks he had a bad game. But I think he’s done a really good job. He’s been solid. His route running – which for some reason people harped on that – but his route running is great. He’s developed as a blocker, I think. He’s young and we’re all doing what we can. I think he had a great season.”
A few young receivers will need to produce for the Buckeyes in 2006. Gonzalez thinks there are several players that are capable of getting the job done.
“It’s tough, because I think everybody on our team is good,” he said. “Somebody will step up, but I don’t know who it will be. I can’t pick out one in particular. Everybody has done a solid job. All the young guys are coming on.
“(Brian) Hartline, you’ll see Hartline make some good catches. You’ll see (Brian) Robiskie make some good catches. You’ll see (Albert) Dukes make some good catches. Roy Hall, of course he’s a little older. But all the young guys came on and they had a great guy to learn from in Santonio.”
Even without Holmes, Gonzalez thinks that OSU will be in good shape next year at the receiver position.
“I would hope so. I really do,” he said. “I refuse to believe that we won’t have the talent. Now whether or not we’re going to step up and make the plays that we need to, obviously that has yet to be determined, but I feel that we will have a good group of receivers next year.”
Ohio State finished the regular season ranked 32nd in the country in total offense, averaging 422.3 yards per game. It was the highest ranking for an OSU offense thus far in the Jim Tressel era.
But the offense didn’t come on until mid-way through the season. Early in the year, the Buckeyes sputtered at times. The second-half turnaround was nothing short of impressive.
“It seems like in the beginning of the season, we were real close to making big plays, but for some reason we just weren’t making them,” Gonzalez said. “Whereas the last month and a half of the season, it does seem like we started to turn the corner a little bit.”
Ohio State finished 10-2, claimed a share of the Big Ten championship, won a BCS bowl game, and finished ranked No. 4 in the nation. But for many OSU fans, it was a “what if” season. What if the Buckeyes would have received the breaks in the Texas and Penn State games?
“If you think about it, what’s the difference between an undefeated season and what we have? It’s two plays,” Gonzalez said. “If we make a big play against Penn State, that turns that game around. If we make a big play against Texas and turn that game around, we win that one, too.
“All of a sudden, we’re not talking about where we were the first few weeks. We’re talking about how exciting it will be to play in the title game.”
The good news for Gonzalez is he still has two years to try and claim a national championship at Ohio State.
And beyond the playing field, he is an excellent student with a 3.42 GPA in philosophy. In fact, he could become the first OSU football player to become a Rhodes Scholar since wide receiver Mike Lanese in 1985.
“It is definitely something I am thinking about and would like to pursue,” Gonzalez said. “But it is a very competitive process, so there are no guarantees. Still, I would like to try.” Somehow, nothing seems out of reach for him.
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
Scout.com$
4/11/06
Article on Gonzo and his concussion during the jersey scrimmage, by Steve Helwagen.
4/11/06
Article on Gonzo and his concussion during the jersey scrimmage, by Steve Helwagen.
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0
Cleveland PD
4/17
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
Concussion gets Gonzalez thinking
Monday, April 17, 2006Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- During Ohio State's jersey scrimmage nine days ago, receiver Anthony Gonzalez approached quarterback Troy Smith on the sideline and told him he couldn't remember anything.
"Sit down and get a granola bar," Smith told him. "It's OK."
Gonzalez, a junior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average in the winter quarter and hopes to at tend law school some day, wasn't sure everything would be OK. When he discovered after the game that he suffered a mild concussion, Gonzalez thought not of football, but of the classroom. An academically-minded teammate who had suffered a concussion told Gonzalez his roughest academic quarter had followed his injury.
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> <!-- if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) { document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>'); } --></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>
<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>"I always told myself if I get injured, it's OK because I'll have my education to fall back on," Gonzalez, a Cleveland native and St. Ignatius grad, said days later. "When that hap pened, I was like, 'Wait a minute, maybe I won't have my education to fall back on.' "
Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion expert, said more has been learned about concussions in the last five years than the previous 50 years combined. And far more is known about the short-term affects of concussions than the long-term problems.
But seldom has Collins, the assistant director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Sports Medicine Concussion Program, heard of an athlete think so quickly about his grades, not just getting back on the field.
Gonzalez was right on track.
"For the short term," Collins said, "this injury has academic problems written all over it."
Ohio State used the ImPACT system, which stands for Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, after the scrimmage to evaluate Gonzalez. The computerized test compares an athlete's answers to the same answers given during an earlier baseline test, and notes the changes to determine the severity of the concussion.
Collins, who helped develop the ImPACT test, said, depending on the severity, symptoms can linger for days, weeks or months. They include problems concentrating, memory loss, slowed reaction time, an inability to do two things at one, headaches, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, even personality changes. That means there is a recovery time, just like for any other injury.
"You don't want to run on a broken ankle," Collins said. "It's the same with a concussion. School is running on your brain."
Yet concussions are an invisible injury. Asked if they're still suffering from headaches, athletes sometimes lie because they want to return to action. And teachers and professors need to be made aware and sometimes educated about the allowances athletes recovering from concussions may require.
"If a kid hurts his leg, you can put him on crutches. If he hurts his upper arm, you can put him in a sling. You've got to allow the brain to rest," said Bob Gray, the coordinator of athletic training and community affairs for Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. "The thing you don't want to do is take something for granted when it comes to the head."
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> <!-- if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) { document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>'); } --></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>
<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>Gray said he has made numerous calls to high schools to explain the needs of student-athletes he's seen. Gonzalez spoke with Ohio State's Student-Athlete Support Services Office.
"Anthony Gonzalez is one of our best students," said David Graham, the office's director. "He's a guy who pays attention to details and the big picture. He gets it."
Since Gonzalez's concussion was mild, he returned to practice last week, but didn't take part in any contract drills. He said he wasn't experiencing any problems with his studies, but he still didn't remember the touchdown he caught in the scrimmage, and Collins said he likely never will get that memory back.
In more severe cases, Collins would recommend staying out of class for several days, being given longer time limits and frequent breaks during exams and reducing the homework load.
The worst thing an athlete with a concussion can do is get hit and suffer another concussion before a full recovery has been made. But when it comes to the brain, cramming for a test is just like running wind sprints.
"We don't want you exerting yourself either physically or cognitively, by running or lifting weights or by studying for six hours," Collins said. "All those things affect the brain."
Gonzalez, who said he last suffered a blow to the head in sixth grade, had never given a second thought to all this before it happened to him.
"It's kind of a reality check," he said. "You don't really think about concussions, at least I never did."
For anyone who is truly a student-athlete, it's something to keep in mind.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
4/17
OHIO STATE FOOTBALL
Concussion gets Gonzalez thinking
Monday, April 17, 2006Doug Lesmerises
Plain Dealer Reporter
Columbus- During Ohio State's jersey scrimmage nine days ago, receiver Anthony Gonzalez approached quarterback Troy Smith on the sideline and told him he couldn't remember anything.
"Sit down and get a granola bar," Smith told him. "It's OK."
Gonzalez, a junior who earned a 4.0 grade-point average in the winter quarter and hopes to at tend law school some day, wasn't sure everything would be OK. When he discovered after the game that he suffered a mild concussion, Gonzalez thought not of football, but of the classroom. An academically-minded teammate who had suffered a concussion told Gonzalez his roughest academic quarter had followed his injury.
<SCRIPT language=JavaScript1.1 src="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></SCRIPT><SCRIPT language=JavaScript> <!-- if (parseFloat(navigator.appVersion) == 0) { document.write('<IFRAME WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 HSPACE=0 VSPACE=0 FRAMEBORDER=0 SCROLLING=no BORDERCOLOR="#000000" SRC="http://ads.cleveland.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_sx.ads/www.cleveland.com/xml/story/s2/s2osf/@StoryAd"></IFRAME>'); } --></SCRIPT><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>
<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>"I always told myself if I get injured, it's OK because I'll have my education to fall back on," Gonzalez, a Cleveland native and St. Ignatius grad, said days later. "When that hap pened, I was like, 'Wait a minute, maybe I won't have my education to fall back on.' "
Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion expert, said more has been learned about concussions in the last five years than the previous 50 years combined. And far more is known about the short-term affects of concussions than the long-term problems.
But seldom has Collins, the assistant director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Sports Medicine Concussion Program, heard of an athlete think so quickly about his grades, not just getting back on the field.
Gonzalez was right on track.
"For the short term," Collins said, "this injury has academic problems written all over it."
Ohio State used the ImPACT system, which stands for Immediate Post-concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing, after the scrimmage to evaluate Gonzalez. The computerized test compares an athlete's answers to the same answers given during an earlier baseline test, and notes the changes to determine the severity of the concussion.
Collins, who helped develop the ImPACT test, said, depending on the severity, symptoms can linger for days, weeks or months. They include problems concentrating, memory loss, slowed reaction time, an inability to do two things at one, headaches, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, even personality changes. That means there is a recovery time, just like for any other injury.
"You don't want to run on a broken ankle," Collins said. "It's the same with a concussion. School is running on your brain."
Yet concussions are an invisible injury. Asked if they're still suffering from headaches, athletes sometimes lie because they want to return to action. And teachers and professors need to be made aware and sometimes educated about the allowances athletes recovering from concussions may require.
"If a kid hurts his leg, you can put him on crutches. If he hurts his upper arm, you can put him in a sling. You've got to allow the brain to rest," said Bob Gray, the coordinator of athletic training and community affairs for Cleveland Clinic Sports Health. "The thing you don't want to do is take something for granted when it comes to the head."
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<NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT>Gray said he has made numerous calls to high schools to explain the needs of student-athletes he's seen. Gonzalez spoke with Ohio State's Student-Athlete Support Services Office.
"Anthony Gonzalez is one of our best students," said David Graham, the office's director. "He's a guy who pays attention to details and the big picture. He gets it."
Since Gonzalez's concussion was mild, he returned to practice last week, but didn't take part in any contract drills. He said he wasn't experiencing any problems with his studies, but he still didn't remember the touchdown he caught in the scrimmage, and Collins said he likely never will get that memory back.
In more severe cases, Collins would recommend staying out of class for several days, being given longer time limits and frequent breaks during exams and reducing the homework load.
The worst thing an athlete with a concussion can do is get hit and suffer another concussion before a full recovery has been made. But when it comes to the brain, cramming for a test is just like running wind sprints.
"We don't want you exerting yourself either physically or cognitively, by running or lifting weights or by studying for six hours," Collins said. "All those things affect the brain."
Gonzalez, who said he last suffered a blow to the head in sixth grade, had never given a second thought to all this before it happened to him.
"It's kind of a reality check," he said. "You don't really think about concussions, at least I never did."
For anyone who is truly a student-athlete, it's something to keep in mind.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
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craigblitz
Juice, Full of Juice!!
Ohhh boy I can see this thread going downhill faster then Gonzo running the 40
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OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
CPD
8/14/06
8/14/06
Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez
Ohio State wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez talks about:
* QB Troy Smith's leadership this summer, setting up team workouts
* What his goals were for the offseason
* The improvement of the new form-fitting OSU jerseys.
Listen to the interview
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Link
College Football's Breakthrough Players
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP Sports Writer
August 18, 2006, 4:26 PM EDT
Every year a college football player makes the leap from just another player to All-American.
Take Notre Dame receiver Jeff Samardzija. Before last season he was a player with a seemingly impossible to pronounce name and 24 career catches in two seasons. He went on to catch 71 passes for 1,190 yards and 16 touchdowns. Now everybody knows it's pronounced Sa-MAR-juh.
Here are some players who could become households name this season:
AMIR PINNIX, RB, Minnesota -- Playing behind Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell last season, Pinnix didn't get many opportunities. Now Maroney is in the NFL and Russell has left school, so the 195-pound speedster becomes latest go-to back for the Gophers, who love to run the ball.
JERMICHAEL FINLEY, TE, Texas -- Finley might not start the season as the Longhorns' No. 1 tight end and replacement for the reliable David Thomas, but this redshirt freshman has wowed coaches in practice. Lucky for him, Texas likes to throw to the tight end.
ANTHONY GONZALEZ, WR, Ohio State -- He was the No. 3 receiver behind Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. last season. With Holmes in the NFL, Gonzalez, who Ohio State fans swear is as fast as Ginn, becomes at worst the No. 2 option when Troy Smith goes back to pass.
GLENN DORSEY, CHARLES ALEXANDER AND MARLON FAVORITE, DTs, LSU -- The Tigers have churned out NFL-caliber defensive linemen in recent years, and these three have the potential to take the sting out of the loss of Claude Wroten and Kyle Williams.
WILL PROCTOR, QB, Clemson -- The senior has been patiently waiting behind Charlie Whitehurst. Proctor has more mobility than his predecessor, which makes him an even better fit in the Tigers' offense. Plus, he's surrounded with talented and experienced players.
College Football's Breakthrough Players
By RALPH D. RUSSO
AP Sports Writer
August 18, 2006, 4:26 PM EDT
Every year a college football player makes the leap from just another player to All-American.
Take Notre Dame receiver Jeff Samardzija. Before last season he was a player with a seemingly impossible to pronounce name and 24 career catches in two seasons. He went on to catch 71 passes for 1,190 yards and 16 touchdowns. Now everybody knows it's pronounced Sa-MAR-juh.
Here are some players who could become households name this season:
AMIR PINNIX, RB, Minnesota -- Playing behind Laurence Maroney and Gary Russell last season, Pinnix didn't get many opportunities. Now Maroney is in the NFL and Russell has left school, so the 195-pound speedster becomes latest go-to back for the Gophers, who love to run the ball.
JERMICHAEL FINLEY, TE, Texas -- Finley might not start the season as the Longhorns' No. 1 tight end and replacement for the reliable David Thomas, but this redshirt freshman has wowed coaches in practice. Lucky for him, Texas likes to throw to the tight end.
ANTHONY GONZALEZ, WR, Ohio State -- He was the No. 3 receiver behind Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn Jr. last season. With Holmes in the NFL, Gonzalez, who Ohio State fans swear is as fast as Ginn, becomes at worst the No. 2 option when Troy Smith goes back to pass.
GLENN DORSEY, CHARLES ALEXANDER AND MARLON FAVORITE, DTs, LSU -- The Tigers have churned out NFL-caliber defensive linemen in recent years, and these three have the potential to take the sting out of the loss of Claude Wroten and Kyle Williams.
WILL PROCTOR, QB, Clemson -- The senior has been patiently waiting behind Charlie Whitehurst. Proctor has more mobility than his predecessor, which makes him an even better fit in the Tigers' offense. Plus, he's surrounded with talented and experienced players.
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