Congratulations Buckeyes! Great job Urban Meyer. Teamwork & Strength. A Short Story About My OSU Football Experiece “Paying Forward” American Football began in 1869 and OSU’s first game was against Ohio Wesleyan College in Delaware, OH about 45 minutes North of Columbus. From the very beginning, football was deemed as a dangerous and sometimes fatal sport nearly banned in 1905 by President Theodore Roosevelt. In 1873, Walter Camp, coach at Yale, proposed new rules to increase personal safety and instilled the Line of Scrimmage. In 1904, The Chicago Tribune news reported that football that year generated 18 deaths and 159 serious injuries like crushed skulls, wrenched spinal cords and broken ribs. Additional rule changes and modification were necessary along with the first helmet and body protection padding. Harvard University opposed football on their campus in 1905 with their president stating that: “No Sport Is Wholesome In Which Ungenerous Or Mean Acts Which Easily Escape Detection Contribute To Victory.” Congratulations to the 2014 Ohio State Buckeye Football Team! I was blessed to be part of the Ohio State Buckeye Football family beginning in 1994 attending many practices, home games, scrimmages and one week long coaches football camp. I was a hardcore football fanatic. I lived for football most of my life before that. I learned of the great traditions at OSU and got to meet and learn about leadership, team, coaching, education and the great football tradition developed there for ~100 years. This amazing tradition began in 1942 with coach Paul Brown and cemented by Woody Hayes whom preached education & team. It’s the 125th Anniversary of The Ohio State University (OSU) Football & 92 seasons of home games played at “The Horse Shoe” that seats 106,000 spectators today. In 1942, legendary football coach and Ohio native Paul Brown formerly head coach at Massilon High School, led the Buckeye’s to their first ever national collegiate football championship game victory. Since 1942, OSU has won eight National Titles & most recently last night against the Oregon Ducks led by Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariotta of Hawai’i. In 1951, The Ohio State University hired Woody Hayes to resurrect the Buckeye football program then in shambles and in great need of positive change. After 4 seasons, Woody Hayes led the Buckeyes to their second national title. In all coach Hayes led the Buckeye’s to 4 additional national titles in 1957, 1961, 1968 and 1970. Wisdom from MLB Superstar Pitcher Cy Young Some of Woody Hayes great successes were attributed to his neighbor Denton True “Cy” Young one of Major League Baseball’s finest ever pitchers and from 1890 to 191, 21 seasons, he won 511 games, started in 815 games, pitched 7, 354 innings & in 1904 tossed the first perfect game. Cy Young would answer any of Woody’s questions about anything and a great inspiration for life. Woody’s neighbor was one of the best and an annual award named after him each season honoring the best pitcher in MLB from the National and American leagues. Lt. Commander United States Navy Woody Hayes was raised in the country, attended Denison College in Columbus, OH and then joined the United States Navy working his way up to Lt. Commander of the USS Rinehart whom had active duty in both Pacific and Atlantic Naval Operations. Woody Hayes compiled a record of 205 wins, 61 defeats, 10 ties and 13 Big Ten Conference Titles. Woody Hayes came from the “Cradle Of Coaches” at Miami University of Ohio that was host to first time head coaches Paul Brown, Ara Parseghian, Webe Eubank, Bill Mallory, Sid Gillman, Randy Walker and Bo Schembechler. Woody Hayes preached Team Unity, Dedication to Team and Education and demanded that all of his players get a good education and that they will do so much better in the classroom that they would ever accomplish on the gridiron or football field! He made it mandatory that all of his freshman players attend his English & Vocabulary class every Sunday. He wanted players that valued education and prepared to take the next steps in the evolution of their young lives. He had it in his mind too that he was training and leading young men to be the great leaders of tomorrow outside of football. He wanted for his players to get a good education as he did. He was a full professor in Physical Education at OSU. Coach Hayes was committed to Academics & Standards of Integrity. He was an enthusiastic historian and would use that and his military stories in leading young men. Woody Hayes was of the first to use motion picture as a classroom learning tool. One of his students became a legendary basketball coach and his name Bobby Knight. Woody Hayes was one of the first collegiate coaches to recruit African American players and ushered in too under him assistant coaches of color. One of his first recruits was All-American lineman whom played both ways in Big Jim Parker. He coached 58 first team players with All-American honors. He recruited 2 time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin and when they first met at The Jai Alai Restaurant on Columbus, Woody never mentioned one thing about football during their entire meeting! Archie Griffin told his Dad that he didn’t think he would be playing for OSU at tailback and his Father asked why? He said Woody Hayes never once spoke to him about football! His Dad ask, “what did he talk about?” Receiving a great educational experience at OSU! Those serving as assistant coaches under Woody Hayes were Lou Holtz, Bill Arnsbarger, Bill Mallory, Dick Crum, Bo Schembechler, Ara Parseghian and Earle Bruce. Woody Hayes developed great tradition and said that football is a battle at the line of scrimmage between brut strength, muscle to muscle, body to body and in physical battle. It will always be a rough sport he said heavily driven by the ego and no one ever tackles an opponent with a smile! Football will always be violent as long as there is wining involved. Woody believed that a great home does not come via socio-economic status or how much monies a household possesses and instead he said a good home or family is one that cares for kids, all kids are loved and that there is discipline in that house. If he saw a good kid in a bad home, he said that it was not the kids choice or fault and that if those kids were willing and ready to come out of that situation and prepared he would helped them twice as hard! He believed in giving peoples a fair chance and that education was the equalizer. His message too was that anytime you are bitter and angry you will get hurt. You will destroy yourself! In 1978 during a Bowl Game against Clemson University, coach Hayes punched a Clemson middle guard after he intercepted a pass and was asked to resign. It’s sad that he never apologized and did so in an indirect manner. He had hate and bitterness in him and it got to him. Woody said he wished he had an Artful component engaged in some form of art! It was the one thing missing in his life as he operated mostly from Ego. He was a man of God and did a lot of good yet he admitted that he wished he was in possession of an artful talent for obvious reasons. Woody Hayes was a conservative coach. He was instrumental in keeping the peace at The Ohio State University campus during the violent Warm Protests of the late 1960’s and early 1970’s and many students respected him because he would always find time to sit and talk with the Student leaders during this tender moment in time and like what happened at the Kent University protests. Ultimately Woody Hayes helped to create great tradition in OSU football forever. His legacy lives on today! Paying Forward Investing in Peoples At OSU, they believe in investing in peoples and developing players into great leaders of their many communities. Its academics first! It’s about us paying forward and investing in peoples! Woody spoke of Paying Forward and used Jim Lachey as an example whom donated six figure dollars because he wanted some other kids to experience a great education at OSU, play sports and become a great leader down the road believing in the “Pay Forward” concept that he was given early on by Baseball legend Cy Young. Woody Hayes believed that a great defense wins championships and that there are three things that can happen when you pass the football; a completion, incompletion and an interception believing that you have really a 33.33% success rate. Congratulations Buckeye’s! Your tradition lives on! Defense and smart thinking players. Urban Meyer attributes much of it to Team and Selflessness. This year’s Buckeye team accomplishment will go down in history as one of the finest stories of team, unity, family and selflessness where no one player is at the center of attention and they all play within the system. Urban Meyer is a descendant of OSU Coach Earle Bruce whom replaced Woody Hayes and an ex-pupil passing it down to Urban Meyer, Pete Carrol, Nick Saban, Jim Tressel, Glen Mason & Dom Capers. Who’s winning lately? Saban (Alabama), Carrol (Seattle Seahawks) & Meyer of OSU! There are many, many more disciples in the Ohio State Football tradition. An amazing life lesson that kind of came full circle as I wash my hands from football and if they get in next year, I may watch otherwise I am done with football after years of living for it. I don’t see too much good in it and find more good in art, healing, caring, surfing, sharing and teaching. I don’t need the violent behavior and football is still a violent sport no matter how you slice or dice it with the examples above. I am done with it yet I take the many examples I learned of and in this case first hand with the Buckeye Ohana that I am forever grateful for and all worth leaving my Hawai’I and hope one day, I can “Pay Forward” and help some kids in great need! Congratulations Bucks and a swell job by Coach Urban Meyer and his staff. Hana Hou! Wishing for you a super productive week into another blessed weekend! With Aloha, Ed “Pay Forward” help another live a good life like yours! Many of those we will pay back one day will probably not be around to receive their payment yet when we can pay forward, we can see whom gets our gifts! Invest in peoples. Invest in your kids! Invest in all youth!
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 01:59:45 +0000