You are similar to a college football player in some ways.
No, you likely aren't blessed with a stout frame that allows you to punish your opponents on the gridiron, but you are anxiously counting down the days until kickoff. Just like them.
"Obviously, we're watching film and stuff already," Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott said Tuesday. "We're just ready for the season."
Fans and media are too, but as the defending national champions of college football, Ohio State's done well to steer clear of the negative spotlight this summer.
Urban Meyer is everywhere, checking in at Cleveland sporting events, the MLB All-Star Game, charity events in Sandusky and his hometown of Ashtabula and even getting in some family time at Put-In-Bay.
Elliott, Cardale Jones, Braxton Miller and Joshua Perry joined their head coach Wednesday night in Los Angeles at the 2015 ESPY Awards; more positive press for the inaugural College Football Playoff champions. The offensive line joined Ed Warinner at Nationwide Children's Hospital that same night, visiting sick kids in an attempt to brighten their days.
We haven't heard of any football players getting in trouble around Columbus this summer. It's been quiet, compared to years past with numerous incidents involving J.T. Barrett, Marcus Baugh, Tracy Sprinkle, Bradley Roby, Carlos Hyde, Storm Klein and even Jack Mewhort and Jake Stoneburner. Not all of those occurred in Franklin County, but it displays the legal trouble Ohio State's football program's experienced since Meyer took over prior to the 2012 season.
Meyer's acted quickly in most cases, first kicking players like Sprinkle and Klein off the team for their actions and suspending others indefinitely while the legal process ran its course. Some were let back on when charges were either reduced or dropped, but others like Tim Gardner were not so lucky.
Still, those issues — or at least the ones that were reported — are dwarfed in comparison to other big name programs, particularly this summer.
"We talk about it every day because this is the time of year where things could get out of hand. Coaches aren't around as much, they're taking vacations and everything."– Joshua Perry
The University of Tennessee is being investigated for sexual violence, ESPN reported Friday, stemming from sexual assault accusations against at least six Volunteer football players on last year's roster. LSU had a rough week in June where four players got handcuffed for various problems including violence.
And let's not even open the can of worms regarding the Florida State football program, where both quarterback De'Andre Johnson and leading rusher Dalvin Cook assaulted different women. Johnson was kicked off the team and Cook is indefinitely suspended. The Seminole program's bouts with the law are well documented.
There haven't been any problems like that at Ohio State, however, at least not in Franklin County or that we know of as of Sunday.
A quick search of each player's name in the county records database yields minor offenses for traffic violations like speeding or a failure to stop at a stop sign, but nothing worth writing home about.
"We talk about it every day because this is the time of year where things could get out of hand," Perry said Tuesday. "Coaches aren't around as much, they're taking vacations and everything."
It's likely that Ohio State's football players aren't all squeaky clean, but issues are probably handled internally as long as they aren't involving domestic violence, like Hyde's in 2013, for example.
"You really have to keep an eye out on that," Perry said. "That's where it comes back to the leadership and the way that we're trained to press pause in those situations where something can get out of hand and I think we do a really good job of just policing each other and making sure guys stay out of trouble."
Team events like go-karting, water slides and hospital visits build team chemistry and keep players occupied under the watchful eye of their position coaches as much as humanly possible.
"I think these things are great to break up the monotony of the summer because they're here for all summer and they train hard and they go to school. Some of these events that we do for community service and to reach out to other people are good for us," Warinner said Wednesday. "I think we've had a great summer so far. We still have some left to finish up strong."
Less than a month stands between the team and the opening of fall camp. So far, there is a quietness around the program, even if it is difficult to keep more than 100 players under wraps at all times.
So far, though, it doesn't look like the Buckeyes have had any major run-ins with the law this summer in Franklin County.
