Cardale Jones hadn't thrown a pass yet at Ohio State Pro Day, giving him the chance to jog over and see the two most important women in his life.
His mother, Michelle Nash, held his 1-year-old daughter, Chloe, beyond the ropes and on the Woody Hayes Athletic Center bleachers. Jones still had more than an hour before showtime, but needed a few minutes alone for a conversation with the only pigtailed viewer in attendance that mattered to him.
Quarterback Cardale Jones says hi to an important viewer, his daughter Chloe: pic.twitter.com/RAmzgvkFSv
— Eric Seger (@EricSeger33) March 11, 2016
Jones checked his iPhone while he held Chloe in his left arm, her grabbing and gnawing at the knots on the drawstrings of his Ohio State hoodie.
"Hey honey, Daddy's about to go throw," Jones whispered.
The man nicknamed 12 Gauge for his powerful right arm — the one that led Ohio State to its first national championship in the Urban Meyer era — couldn't show potential employers at the NFL Combine two weeks earlier what he'd worked on since his final days in Columbus because he pulled his hamstring running the 40-yard dash.
Jones' final snap in an Ohio State uniform came during a 28-14 win against Minnesota Nov. 7, when he started in place of J.T. Barrett who was suspended after an OVI citation. Jones finished 12-of-22 for 187 yards and a touchdown that night at Ohio Stadium. He was also sacked four times, but ran for 65 yards and another touchdown. However, it wasn't enough to hold onto the starting job before Ohio State beat Illinois, lost to Michigan State, beat Michigan and then downed Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl.
Jones left Ohio State and headed west to San Diego to work with George Whitfield for the two months before the NFL Combine, only to have his body break down and prevent him from doing more in Indianapolis. Scouts and analysts dubbed him a wildcard, something he couldn't change at the combine.
That's what made Friday so important.
"I've never been hurt or had to sit out before. That was the first time," Jones said. "It was a terrible feeling, definitely seeing guys that you want to compete against, guys you kind of build a relationship with but you want to compete at the highest level. Then not being able to go through the drills yourself ... "
“I was worried about it, because a hamstring is a big part of throwing the ball. He's been getting treatment and is handling himself like a pro. I'm proud of him. I thought he had a good day.”– Urban Meyer
Jones whipped it all over the field Friday, throwing to Braxton Miller, Jalin Marshall, Michael Thomas, Nick Vannett and others trying to earn a job in the NFL.
But this day was about Jones. There was a reason the Woody fell nearly silent aside from the quarterback calling out his cadence and receiving directions from Whitfield at midfield and beyond.
"I was worried about it, because a hamstring is a big part of throwing the ball," Meyer said. "He's been getting treatment and is handling himself like a pro. I'm proud of him. I thought he had a good day."
Jones gave himself a B+, admittedly overthrowing a few guys and short-hopping others. It wasn't five minutes upon completion of the workout he did a SportsCenter hit, then turned his attention to the NFL Network and Big Ten Network, all with Miller. Local reporters then swarmed him before he could meet with scouts and receive feedback, but said he felt relaxed during the workout.
"I'm throwing to guys I've thrown to for three and a half years," Jones said. "Then the extra work we put in to do our pro day script, it was pretty comfortable."
Jones didn't lose a game he started at Ohio State. He beat Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon in the 2014 postseason in the three biggest games of his life to date. Nothing fazed him then, just like he said his hamstring pull didn't put more pressure on Friday.
"Cardale has never been the type to let the pressure faze him," Ohio State safety Tyvis Powell said. "He's a calm, silly guy at all times. He wasn't worried about it."
Added Jones: "I guess it was important because they wanted to see us do it. So whatever they wanted to see us do, they give us a timetable where our pro day is a certain amount of time from the combine. Want to see if we can get it done and look good doing it."
Jones is confident his school — and the coaches he played for like Meyer, Tom Herman and Tim Beck — prepared him for this moment, readied him to make a living as an NFL quarterback. He believes he can be what a franchise is looking for when it seeks someone to plaster all over memorabilia and other regalia as its main piece of representation.
"I played at Ohio State," Jones said. "I'm not going to say the same thing, but I think it's almost the same magnitude."
Ohio State Pro Day resided pretty highly on the magnitude scale for Jones Friday. He's got a family to take care of and a future to build. He knew what he had to show scouts, but wasn't going to let it phase him mentally.
He just went out and ripped it.
"I mean, the stakes are already going to be high," Jones said. "You face adversity every time you throw an interception. You face adversity period. Just battling through that and having the right group of people around me that I trust them to lead me to my best interest at heart. Helped me out a lot in order to develop and mature."
