Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State tweeted a #DevelopedHere video on Thursday. It was fun to watch.
Bucks in the NFL: Week 1
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 14, 2023
#DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/WU6Ra8nKg3
Let's have a good Friday, shall we?
THE BEST DAMN FANS IN THE LAND. According to a recent article from Tony Altimore of Sports Illustrated, there are 11.26 million Ohio State fans worldwide, a number that ranks No. 1 ahead of Notre Dame (8.21 million), Texas (7.82 million), Penn State (6.36 million) and Michigan (6.26 million) for the most among all college football programs.
BUCKEYE NATION is second to none pic.twitter.com/VHt5spuL0E
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 14, 2023
Ohio State's 11.26 million fans make the nickname "Buckeye Nation" feel literal, as the population of fans – if ranked with real nations across this hunk of rock – would check in at No. 85 overall between the Dominican Republic (11.33 million) and Cuba (11.19 million) in total population, according to recent estimates based on the 2022 U.N. Revision.
At No. 85 overall, the population of Buckeye Nation would be more prominent than 149 countries, including Sweden (10.61 million), Greece (10.34 million), Portugal (10.25 million) and Switzerland (9.79 million), among others.
That's wild.
Yet, for some reason, it is not hard to believe.
This is Ohio State, and Ohio State has The Most Fans in the Land because it has The Best Damn Fans in the Land.
OSU → WRU. Marvin Harrison Jr. found his perfect match in March when he announced an NIL partnership with Monarc Sport to sponsor the Seeker JUGS machine, advertised as "the world's first robotic quarterback."
"The Seeker was a big part of my success last season," Harrison said in his announcement video. "I loved training with the Seeker because it allowed me to work by myself and kept me on top of my game. I'm super excited to join the Monarc family."
Over six months later, Harrison has recorded countless reps on the Monarc Seeker. So have his teammates Emeka Egbuka and Xavier Johnson, among others. The trio of Buckeyes and their position coach, Brian Hartline, were included in a recent CBS feature that showcased how Ohio State used the machine to prepare for the 2023 season.
"The Seeker tracks reps, I don't know if there's anyone in the country that's within a quarter of how many balls our guys catch."
— Monarc (@MonarcSport) September 12, 2023
-Coach @brianhartline on @CBSSportsCFB Confidential
"We want to catch more balls than anyone else in the country." - @MarvHarrisonJr @emeka_egbuka pic.twitter.com/Xr8i65DmFa
"The Seeker tracks reps," Hartline said in the video. "I don't know if there's anyone within a quarter of how many balls our guys catch versus anyone else in the country."
I believe that. That's what makes Ohio State the one and only Wide Receiver U. Sorry, Jalen McMillen and Rome Odunze at Washington, Malachi Corley at Western Kentucky and Mario Williams at USC, but that's the #truth.
LIKE MOTHER, LIKE SON. Joe Royer missed most of last season after the death of his 52-year-old mother, Michelle "Micki" Royer, on Sept. 27, 2022. Royer played in six games when he returned, including Ohio State's matchups with Indiana, Maryland, Michigan and Georgia.
This season, the 6-foot-5, 252-pound tight end has appeared in Ohio State's regular-season contests with Indiana and Youngstown State, recording 39 snaps on offense and 14 on special teams.
As Royer continues to make an impact for the Buckeyes, he does so in memory of his Fireball-drinking, tattoo-sporting mother, whom he viewed as a "best friend" who loved him no matter what. Royer described their relationship more in a recent Q&A with Lori Schmidt of The Columbus Dispatch:
On how Ohio State helped him grieve his mother's passing
"I always tell people my mom was my best friend through and through. We talked every day, countless times. She got me through many hard times up here. Obviously, she was my mother, but she was more of a best friend to me. There's not enough good things I can say about her. I have all these great memories of her, so I have those to bank on. ... Then being at a place like this, they have so many good people here trying to lift you, motivate you, give you whatever you need – literally whatever you need, they'll do that. Coach Day is a huge advocate for mental health. Unfortunately, he lost his father when he was a kid, so he kind of understood what I was going through. Having him and the support staff here was huge."
On where he sees his mother's influence in his life
A: I'd say our personalities are really similar. She was very – eh, I'm not as outgoing as she was. She loved to have a good time. That's kind of what she was known for. Her favorite drink was Fireball, so take what you want from that. ... She loved to have a good time. She was always the light of the room, spark of the room. Always cheered me up. She had the right kind of balance ... of being a mom and being a friend. And as I got older and I didn't need as much discipline and stuff from her, we (formed) this inseparable bond. Yeah, she loved to have a good time, and I see it in my personality. And her sense of humor was very outgoing and sometimes vulgar, and I kind of got that as well.
First, tell someone you love them today.
Second, it sounds like Micki Royer was an incredible woman. May she rest in peace.
Third, I appreciate that Ryan Day has been a mental health advocate since he became Ohio State's head coach in 2019. Royer is one of many players who have thanked Day after he and the team helped them in hard times, which makes me proud of the kind of leader Day has been for the Buckeyes over the past few years. I am also proud of Royer for seeking help when needed. It seems he is in a better head space now than in September 2022; I am thankful for that.
Here's to a successful season for No. 84 – one that honors the woman who made Royer the man he is today.
DAWAND'S TIME TO SHINE. In his album "Under Pressure," Sir Robert Bryson Hall II, also known as Logic, rapped the line "Conversations with legends, it's crazy how one day your idols can turn into your brethren" in the song "Soul Food," which represented how Hall, a Maryland native, signed a deal with Def Jam and moved to Los Angeles, where he was surrounded by the most talented rappers in the world.
On Thursday, I was reminded of that line when I read about Dawand Jones in an article from Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Jones was named the Cleveland Browns starter at right tackle after Jack Conklin tore his ACL and MCL in Week 1. In Cabot's article, she shared how conversations with a legend, Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Thomas, have Jones ready to compete in the role as a rookie.
During joint practices against the Eagles in Philadelphia, Jones met his idol, Browns Hall of Fame left tackle Joe Thomas, for the first time and was starstruck.
“I gave him a couple of tips at practice and he was like ‘yes, sir, yes sir,’” Thomas told cleveland.com. “I’m like, you don’t have to say ‘yes sir,’ you can say like, ‘screw you’ if you don’t agree. It’s just a conversation. This is not me dictating the 10 Commandments.”
But for Jones, the pointers could’ve just as easily been etched onto two stone tablets with all the reverence he has for the 10-time Pro Bowler.
“That’s my No. 1 goal,” Jones said. “You see the 73 up there. I get to talk to him every day. Honestly, one of my dreams is to chase what he’s done here. I’d probably never get to his exact numbers or anything, but you want to chase his legacy and chase what he’s done. He set the standard for what I do at tackle. You always want to be like Joe Thomas. He never missed a game. He never missed anything.”
For Thomas, he immediately saw in Jones that same inner drive that prompted Thomas to proclaim during his own rookie minicamp in 2007 that he planned to be in the Hall of Fame someday. It’s the unrelenting quest for greatness and attention to detail that Thomas still hopes to see someday from left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., the Browns No. 10 overall pick in 2020.
“The thing that impressed me the most was just the mindset that he had and the commitment that (Jones) had to be great,” Thomas said. “You don’t always see that with guys that are big and talented. Sometimes those guys have just had it come easy their whole life because he was a very athletic, big, strong, physical basketball player that kind of converted and played tackle.
“Sometimes those guys don’t really want to be great as much as they just became great because of their God-given abilities. But Dawand really seems to have the ‘it,’ that he wants to be great and I think in a lot of ways that’s the difference between the great players in the NFL and the guys that just kind of have a decent career and are never really able to tap their full potential.”
Thomas, a six-time first-team All-Pro, two-time second-team All-Pro and 10-time Pro Bowler in 10 NFL seasons, sees the "same inner drive" that led him to become a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Is that good?
I am excited to see what Jones can do for the Browns this season. There will be bumps in the road, as there are for any rookie. But overall, I expect Jones to impress a lot of people. Even more, I expect Jones to make the general managers and scouting departments from the 31 teams that passed on him three or four times to sit head in hands and sulk over the fact that they messed up several chances to draft the 6-foot-8, 376-pound mountain of a man who will lock down one side of the Browns offensive line in 2023.
He wants to be great.
He will be great.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath.
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