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Digging Deeper: Players Who Wore No. 38

Matt Gutridge's picture
July 25, 2018 at 7:12am
22 Comments

We are now 38 days away from Ohio State starting the 2018 season against Oregon State. Below, you will find a list of the 26 players who have worn No. 38 for Ohio State.

Today's featured players are Harold "Champ" Henson and Austin Spitler. During their careers Henson and Spitler combined to win nine Big Ten Titles and went 8-0-1 against That Team. Pretty impressive.

Players Who Wore No. 38 At Ohio State
PLAYER WORN B1G MVP TEAM MVP AA CAPT. 1R NFL ALL B1G AC AA NFL DRAFT AC B1G LETTER
James Romoser 1933                    
Samuel Fox* 1940                   1940
William Lonjak 1943                   1943
E. Pete Perini 1946                   1946
Kenneth Feinthal 1951                    
Gary Ballinger* 1956                    
Stewart Baffer* 1960                    
Robert Hartley 1962-63                    
Samuel Reed 1965                    
Ronald Keith* 1971                   1971
Harold Henson 1972-74               1975   1972-74
Tim Voger* 1975                   1975
Paul Campbell 1976-79                   1976-79
Vaughn Broadnax 1980-83                   1980-83
Chris Boddie 1987                   1987
Matt McCoy 1989-92                   1992
Dan Colson* 1992                    
Mike Malfatt 1993-96                   1994-95
Donnie Nickey* 1998                    
Eric Klaban 1999                    
Ben Steele 2000-01                   2001
Brandon Joe 2000-04                   2001-04
Austin Spitler 2005-09       2009       2010   2006-09
Scott McVey 2010-11                    
Craig Fada 2012-16                 2013 2013-16
Javontae Jean-Baptiste 2018                    

*Wore another number at Ohio State
Did not earn a varsity letter while wearing No. 38

Champ Henson

Harold “Champ” Henson, FB (1972-74)
Born: 
1953 (Columbus)
High School: Teays Valley

Ohio State
The Buckeyes were 40-5-1 with Henson on the team.
1972 Big Ten Title.
1973 Big Ten Title.
1974 Big Ten Title.
1975 Big Ten Title.
Defeated USC 42-21 to win the 1974 Rose Bowl.
Went 3-0-1 against That Team.

Henson's career per The Ohio State Team Guide:

6-4, 231...from Ashville, Ohio...led the nation in scoring as a sophomore and was off to another great start last year when a knee injury in the second game sidelined him for the remainder of the season...expected to be at full strength this fall and will challenge Pete Johnson for the starting assignment.

A strong, punishing runner who plays with great intensity...scored four touchdowns last year before being hurt...his 24 TD's ranks fifth on Ohio State's all-time scoring list...an excellent goal line runner...has exceptional speed for his size and is a threat to break the long play...his 44 carries against Northwestern in 1972 is a school record...called "Champ" since childhood.

Champ Henson talking about Woody Hayes per BuckeyeGrove.com:

Henson went on to recall another story from the more personal side of Woody during two-a-days sometime between training table and meetings.

Woody pulled me aside and said, 'Champ, I just talked to your dad and your mom has been admitted to Grant hospital. You don't need to be in these meetings or practice, you know this stuff as good as anybody. You need to go and see your mom.'

Then he said, 'Here, take my car' (handing over the keys to his Ranchero pickup truck). Then Woody said, 'My truck needs gas' and he gave me a twenty-dollar bill. He said, 'put gas in my truck and oh, by the way, there's a nice little gift shop in the hospital, make sure you get something nice for your mom.'

So I go to put gas in Woody's truck and the tank is totally full. That was just his way of slipping me twenty dollars so I could get something for my mom. So I go see my mom and it's nothing life threatening, but she is going to need to be in the hospital for four to five days.

I then go back to and explain the situation to Woody and I hand him the twenty-dollar bill and tell him his truck didn't need any gas. 'Yes it did!', Woody said curtly. I told coach the tank was full! Woody said, 'You're wrong,' and turned and walked away.

Now, as Champ is telling me this, he is trying to choke back the tears again.

Champ Henson talking about Anne Hayes:

The next morning at 7:00 a.m., Anne Hayes (Woody's wife) showed up at our family farm and my dad says, 'Anne, what are you doing here?' To which she replied, 'You can't run a farm without a woman and I'm here to help.' My dad politely says, 'Anne, we don't really need any help, we'll get by', when Anne interrupts him and says, 'You damned fool, get out of the way and what do you want for breakfast?'

That was typical Anne Hayes. So, she stayed for three days and made sure they were fed and that my brothers got off to school on time.

You know, we lived 30 miles away from Columbus and that was a story I'll never forget.

These were the types of things that Woody did all the time for people that the public never saw. And quite frankly, he didn't want people to see them. It was always about paying forward, never about paying any attention to him, what so ever.

Commissioner Henson per Wikipedia:

In March of 2012, Harold was selected as the Republican nominee for  Pickaway County Commissioner by a 67-33 margin. He was unopposed in the November election, where he received over 10,000 votes. He was sworn in and will serve until January 2015.

Congratulations speech per Circleville Herald and Youtube:

Austin Spitler

Austin Spitler, LB (2005-09)
Born: 
1986 (Dayton)
High School: Bellbrook

Ohio State
The Buckeyes were 54-10 with Spitler on the team.
2005 Big Ten Title.
2006 Big Ten Title.
2007 Big Ten Title.
2008 Big Ten Title.
2009 Big Ten Title.
2006 Defeated Notre Dame 34-20 in the Fiesta Bowl.
2010 Defeated Oregon 26-17 in the Rose Bowl.
Went 5-0 against That Team.

Honors
2009 Captain.
2009 Academic All-Big Ten.
2008 Academic All-Big Ten.
2007 Academic All-Big Ten.
2006 Academic All-Big Ten.

Spitler's Ohio State career per The Ohio State Team Guide:

From Bellbrook, Ohio...senior leader who finally inherits the starter's role at middle linebacker...has the speed to play at any of the three linebacker spots if needed...strong, runs well and is a tough, physical player...has demonstrated a penchant for making plays.

Won first team all-state honors as a senior (in high school), when he was in on 132 tackles, including 11 TFL and seven sacks...also had a pair of interceptions as a senior...was first team all-conference as a junior and senior and was named the conference linebacker of the year both years...played three years of basketball and started as a junior, then concentrated on football.

Spitler destroying Sam McGuffie:

No. 38 In The NFL Draft
NAME YEAR ROUND PICK POSITION TEAM
CHAMP HENSON 1975 4 89 RB VIKINGS
DONNIE NICKEY* 2003 5 154 S TITANS
AUSTIN SPITLER 2010 7 252 LB DOLPHINS

*Wore No. 25 when drafted.

Previous Numbers
99 98 97 96 95 94 93 92 91 90
89 88 87 86 85 84 83 82 81 80
79 78 77 76 75 74 73 72 71 70
69 68 67 66 65 64 63 62 61 60
59 58 57 56 55 54 53 52 51 50
49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40
39 38                
 

121 days until The Game.

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