Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State Football Forum

Ohio State football fan talk.

Digging Deeper: Players Who Wore No. 28

Matt Gutridge's picture
August 4, 2018 at 12:09am
18 Comments

In 4 Saturdays Ohio State will start the 2018 season against the Beavers of Oregon State. Below you will find a list of the 41 players who have worn the No. 28 since 1933.

Today's featured players are Jonathan Wells and Beanie Wells. Although the players are not related they do share a common bond; big games against That Team. Jonathan Wells helped end a dark era in The Game's history and Beanie Wells re-wrote the record book against the Wolverines.

Players Who Wore No. 28 At Ohio State
PLAYER WORN B1G MVP TEAM MVP AA CAPT. 1R NFL ALL B1G AC AA NFL DRAFT AC B1G LETTER
Melvin Cox 1933-34                   1934
Edward West 1936                   1936
Stuart Whitehead 1938-39                   1938-39
Nicholas Roman 1940                    
George Cheroke 1941                   1941
William Hackett* 1942                   1942
Dick Meinke 1943                    
Kenneth Boxwell 1944                   1944
James Fout 1945                   1945
Richard Widdoes 1948-50                   1948-50
William Wilks 1951                   1951
William Booth 1953-55                   1953-55
Paul Ballmer 1958                   1958
William Hess 1960-62                   1960-62
Gerald Ehrsam 1966-68                   1966-68
Harry Howard 1969-71       1971       1972   1969-71
Doug Plank 1972-74                   1972-74
Joseph Garcia 1975-76                    
Robert Murphy 1978-80               1981   1978-80
Jeff Gottron 1982                   1982
Roman Bates 1983-84                   1983-84
Dave Bartley 1984                    
Anthony Woodford 1986                    
John Spencer 1987-89                    
Bob Hoyt 1988                    
Bill Seach* 1989                    
Jon Berger* 1989                    
Jason Louis 1991-95                   1992-94
Mike Burden 1996-97                   1996
Mike Pulsfort* 1996                    
Leandre Liggins 1998                   1998
Jonathan Wells 1998-2001   2001           2002   1998-2001
Maurice Hall* 2002-04                 2002, 2003, 2004 2002-04
Beanie Wells 2006-08   2007, 2008     2009 2007     2007, 2008 2006-08
Dominic Clarke* 2009-10                 2010 2010
Ron Tanner* 2011-12                 2012 2012
Warren Ball 2012-15                 2013 2013-15
Michael Cibene 2014-16                 2016 2016
Josh Norwood* 2016                   2016
Jordan Leasure 2016-17                 2017  
Dominic DeMaccio 2018                    

*Wore another number at Ohio State
Did not earn a varsity letter while wearing No. 28

Jonathan Wells

Jonathan Wells, RB (1998-2001)
Born:
1979 (River Ridge, LA)
High School: John Curtis Christian

Ohio State
The Buckeyes were 32-16 with Wells on the team.
1998 Big Ten Title.
1999 Defeated Texas A&M 24-14 to win the Sugar Bowl.

Honors
2001 Team MVP.

Wells' senior bio per The Ohio State Team Guide:

6-1, 230...from River Ridge, LA...Has been the top reserve the past two seasons and now hopes to step into the spotlight as the starter...has size, speed and power...can run inside the tackles or bounce outside the end...has shown flashes of brilliance in the past and is one of those runners who seem to get stronger as the game wears on...also a fine receiver and a good blocker.

A high school All-America and the No. 1 prospect in the state of Louisiana as a senior...rushed for 1,407 yards and averaged 9.9 yards per carry as a senior...scored 88 career touchdowns...John Curtis won three state championships and posted a combined record of 51-3 while he was in the starting lineup...earned 12 varsity letters, four each in football, basketball and track.

Jonathan Wells' senior season per ohiostatebuckeyes.com:

Senior tailback Jonathan Wells has been selected by his teammates as the Most Valuable Player on the 2001 Ohio State football team. Wells received the honor at Sunday's team appreciation banquet at the Adams Mark Hotel.

"We had a lot of players step up this year, but Jonathan had an outstanding season and clearly played the best football of his career this year as a senior," said Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. "He was a leader for us both on and off the field and had the respect and admiration of his teammates."

Wells led the Buckeyes in rushing and scoring, netting 1,257 yards and scoring 15 touchdowns on 232 carries, an average of 5.4 yards per carry. He finished the season with a flourish, topping the 100-yard mark in each of the last five games, including a career-high 192 yards in the home finale against Illinois. He was on his way to an even better day the following week at Michigan, rambling for 122 yards in the first half before sitting out the second half with leg cramps and finishing with 129 yards.

In addition to amassing 717 yards in the Buckeyes' last five games, he also scored eight touchdowns.

Wells is the 16th back in Ohio State history to top the 1,000-yard mark. His current total of 1,257 yards is the 11th best in school history. The 6-1, 230-pound native of River Ridge, La. now has 2,344 career rushing yards, a total that ranks 12th in school annals.

Beanie Wells

Chris "Beanie" Wells, RB (2006-08)
Born: 
1988 (Akron)
High School: Akron Garfield

Ohio State
The Buckeyes were 33-6 with Wells on the team.
2006 Big Ten Title.
2007 Big Ten Title.
2008 Big Ten Title.
2006 Defeated No. 2 Texas 24-7 in Austin.
Went 3-0 against That Team.

Honors
2007 Team MVP.
2008 Team MVP.
2007 All-Big Ten.
2007 Academic All-Big Ten.
2008 Academic All-Big Ten.

Wells' senior bio Ohio State per The Ohio State Team Guide:

6-1, 237...from Akron, Ohio...The most powerful ball carrier in college football..."Beanie" nickname was given to him by his family.

2007 (Sophomore) Voted team Most Valuable Player...second team All-America (Rivals)...first team all-Big Ten...Archie Griffin award for offensive MVP...W.W. Hayes award for outstanding player in the Michigan game...Big Ten all-academic.

2006 Parade All-American and named the nation's top running back...rushed for 2,134 yards and 27 touchdowns on 233 carries as a senior (9.6 avg.)...rushed for 1,939 yards and scored 20 touchdowns as a junior...2005 National Player of the Year and the No. 1 prospect in the nation by several publications...scored three TDs on his way to being selected Most Valuable Player of the U.S. Army All-America Bowl.

Wells' Ohio State career:

Christopher "Beanie" Wells came out of high school as a highly ranked running back. Beanie's career at Ohio State did not disappoint.

As a freshman Beanie rushed for 576 yards (5.5 ypc) and seven touchdowns. His most memorable carry of that season was his 52 yard touchdown on a late Saturday in November.

In 2007 Beanie had the backfield all to himself and rushed for 1,609 yards (5.9 ypc) and 15 touchdowns. When playing That Team Beanie saved his best for last. Wells gained 222 yards rushing and two touchdowns against the Wolverines. That total is more than any other Ohio State running back in The Game.

2008 was Beanie's last season with Ohio State. Great expectations were placed on Wells going into the season, but a foot injury against Youngstown State placed him on the sidelines for three games. Beanie finished the season with 1,197 yards (5.8 ypc) and 8 touchdowns.

Again Beanie created nightmares for That Team. He rushed for 134 yards (including a 59 yard touchdown) on 15 carries as the Buckeyes won 42-7. 

Radio Career
After his NFL playing days, Wells hit the Columbus airwaves on 97.1 The Fan. He started his stint on The Buckeye Show that ran weekdays between 6-8 p.m. In the spring of 2016, Wells and Tim Hall were moved to 10 a.m. to noon.

However, in the spring of 2018, Wells revealed that he believes his football career caused brain trauma and that he would need to take a break from his radio career. Today, Beau Bishop and James Laurinaitis are filling the time slot that Wells previously had.

Beanie the Wolverine Slayer:

Wells rushed for 412 yards (7.0 ypc) and four touchdowns in the three games he played against That Team.

No. 28 In The NFL Draft
NAME YEAR ROUND PICK POSITION TEAM
BILL HACKETT* 1945 13 131 OG PACKERS
HARRY HOWARD 1972 9 225 DB RAMS
DOUG PLANK 1975 12 291 DB BEARS
ROBERT MURPHY 1981 10 274 DB FALCONS
JONATHAN WELSS 2002 4 99 TB TEXANS
BEANIE WELLS 2009 1 31 RB CARDINALS

*Wore No. 96 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 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30
29 28                

111 days until The Game.

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

View 18 Comments