Our Honor Defend

I think we all knew this was coming, in spite of previous reports on Beanie planning on being at Ohio State for all 4 years of eligibility and Beanie remaining noncommittal about the prospects that he will go pro leading up to the Fiesta Bowl.   Nonetheless, Beanie has apparently done his cost-benefit calculus on whether or not to remain in college and has decided that he’s ready to make his money in the NFL.

I would’ve loved to have him back for his senior season for my own selfish reasons.  I’d love to watch him become Ohio State’s second all-time leading rusher, something he was capable of doing if he had remained healthy and had come back for his senior season.  I can only imagine that the big family he has behind him and prospects of falling draft status in light of future injuries encouraged him to get his money now.

I can’t say I blame him, either, only that I feel bittersweet that the career of a young man with visions of Heisman dancing in his head as he enrolled at Ohio State has become tempered by so much negativity.  Chief among them is his junior season injury spell. He was able to play through most of them while a sophomore, but was sidelined for a couple games this season (most notably against USC) and concussed in his final college outing.  The negativity doesn’t stop there, sadly. For his 3 memorable performances against Michigan come 3 bowl game soul-crushers, the first of which featured him being stopped and 4th and short, the second of which featured some justice in spite of a defensive collapse and the last of which featured a nice first half performance before his concussion.  For his leading role in 3 Big Ten titles comes the failure of the offensive line in his final season, costing Ohio State dearly against Penn State.  For his shining star and status as, I would argue, the best tailback in college football comes the falling star of Ohio State’s national pre-eminence.

If you take the good and take the bad, put them together and what do you have? One of the all-time Ohio State greats who I’ve had the pleasure of watching for the past 3 years, and a performer of whom I’ll regale to my grandchildren someday.  I hope he gets his fat paycheck that he’s worked for.  Surely his “fragility” will come up in conversations about career longevity, but I can only hope that his injuries are mostly an artifact of what looks like an unevenly built frame compounded by the fact that he’s still growing into his body while playing football at such a high level.  This latter factor appears to be the case for former Sooners’ tailback Adrian Peterson, injury-plagued through college but a mainstay so far for the Minnesota Vikings.

Godspeed, Beanie.  Thanks for the memories.