• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

An unlikely dream ( Ohio State football based )

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes

DrewBuckeye89

Rookie
Before I say anything about what I've been considering, I'd like to clear a few things up.

1.) I fully expect to be laughed at when telling people this, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't on here, because its more for information purposes.

2.) I realise how very unlikely this is ( the title should give that away. ) but I think its necessary for me to pursue if only to learn more about myself.

Now: " The Dream ".

Every boy in Ohio who's raised off of our great football program, which is loaded with tradition and a great history, dreams of one day being one of the guys to suit up in uniform and run out onto the field. Many are not talented enough physically, or grow more attached to other dreams or facets of their life that they wish to pursue. They " grow out of it " in other words. This is my dream, but let me go into more detail.

I'm not your standard Rudy-esque " me against the world " individual. I consider myself very physically talented in the game of football, have the measurables of an athlete of this calibur ( 6'1", light frame which needs more bulk, I'll get into that later. ). What I lack are two things in my opinion: Self-confidence, and first hand experience.

I struggled throughout most of my scholastic career, which limited my opportunities to play high school football and later led to me dropping out of school. Now you're probably thinking: " Ugh, some 30 year old guy who can't grow up who's out of shape and touch with reality ". This isn't so, I'm only 17 and about to take my GED in order to begin taking classes at Columbus State. ( The credits transfer easily and Ohio State is very prone to accepting transfers from there aswell. )

I haven't been timed recently in the 40, but I have exceptional running speed and an ideal athletic body for a skill position: Good arm strength/accuracy, quick feet and agility, etc.

Lets skip through all that for a moment as I can fill in the details as more questions arise and get to the root of my problem: Lack of on-hands experience in organized football due to previous poor grades. This part breaks my heart every time I slip off into a daydream, because lets say I am physically qualified: What skills or tools to I bring to the table from past experience? Ohio State is a Top 10 football program with more expectations and overall talent than I can probably comprehend, so what would set me apart, if anything?

The thing is though, I don't know if I can live my life wondering " What if? ". I want to at least find some way, some how to at least take a stab at it, which is why I'm here. I know Ohio State probably has a scout team which allows some form of tryouts, would that be the place to start? Is that availible to your average run of the mill student? I know I can get there and attend the school, hell, thats my goal more than playing football to be honest, but what I'm really asking is if there will be any opportunities for me to at least -try- and pursue this?

Thank you in advance for all of your help and I really hope the responses are kind ones that understand my position. My reasonings for doing poor in school previously are a very long story, but I will say that the reason it was happening has been dealt with.
 
Cornerback6;739316; said:
I have a cousin who's going to try and walk-on next year. Hey, people do it all the time.
Click to expand...

Do you know if there's any particular way to condition myself for this? Like for instance improving my overall sprinting speed, etc. Any personal pointers or references that I could use for preparation would do wonders. Thank you both for the above posts too, I really appreciate it.
 
Upvote 0
BUCKYLE;739318; said:
For someone that believes they have the "physical tools" to play D1-A College football, I find it hard to believe that self confidence is lacking.
Click to expand...

I have a belief in my abilities, I just don't feel as though I have the confidence or knowledge to utilize them. I realise that this is a very big platform and only a select group of people are capable of competing at this level, and to be honest thats what kind of scares me.
 
Upvote 0
Bob Saccamano;739332; said:
Take these helpful comments and run with them because once Tibor or Thump log on tomorrow they will single handedly shatter your dreams.

Good luck.
Click to expand...

Not the optimistic type I take it? Heh, thats fine, at this point I figure the only person I need to rely on is myself. I'm just hoping to get some helpful imput and ideas on how to even get the chance to try. Like I said, its not necessarily about making it there, if I'm not good enough then I'm not good enough, but the least I can do is try.
 
Upvote 0
DrewBuckeye89;739324; said:
... and to be honest thats what kind of scares me.
Click to expand...
then spin your fear into a fearless desire to succeed and improve. foremost, don't listen to those who say you can't. you're bound to hear the naysayers every step along the way. while the chances are great that a student who attempts to become a walk-on will not become a walk-on, not trying is the surest way not to become a walk-on.

as far as the particulars for training and preparation, your best bet is to google and read. walk-ons are generally selected as athletes first. develop your speed, endurance, and strength... obviously. read workout materials that address your fast-twitch muscles. read materials that specifically address speed and its development.

if you give it your best and end up not becoming a walk-on, take pride in the fact that your attempt and the effort you put behind it are more important than achieving the goal. best of luck.

by the way, if and when you do come across the idiots on this board who will make fun of you, know that they are also the ones who never achieved much athletic success.
 
Upvote 0
OSU_Buckguy;739335; said:
then spin your fear into a fearless desire to succeed and improve. foremost, don't listen to those who say you can't. you're bound to hear the naysayers every step along the way. while the chances are great that a student who attempts to become a walk-on will not become a walk-on, not trying is the surest way not to become a walk-on.

as far as the particulars for training and preparation, your best bet is to google and read. walk-ons are generally selected as athletes first. develop your speed, endurance, and strength... obviously. read workout materials that address your fast-twitch muscles. read materials that specifically address speed and its development.

if you give it your best and end up not becoming a walk-on, take pride in the fact that your attempt and the effort you put behind it are more important than achieving the goal. best of luck.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was looking for and the point I was trying to get across: This is more about me proving something to myself than anything, life is one big competition and its about time I started trying to run with the best of them. Maybe I'm good enough, maybe I'm not, but I won't know unless I saddle up and at least give it everything I got and try.
 
Upvote 0
DrewBuckeye89;739321; said:
Do you know if there's any particular way to condition myself for this? Like for instance improving my overall sprinting speed, etc. Any personal pointers or references that I could use for preparation would do wonders. Thank you both for the above posts too, I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...

2 words. PERSONAL TRAINER. If you want to take on a challenge like this, you're going to need top notch advice in every aspect of physical fitness. Speed, muscle mass, agility...you have plenty of work ahead of you. These guys you're wanting to play with have a massive hear start...which I'm sure you know. Regardless, it would take me 3-4 pages of typing just to try to give you an introduction as to what you need to do to prepare for a goal of this magnitude. I trained high school athletes...so my advice is fairly legit. :biggrin:
 
Upvote 0
If tryouts are in the spring, how do you plan to take part in them if you havn't already been admited to OSU? The application deadline for the spring quarter has to have passed a long time ago. Good luck with this though, to use the cliche, "Follow your dream."
 
Upvote 0
crazybuckfan40;739319; said:
First you have to get into school and then there are walk-on tryouts...
Click to expand...
No program wants to take marginal students....who might turn out to be ineligible...so put MOST of your focus this spring/summer on showing that you can and will do the academics at Columbus State. Buckeye football, particularly for "skill" positions, is very demanding on both physical and mental sides. Tress pulls or does not offer scholarships every year to guys who can't cut the academic side of being a student-athlete. Get at least 2 good (meaning better than C-) quarters of college level grades behind you, then apply to transfer. Also, don't believe that OSU let's every warm body transfer in. Those days are gone; transfers are getting tougher every year so you have to show some academic ability!

On the physcial side, try talking to the trainer/coach of your old high school team. They will probably be glad to offer you some training ideas, they're free and they already know you. Good Luck.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top