Ohio State football: Bentley tutoring linemen
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Friday March 9, 2012
When Michael Brewster sought to improve his stock for the upcoming NFL draft, he turned to LeCharles Bentley, like Brewster a former All-America center at Ohio State.
Bentley?s credentials include winning the 2001 Rimington Trophy as the nation?s top center and a four-year NFL career that included two Pro Bowl appearances before it was derailed by injury. Since leaving the NFL, Bentley has operated the O-Line Academy in the Cleveland suburb of Avon, where for the past several winters, he has invited a select group of no more than five aspiring pro linemen to train.
?He?s really made me realize how high my ceiling is, that I have so much potential I haven?t come close to reaching,? said Brewster, who will be among the dozen or so Buckeyes players participating in pro-day workouts for NFL scouts today at OSU.
?It seems like he gives me a little bit of new knowledge every day ? not just about playing the position, but about getting my body ready for playing, from training to my diet, and about life and the challenges I?ll face off the field.?
To Bentley, that synopsis is proof that Brewster is absorbing the full curriculum of his holistic approach.
?I?m interested in both the physiological and the psychological aspects,? Bentley said. ?The guys I work with, I pick them, and they end up becoming like family to me. I develop relationships that go well beyond the on-the-field things.?
He can regale them with personal tales of the highs, lows and, finally, the cleaver of the sport.
?Obviously, my career ended in a fashion that didn?t sit too well with me,? said Bentley, 32.
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