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C Nick Mangold (All American, B1G Champion, National Champion, 7x Pro-bowler)

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TED ALERT

MANGOLD TO FACE WEIGHTY DILEMMA


By BRIAN COSTELLO


GOODLUCK, ROOK: Jets rookie center Nick Mangold (6-foot-3, 300 pounds) received advice on how to battle Browns behemoth Ted Washington: "Try not to be on the bottom of the pile."



October 27, 2006 -- Against the Browns this Sunday, Jets center Nick Mangold will face the biggest challenge - literally - of his rookie season.
Staring at him across the ball will be Ted Washington, the behemoth nose tackle who is listed at 6-foot-5, 365 pounds, but who is probably closer to 400 pounds.
"(It's) another huge challenge," Mangold said yesterday. "You guys have seen him. He's a dominating guy in the middle there. It's going to be a long 60 minutes."
The 6-foot-3, 300-pound Mangold said he'll turn to some teammates, who have faced Washington before, for advice.
Here's a sampling of that advice in the locker room yesterday:
"Try not to be on the bottom of the pile," guard Pete Kendall said.
"Eat your Wheaties," said linebacker Matt Chatham, who played with Washington in New England in 2003.
Mangold will not be facing Washington alone. Jets coach Eric Mangini promised they would give the big man different looks, but the brunt of it will fall on Mangold.
The match-up is a key one in Sunday's game. The Jets' run game showed signs of life against Detroit last week, gaining 221 yards. In order to duplicate that success, the Jets will have to control the middle of the Browns' defense, starting with Washington.
"The big thing I keep hearing is how strong he is," Mangold said. "Looking at him, you can believe it, but I think it's one of those things that it's really going to hit home when we're out there."
This will be Mangold's eighth NFL game, and Washington's 222nd, so the experience edge is a huge one. Even veterans have struggled with Washington, though. When Kevin Mawae was with the Jets, Washington was one of the opponents he hated the most.
Washington even accused Mawae of breaking his leg at the bottom of a pile in 2003.
"The fact that he's been able to play that many years at that size," Kendall said, "you would hope as an offensive lineman that things would average out in the end - if you're going to be that big, you're not going to play that long. No such luck for us."
The Jets took Mangold, out of Ohio State, in the first round (29th pick overall) of April's draft, making him the first center taken in the draft. He was expected to battle Trey Teague in training camp for the starting spot, but Teague broke his left ankle in June, forcing Mangold into the starting role.
So far, so good, his coach said.
"There are things, like with every rookie, that he's getting used to and looks that he's seeing," Mangini said, "but he's doing a really good job coming up, identifying fronts, understanding what those fronts mean, understanding how the whole offensive line fits based on that front. He played a lot of football in college.
"He's been a starter for a long time, and he's really done a good job with that role here."
Mangold said he's always been the "little fat kid stuck on the line," and he is OK with his other more celebrated teammates getting all the glory.
"(On the line) you're not in the game for any reason other than the love of the game," he said. "For me, I feel satisfied when the skill guys make big plays and they do everything and you see their names up in the stats.
"That's when I know, as an offensive line, we did our job."
 
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Jets' center faces big test

By ANDREW GROSS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: October 27, 2006)

HEMPSTEAD ? Nick Mangold can look all he wants at the Browns' roster, which lists nose tackle Ted Washington at 6-foot-5 and 365 pounds. The estimate in the Jets' locker room yesterday was that the 16-year pro is at least 400 pounds.
But until Mangold lines up against the four-time Pro Bowler Sunday at Cleveland, the 6-4, 300-pound rookie center won't really know what he's up against. He does know he's never faced anybody as massive, either in the NFL or while at Ohio State.
"You guys have seen him, he's a dominating guy in the middle there, it's going to be a long 60 minutes," Mangold said. "The big thing that I keep hearing is how strong he is. Looking at him, you can believe it. It's one of those things that will really hit home when we're out there."
Jets veteran left guard Pete Kendall had some succinct advice for Mangold: "Try not to be on the bottom of the pile."
Though the 38-year-old Washington has 34 1/2 career sacks, he has not had one since 2004, when he was with the Raiders. He has 24 tackles this season, including one for a loss, and he's still a prototypical run stuffer.
"You would hope, as an offensive lineman, things would average out in the end," Kendall said. "If you're going to be that big, you can't play that long. But no such luck for us."
But this is the lot Mangold has accepted since his youth football days. He's always been a lineman.
"The little, fat kid that was stuck on the line," said Mangold, picked 29th overall in this year's NFL draft. "You're not in the game for any reason other than love of the game."
Which means the best way to get noticed is not to be noticed.
And other than mistakenly blocking downfield and having his 5-yard, illegal-receiver penalty nullify a 13-yard shovel pass from Chad Pennington to rookie running back Leon Washington in a 28-20 win at Buffalo on Sept. 24, Mangold has not committed any infractions.
"I think you want that with any rookie," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "When you're not hearing their name called very often, that usually means good things, and Nick's name isn't called that often."
But Mangold is in charge of calling the signals for the offensive line.
"Probably the highest compliment that anybody could give him is he's come in and, to me, he's played like he's been here before," Kendall said. "I was prepared, if the game got a little too big or too fast for him at times, to try to help out if I could. But it hasn't come up. I have some input on the sidelines. I talk with him, ask him what he sees, what he wants to do. But this is Nick's line. This is his show, and he's running it well."
Recruiting failure: Jets tight end Chris Baker, 26, first met Browns counterpart Kellen Winslow, 23, in January 2000, when the latter came to Michigan State on a recruiting visit. Baker hosted the scholastic star, hoping to convince him to join the Spartans. Winslow, of course, wound up going to Miami.
"He's from San Diego, so it's kind of hard to compete with Miami in January and Michigan in January," Baker said. "His dad wanted him to come to Michigan State, obviously he made a wise choice going to Miami. He played in a lot of big games and made a name for himself. I hosted him for a weekend. We had a good time. He's a cool guy."
Winslow, who missed all of last season following a motorcycle crash and all but two games his rookie season after injuring his right fibula, is leading all NFL tight ends with 33 receptions.
"He's obviously a special player," said Baker, adding he's also familiar with Kellen Winslow Sr.'s storied career, though he wasn't old enough to see him play for the Chargers. "I'm happy for him to be able to bounce back from the two things. It's a tough way to start a career, but he's making up for it."
Injury report: Defensive end Shaun Ellis (back) and right tackle Anthony Clement (back) were added to the Jets' injury report as probable, though both practiced yesterday. The Browns added fullback Lawrence Vickers (elbow) as questionable and he did not practice.
Mangini reported some progress with cornerback David Barrett (hip) and running back Cedric Houston (knee) but neither is likely to be active.
 
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MANGOLD IN THE MIDDLE
Rookie center has proven to be a force as well as a leader while playing a demanding position
BY TOM ROCK
Newsday Staff Writer

November 19, 2006

Of all the things an NFL center must keep track of, sometimes the most obvious is overlooked. After checking for the defensive scheme, organizing and communicating the blocking plan, then taking one last peek to adjust to blitzes, Jets rookie Nick Mangold lives by one rule.

"Always know the snap count," he said, "because they know when you don't."

There are few things more embarrassing than standing in front of 80,000 or so fans with the football still in your hands after the other 21 players on the field have jolted into action. There's no chance to point across the line and blame a twitch by a defender, nor is there a reason to look up at the scoreboard to see if the refs got the call right. The evidence is humiliating and overwhelming.

It's a lonely feeling Mangold has not experienced this season. The Jets center has found another way to stand out - by quickly developing into a leader despite being the youngest member of a young offensive line. The Grizzly Adams beard he's been ignoring since training camp hides the baby face of a 22-year-old, born a month after fellow rookie and fast friend D'Brickashaw Ferguson at left tackle and more than a decade after 11-year veteran Pete Kendall at left guard.

Mangold's meteoric rise makes him one of the more surprising candidates for NFL Rookie of the Year, topped in improbability only by the Saints' Marques Colston, a Hofstra product drafted in the seventh round who leads the league in receiving yards. In a draft class that featured a pair of Heisman Trophy winners and a can't-miss offensive tackle who the Jets picked 25 spots ahead of Mangold, the Centerville, Ohio, product quickly is becoming not only one of the top rookies but a top player at his position.

And he wasn't even supposed to play much this year. In fact, he wasn't even supposed to be a Jets pick. They added that 29th selection when they traded defensive end John Abraham to the Falcons in March. That pick originally belonged to the Broncos, so the Jets got Mangold third-hand.

"It's crazy," Mangold said of his path. "Mind-blowing."

The Jets already had a Pro Bowl center in Kevin Mawae when the 2005 season ended. But in March, a month before the draft, he was cuts and wound up signing with the Titans. The Jets signed veteran Trey Teague to take his place and, after taking Mangold, probably figured Teague would be able to groom their future snapper.

But Teague broke his ankle during offseason training - he broke it again earlier this month and has been placed on IR - and it became clear by the end of the Jets' minicamp in July that Mangold would be thrown into the center of the action. Kendall, who played center in 2005 when Mawae was injured, began working with Mangold on recognizing the complicated NFL defenses and blitzes to which a center must adjust. Others on the offensive line chipped in as well, helping add their experiences and knowledge to the process.

It takes a village. And now that village has a new mayor.

"He always looks good, always manages to make good decisions," right tackle Anthony Clement said of Mangold. "The center does have to control and command the line, and he pretty much does that now. He had the help of Pete in the beginning, but Nick's doing a real good job now. Pete sees that and he's just letting him do his thing."

Although just more than halfway through his rookie season, Clement said Mangold has the makings of a future team captain. "He pretty much acts like that now," the nine-year veteran said.

Mangold's sense of humor may be more agile than his 6-4, 300-pound frame. After a crazy lateral-filled game-ending play against the Colts this season, he was asked when was the last time he had touched the ball: "Every play," he snapped. Asked when he started to feel comfortable with his role as shepherd of the line, he replied "Probably March 2007." During a training camp talent show, when Ferguson developed stage fright in the middle of a joke, Mangold pounced to his buddy's aid and delivered his own punchline.

The Jets are more interested in the O-line than in one-liners, and Mangold is a crowd-pleaser in that regard, too. He may not have the reputation of Mawae, but he is making a name for himself in the tiny circles that discuss interior line play.

In the last two games, Mangold has battled two of the most experienced, dominating nose tackles in the NFL. Against the Browns he held Ted Washington to one tackle, then last week he battled Vince Wilfork of the Patriots and held him to three tackles. That most recent performance, which included a brief sideline pitstop after being poked in his right eye, drew praise from Jets coach Eric Mangini.

"We always talk about the characteristics of the players and we talk about toughness," Mangini said. "He got poked pretty well there and missed two plays and really would have liked to have just missed one play, but he did a nice job. Vince [Wilfork] is a really good nose tackle, and to have him over you the whole day and to meet that challenge, that is a solid effort."

He won't have a nose tackle hovering over him this week because the Bears play a 4-3 defense, but he will be staring out at middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. He'll also be in charge of calling schemes against the top defensive unit in the league.

"He constantly has to make good decisions and do some things in the front in terms of communication, getting everybody lined up," Mangini said. "I really am happy with the progress he continues to make."

Mangold said he has no special talents that have allowed him to become a center. In seventh grade he was put at the position by a coach, and he never left. He was a three-year starter there in high school, a three-year starter for Ohio State, and now a three-month starter for the Jets. And he's still learning.

"Being in my position, I never feel like I know enough and I never feel comfortable where I'm at, which keeps me working," Mangold said. "Pete, A.C. Brandon [Moore] and Trey have done a great job of making me feel comfortable out there, but it still feels kind of weird. This is the NFL and here I am being able to have a part in it."

All while trying to remember the snap count.
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http://www.newsday.com/sports/footb...81379nov19,0,7673615.story?coll=ny-jets-print
 
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Fans know Mangold, or is that Shockey?
By Mark Gokavi

Staff Writer

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Q What's your favorite high school football memory?

A Going to the playoffs my senior year. Nothing in particular, just the fact that we were able to get back on the winning track. Beating C-J and Fairmont were two huge ones.

Q Going into this weekend, which of your former teams was having a better year, Alter (12-0) or Ohio State (11-0)?

A Right now, they're about tied. We'll let Ohio State finish up their season and see how they do.


Q What's taken some getting used to about pro football?

A The time commitment that you have to put in because you don't have classes anymore, so it's just all football all the time.


Q How much time do you spend with (ex-pee wee and ex-OSU teammate Mike Nugent)?

A We live in the same building, so we always see each other and hang out, too.


Q How is the every-down pressure different than Nugent's, since everybody knows whether he did his job or not?

A That's definitely tough on him, but he does a great job of preparing himself. It's kind of neat to see the differences.


Q Do you get recognized?

A A little bit here and there, but sometimes as (Giants tight end) Jeremy Shockey, which I take as a compliment.


Q How is living in New York?

A It's about a 180 turn from Ohio. It's exciting, neat to have the experience. It's been a blast so far.


Q What do you think you'd be doing if you weren't in football?

A I have no idea. So it's a good thing football is working out at the moment.


Q Who is more famous, you or your sister Holley (recently in the New York Times)?

A I have no idea. That'd be a good poll question for you.


Q How closely do you follow the Alter Knights football team?

A I get updates from my parents, but with the coinciding seasons it's tough to really pay attention with everything I've got to do.

I was able to go back and watch them practice (during the Jets bye week).


Contact this reporter

at (937) 225-6951 or mgokavi@

DaytonDailyNews.com.



Nick Mangold

Position: Center

Size: 6-4, 300 pounds

Age: 22

Experience: Rookie

NFL team: Jets

College: Ohio State

High school: Alter

Extra point: One of Mangold's newest teammates is Na'Shan Goddard, a rookie lineman from Dunbar recently released by the New York Giants.
Click to expand...

http://www.daytondailynews.com/s/co...llege/osu/2006/11/19/ddn111906nflmangold.html
 
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http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=2672149

Holley Mangold fights perceptions to succeed
By Greg Garber
ESPN.com

KETTERING, Ohio -- Rain tumbles from the slate sky and the breath of the players, sporadic wisps of vapor, drifts from behind their face masks. The mud has turned their yellow football jerseys into a canvas dominated by Jackson Pollock splashes of sepia.

Led by a dozen coaches, more than 100 boys from Archbishop Alter High School -- the freshman and junior varsity seasons are over, but the underclassmen are practicing with the big boys -- unconsciously roll through the drills they've been doing for three months. There is an unmistakable rhythm here, an unbreakable tradition that goes back to the days of Paul Brown, Jack Lambert, Larry Csonka, Alan Page, Roger Staubach and Paul Warfield -- all born in Ohio and all enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the other end of the state in Canton.

But awash in this sea of testosterone, something in the chemistry isn't quite right. There, in the cluster of players standing on the edge of the scout offense, isn't that a blonde ponytail hanging from behind the helmet of No. 79?

Yes.

The helmet in question belongs to a 17-year-old girl with a friendly smile and light-blue nail polish, of all things. Her name is Holley Mangold, and she is making history. Never before has a girl played a down from scrimmage at this level of Ohio high school football.

"I've always been a big kid," Holley said. "You couldn't really tell with my helmet if I was a guy or a girl. I would always have my mother braid my hair so it could stay under the helmet. It wouldn't come out.

"And I never ? I didn't want to just be that girl that was there for show."

Alter Archbishop High School (14-0) defeated New Albany, 31-7, to advance to the Ohio Division III Championship game Saturday at 3 p.m. against Steubenville. Holley played two or three series in the fourth quarter. This will be Alter's first trip to the championship game, meaning Holley has a chance to do something her brother Nick never did win an Ohio state championship.

Every other time Alter scores a touchdown, Holley -- who stands at 5-foot-9 and weighs 310 pounds -- runs onto the field for the point-after attempt with the rest of the second line. She is a guard and, if form follows, she will play a few series when Saturday's game is no longer a contest.

If you are more than a casual fan of football, you may recognize the name. Nick Mangold was a legend at Alter High and starred up the road at Columbus for Ohio State. He is a rookie starter for the New York Jets, and scouts will tell you that he might be the best center to come into the NFL in 15 years.

Nick never played for a state title -- Alter was just starting to find some traction when he played there -- but five years later, his little sister just might. Nick has been supportive of Holley, but has said that if she were his teammate, he might lean the other way.

"It's been so ingrained that this is just normal," Nick said. "But if you step away for a second, it's definitely a different and weird situation."

Level Playing Field

Everything, of course, begins with Nick. Without Nick, the family agrees, there would almost certainly be no Holley on a football field.

"We all don't look at Holley as 'Oh, we have a girl on the team.' She's a player on the team."
Matt McKean, senior tackle for Alter High

"It's probably real true that she saw how much fun I had, and wanted to see if it was as fun for her as it was for me," Nick said.

Funny thing is, Nick almost didn't get to play. Nick's mom, Therese, who was a swimmer in high school, didn't think it was such a great idea. Vern, his dad, convinced her that it would be all right. The whole family -- including Holley and her older sister Kelley -- watched almost every game Nick played. But when Holley announced in 1997 that she wanted to play in second grade, she ran straight into a double standard: Vern.

"I kind of told my parents that summer I wanted to do it, and my dad flipped," Holley remembered. "He did not want me to do it whatsoever."

Said Therese, "He and I had numerous discussions about her playing football and he kept saying, 'But girls just don't play football.' I said, 'Well maybe they don't, but this one can.'"

Growing up, Holley was never afraid of contact; she would fly off the couch and hit the floor with a total absence of fear. Vern said he was more afraid that kids would make fun of his daughter. So a compromise was reached: Holley could play as long as Vern was head coach. For five seasons, second grade through sixth, that's how it worked.

"I think many coaches -- myself included -- have a natural, reflex reaction where we kind of overdo it on our own child, so there's no thought that they're getting unfair treatment," Vern said.

"I was probably as tough on her as I've ever been on my son playing for me."

When Holley wasn't paying attention -- a common occurrence in second and third grade -- or was just walking through a drill, Vern made her do extra bear crawls and run extra laps. Holley didn't seem to mind. She would run up the front steps of her Centerville ranch home and proudly show her mother her bruises. The Mangolds would write notes to her teachers telling them that Holley's bruises came from football.

Somehow, after five years, it all seemed completely normal. The boys (and their families) who had originally made a fuss came to accept her. Nick, meanwhile, became one of the best players in the school's history and got a scholarship to Ohio State. In Holley's mind, anyway, there was no question she was going to play football in high school.

Coach Ed Domsitz, an old-school guy, wasn't so sure.

"The first time we had a serious conversation was at Nick's graduation party, and I tried to encourage her to pursue a career in cheerleading," Domsitz said, laughing.

Said Holley, "I would always joke with him, 'No one wants to see me in a cheerleading skirt, so don't even try it.' He definitely didn't think I was serious until seventh or eighth grade when he realized, 'She's actually going to come here and play football.'"

A Delicate Balance

The subject of weight and high school girls is a delicate and potentially combustible combination. With Holley, not so much. Clearly, her family history, her DNA and her personality make her a perfect candidate for handling the physical rigors of football -- and the emotional fallout that can come from being a woman in a man's game.

An unabashedly big woman.

"If I was a big girl and did nothing, I probably would hate myself," Holley said. "It would be horrible to go through high school and be a fat girl and not do any sports. I couldn't imagine that.

"If you looked at me just walking down the street you would think, 'Wow, she is probably out of breath just walking down to McDonald's where she is probably going to go to eat.' But I love proving that I do have muscle, and I love to use it."

Are there people who can't see past her size?

"There are some people," Holley said, "and I just really feel sorry for you, because I really could care less."

But still ?

"I think occasionally if you get her on moments, she will think about it," Therese said. "But it doesn't consume her."

There are critics who wonder, in the public forums of online message boards, what she's doing. Sometimes, Holley can't help herself. Sometimes, she reads the cruel comments written about her.

"Kind of like a circus show or a side act," Nick said, "You know, go see the three-legged man or something like that, it's just something that's an oddity that won't last. I think that's one of the big things she has to fight...is she's playing football and she's not some kind of act out there."

Holley started as a guard on Alter's undefeated freshman team and even played fullback and scored a touchdown. Her sophomore season, spent largely on the sideline, was a struggle.

"There were a lot of times I thought, 'Why am I doing this? I am short, I am slow. I don't think I have a career after high school,'" Holley said.

"I thought it was hopeless."

Every time she was on the verge of quitting, it was her father, the first skeptic, who kept her in the game.

"I kept reminding her of what Nick was like junior and senior year," Vern said, "and the thrill you get Friday night, under the lights, playing in front of a big crowd and how much fun that is."

This season, Holley made Alter's varsity team and, on Aug. 25, she made history. She became the first female non-kicker to play in an Ohio Division III High School football game. She entered the game against Fairmont in the fourth quarter for a point-after attempt.

Vern Mangold, talking about Holley's first play from scrimmage in a varsity game

"It was definitely one of the high points of my football career," she said. "It was amazing just like anyone going on Friday nights under the lights.

"It's something that happens once in a lifetime and it's great."

Later, in Holley's first play from scrimmage, her team ran a 31-dive play. The old coach still has the play frozen in his mind's eye.

"She's blocking down on the lineman, then peeling off the linebacker," Vern said. "And she had a two-bagger. She got the lineman and put a chip on the linebacker. I had a tear in my eye. I did."

Semi-Tough Love

Two weeks later, after attending Nick's Jets game against the Titans, Holley bragged to her brother that she had played in her first varsity game. Granted, he was exhausted, but, curiously, there wasn't much of a reaction.

"'Uh, that's cool,' that is pretty much all he said," Holley said. "I have been doing it forever it seems like. So me getting in and playing is 'Well, that is nice. When you start, then you can come talk to me.' That kind of thing."

The father and the brother are football men, through and through. They understand the difficulties of the sport. When it comes to Holley, they have a history of -- ambivalence isn't the right word -- semi-tough love.

"She doesn't need another cheerleader in her ring," Nick said. "She needs another trainer, another coach, and I see myself in that role."

Said Therese, "There are only a few people in this world that motivate Holley, and Nick is one of them. And Nick does it quietly. Very quietly."

"Nick and I are very much the same in that regard," Vern acknowledged. "I don't give Holley a whole lot of praise myself. In fact, she'll probably tell you if she's candid that I'm her chief critic.

"That's the way we do business in our house."

Surprisingly, there have been few objections -- outside of the occasional taunt in the trenches -- from the football world.

"We all don't look at Holley as 'Oh, we have a girl on the team,'" senior tackle Matt McKean said. "She's a player on the team."

Said Paul Kolbe, another senior tackle, "She just wants to be one of the guys, and she really is. She's treated no differently.

"We treat her like one of the guys, and she wouldn't have it any other way."

As it turns out, football isn't even Holley's best sport.

She's an accomplished track and field athlete, and last winter, she set a national AAU women's record with a squat lift of 525 pounds. She's done 570 pounds in practice, and her coach thinks she could approach a 700-pound squat by the time she gets to college. Holley isn't likely to play football at the next level; she's hoping for a Division I scholarship to throw the discus or shot put. Ohio State, Nick's alma mater, is the goal.

But in some minds -- perhaps even Holley's -- all of that may never be enough.

"Unfortunately, she has a certain fear that she's going to be compared to Nick," Vern said, "and that comparison's not fair, obviously. But she has that fear. She has to walk in his shadow."

"He has got everything going for him," Holley said. "He seems like the golden boy or the perfect child because he went to Ohio State, he won and now he's in the pros. It's just things that are almost impossible to live up to, so it's kind of hard to follow in his footsteps."

Said Nick: "I didn't want her to say, 'If I don't do this, I'm not as successful as Nick was.' And that's something she doesn't need to be worried about. She needs to do her own thing and be successful in her own right."

"I know I'm never going to be as good as him," Holley said. "I know that I'll probably never do the same things he's done, but I don't want to.

"I want to make my own path."
Click to expand...
 
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The ESPN channels have been running a story on Holley Mangold this week. They interview her Mom and Dad (Vern), as well as Nick and Holley.

There are some pee-wee football highights where she just blows a couple of kids up. Good luck to her in Alter's state title game this week.
 
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Friendly affair for Jets
Buckeye buddies meet at Lambeau
BY RICH CIMINI
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
205-mangold_nick.JPG
[SIZE=-1]Nick Mangold [/SIZE]
547-nugent_kick.JPG
[SIZE=-1]Mike Nugent [/SIZE]
On Sunday, the most famous lawn in the NFL will be the scene of a most unusual reunion. Three boyhood friends from Centerville, Ohio - the Jets' Nick Mangold and Mike Nugent and the Packers' A.J. Hawk - will meet up at historic Lambeau Field. They've come a long way from the Centerville Activity Center, hard by State Route 48, where kids played football and dreamed of days like Sunday.
This get-together runs deep; it can't go any deeper.
Mangold, Nugent and Hawk grew up within five miles of each other. They all went to Ohio State, where Mangold and Hawk lived together for four years. They all became team captains. They all became the best in the nation at their respective positions.
Oh yes, their families are close, too, and they'll be making the nine-hour drive to Green Bay.
A slice of "Warm and Cheerful Centerville" - the town's slogan - will be visiting the frozen tundra. That Mangold and Hawk will be banging heads in the trenches adds another storyline to the occasion. Lombardi probably never saw anything like this.
"It's going to be fun," Hawk, a terrific rookie linebacker, said yesterday in a phone interview. "Nick is an unbelievable guy and a great player."
Mangold, the Jets' precocious rookie center, said: "We always went against each other in practice last year, but this will be interesting because it's on such an elevated level. We'll see how this plays out."
To the best of Mangold's recollection, he and Hawk played against each other as third graders. They went separate ways for high school, with Hawk joining Nugent at Centerville High and Mangold attending nearby Archbishop Alter, but they remained in touch and became close friends in college.
"I consider him right up there, tied for my No.1 best friend," said Mangold, who speaks with Hawk at least once a week. "Hopefully, he considers me the same. Living with each other for four years, you get a nice bond with somebody."
Naturally, the matchup has created a buzz in Centerville. When a small town (pop. 23,000) produces an NFL player, it's big news. When the town produces three players and they're all in the same game, it's time to roll up the sidewalks and head to the TVs.
"It's a great football town, a great place to live and grow up," Hawk said. "Everyone there understands what it takes to make it in the NFL. There's a lot of pride in that."
They should be proud. In 2005, Nugent was the first kicker chosen in the draft. In 2006, Hawk was the first linebacker picked (fifth overall), Mangold the first center (29th overall). They must have had great schoolyard games back in the day.
As for Sunday, "They'll be gunning for each other," said Jon Thomas, a Centerville product who lived with Mangold and Hawk in college and remains a close friend of both players.
Thomas, affectionately known as "the third roommate," provided his take on the anticipated meeting.
"It'll be different from an ordinary matchup because their personalities are so different," Thomas said by phone from Centerville, where he manages his family's restaurant. "A.J. is a quiet warrior. Nick is like a Teddy bear. Obviously, he's a Teddy bear who can get pretty angry, but Nick's a pretty easygoing guy. In between plays, I'm sure he'll be cracking some jokes to A.J."
In the spring, Mangold and Hawk will be in each other's wedding party. It's fair to assume the outcome of Sunday's game will be mentioned at the bachelor parties.
 
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With the Browns being as pathetic as they are, I've become a sort of de facto Jets fan since two of my favorite recent Buckeyes (Nick & Nuuuuge) are on the team. Schlegel too. When any announcer says a center is an offensive rookie of the year, that says something.
 
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Slate

"A Center Shall Lead Them"

Robert Weintraub applies Slate's typical contrarian perspective to discuss the importance of the center ("2nd most important offensive player") in the upcoming NFL playoffs.

On Mangold:
"The Jets' surprise run to the playoffs has been aided by rookie center Nick Mangold, a late first-rounder who has outplayed the team's hyped first selection, tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Mangold is one of the few centers talented enough to decipher New England's complicated defensive fronts, while simultaneously handling superb defensive tackles Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork. New York is outmanned at most positions, but if Mangold outplays Koppen, then the Jets have a fighting chance."
 
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