Ohio State football notebook: Bradley Roby must earn starting spot, Meyer says
By Tim May
The Columbus Dispatch Tuesday September 3, 2013
Eric Albrecht | DISPATCH
Cornerback Bradley Roby contemplated leaving for the NFL after the 2012 season but returned.
Bradley Roby is back, but despite being an all-Big Ten cornerback who was on many preseason All-America teams this year, his starting spot is not assured, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said.
“He is competing for a spot,” Meyer said yesterday. “He will not (just) be named starter.”
Roby must prove himself worthy again after serving his punishment for an altercation in a bar in Bloomington, Ind., in July. Meyer pointed out that the charges finally were conditionally dismissed after video of the incident showed that Roby did little, if anything, wrong.
“But I think he learned a really strong lesson, and he has done everything we’ve asked him to do,” Meyer said. “And I’m anxious to get him back on the field.”
cont...
Ohio State's Bradley Roby may be the best athlete in college football. (USATSI)
http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...h-numbers-the-violation-of-team-rules-edition
Roby, who faced a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge that was eventually dropped, enters the Buckeyes' game against San Diego State as one of the country's best athletes. Want proof? Here are his most recent measurements at Ohio State, courtesy of OSU assistant athletic director of football sports performance Mickey Marotti.
4.38 seconds: Roby's time in the 40-yard dash
6.69: Roby's three-cone drill
3.69: Roby's pro shuttle
10-feet-8: Roby's broad jump
As Marotti points out, that broad jump might be the most impressive of the bunch outside of his straight-line speed. A 10-foot-8 broad jump would have placed Roby tied for 13th among all players at last year's NFL combine, according to NFL.com stats.
"Knocked a lot of balls down last year with his explosiveness when he got in position," Marotti said of Roby's play last year.
Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby: 'I made the program look bad and I had to pay the consequences for that' (Video)
By Ari Wasserman, Northeast Ohio Media Group
September 07, 2013
I made the program look bad and I had to pay the consequences for that.
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State’s coaching staff decided to start Armani Reeves alongside Doran Grant at cornerback in the No. 3 Buckeyes’ 42-7 win over San Diego State in Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Two plays later, preseason All-American Bradley Roby came into the game.
In that moment, Roby’s punishment was over. A legal situation that loomed since late July, working with the second-team defense in practice and serving a one-game suspension – all of it, now in the past.
Though Roby said it was tough missing Ohio State’s first game, the junior cornerback sympathized with the position in which he put head coach Urban Meyer.
“I understood,” Roby said of his punishment. “I made the program look bad and I had to pay the consequences for that. Of course I hated not playing, but it was something I understood had to be done.”
Cover story | Bradley Roby
There is a '1' in 'Team'
Misgivings about passing up the NFL draft? Perhaps. Regrets over an offseason incident at a bar? Definitely. But Bradley Roby chose to return, and his OSU teammates are reaping the benefits
By Bill Rabinowitz
The Columbus DispatchFriday September 13, 2013
- Football lends itself heavily to the second guess. As Bradley Roby will attest, decisions made on the fly sometimes work out and sometimes don’t, but it’s always the next play that matters most.
Funny how it’s often the same when it comes to life off the field.
In early January, a month after being named an all-Big Ten cornerback, Roby eschewed the lure of the NFL and opted to return for his junior season at Ohio State. Having redshirted as a freshman, he was headed into his fourth collegiate year and was eligible to apply for the NFL draft.
“I didn’t want to leave my teammates,” Roby said at the time. “I think we can have something special this year, and I want to be a part of it. This is the year as a player when you’re expected to be a leader, and I’m looking forward to that.”
But as the draft approached, Roby “went through a little buyer’s remorse,” as OSU coach Urban Meyer put it.
“I think that happens with everybody who decides to come back when they have a lot of hype to go to the draft,” Roby said. “You’re kind of used to people treating you a certain way (in terms of pats on the back and whispers in the ear) and then all of a sudden you’re right back in college, right back into getting yelled at and all that stuff, and it’s, ‘Wow, I could be getting paid right now doing this.’
“Of course, that (second-guessing) happens, but you’ve just got to realize it’s not about you, it’s about your teammates. Your teammates are the reason why you got that attention. I had to realize that and not be selfish. cont...
