DB Ted "Tree" Provost (All-American, National Champion)

[HineyBuck]

Tree to enter tOSU Hall of Fame

http://www.the-ozone.net/misc/halloffame.htm

Heisman Winner and Athlete Known to His Friends and Admirers Simply as "Tree" Highlight 2006 Hall of Fame Class
By John Porentas

The Ohio State Varsity O Association announced its 2006 Hall of Fame Class today. The list includes two track athletes, two baseball players, one fencer, one swimmer, one marksman, two gymnasts, one wrestler, one Heisman winner, and one athlete known to his friends and admirers simply as "Tree".

Baseball players Alex Eckleman and Ron Nischwitz, track and field standouts Kevin Atkins and Donica Merriman, gymnasts Lindsey Vagedes and Kip Simons, Swimmer Kate Kedman, Rifle's Annette Kraml, wrestler Adam DiSabato, and fencer Patricia Szelle are members of the 2006 class to be inducted September 15 and be introduced at halftime of the of the Cincinnati-Ohio State football game the following day.

From the football team, running back and Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and defensive back Ted "The Tree" Provost will be inducted as members of this class.

George of course won the Heisman Trophy, as well as the Doak Walker Award, Maxwell Award and Walter Camp Award in 1995. He was also named the Big Ten MVP, OSU MVP, OSU captain, First Team All-American and All-Big Ten. George is the second-leading rusher in OSU history with 3,558 career yards. He also set a single-game record with 314 yards against Illinois in 1995 and a school-record 1,927 yards that same year. George went on to be drafted in the first round by the Houston Oilers and was named the 1996 NFL Rookie of the Year.

Provost is remembered as a member of the 1968 National Championship team and the 1969 team that some would call the best in OSU history and perhaps the best of the 20th century in all of college football.

At 6-3, 185, Provost was the protypical tall, rangy safety who was a tough run support defender, but earned his nickname from then-OSU Head Coach Woody Hayes for his ability to play pass defense.

"My sophomore year was the first year that Woody started the Buckeye Leafs (on the helmets for great plays) and I had something like seven interceptions in the first four games. Woody said something like 'He has so many leaves that now he's a tree.' That kind of stuck. Everybody thinks its because I'm tall, but it's because of the Buckeye leaves on the helmets," said Provost.

Provost said that to this day he is still recognized around Columbus as "The Tree".

"Just the other day a guy was walking down the street and a there was a lightening storm happening. Our garage door was open so he ran into our garage. Pretty soon we started talking and my wife told him my name an he said 'Teddy the Tree!'. It's a small world," said Provost.

In his junior season Provost played in an OSU defensive backfield that featured Mike Sensenbaugh, Jack Tatum and Tim Anderson. That team compiled an undefeated season in 1968 and was named national champions with a win over Southern Cal in the 1969 Rose Bowl. Provost played a large part in preserving the undefeated season when in the first Big Ten game of the season then-number-one ranked Purdue, led by quarterback Mike Phipps and running back Leroy Keyes, came into Ohio Stadium to play the unranked Buckeyes. The Boilermakers had embarrassed the Buckeyes the previous season with a one-sided, lopsided 41-6 defeat, but the OSU defense shut out the Boilermakers for a 13-0 upset win. Provost provided what would prove to be the winning touchdown when he returned an interception for the Buckeyes' first score.

In his senior season Provost started in the same defensive backfield on a team that was ranked number-one in the country the entire season, but lost to arch-rival Michigan in the season finale in Ann Arbor to a team coached by rookie Head Coach Bo Schembeckler. The loss is considered one of the most disappointing in OSU history.

"If we had won that last game we would probably had been recognized as the team of the century, but you are only remembered by how you did in that last game, and we lost to Michigan," said Provost.

"I think the season was too easy," said Provost reflecting on the reason for that loss.

"We were supposed to have a tough game the week before against Purdue and we beat them 40-6. We went into the Michigan game and I think we had a little letdown. We couldn't go to a bowl game because of the no-repeat rule in the Big Ten back then.

"I will always regret it because I was one of the few seniors on that team so I didn't get a chance to come back the next year and redeem myself like most of the guys. That was a tough one to take."

Until that Michigan game, the 1969 Buckeye team scord no-less than 34 points in any game and twice topped 60 points. The most points they allowed was 21 against Michigan State in a 54-21 win. They lost to the Wolverines by a score of 24-12.

:osu:

 

[Taosman]

That was the team that started my love affair with Ohio State football!

 

[BB73]

Here's an article about 'Tree' when he entered the Stark County Hall of Fame in 2004.

cantonrep

Quiet Provost had loud impact
By ANDY CALL Repository sports writer

This is the fourth of six stories profiling the 2004 class of the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.
———
Ted Provost was the original Quiet Storm.
“Aggressive play is part of the nature of football,” Provost said. “I never minded hitting. Now, talking was never my ball of wax. It still isn’t, even today.”

Provost earned a reputation at Fairless High School as a focused competitor and fierce hitter whose inspired play on the field often seemed in direct contrast to his introspective demeanor away from it. That reputation followed Provost to Ohio State University, professional football, and to his induction this summer into the Stark County High School Football Hall of Fame.

“Ted was very quiet, very respectful, very reserved and very conservative,” said Ron Rankin, head coach at Fairless during Provost’s time there (1963-66). “When you put him in an athletic contest, you wouldn’t have known it was the same individual.”

Fairless did not compile statistics during Rankin’s six years as coach, so details of Provost’s talent are best related by those who saw him play in high school and college.

“He had range, speed and intellect,” Rankin said. “He could read plays quickly, and he came up to make all kinds of tackles.”

“I had heard of Ted, though we never played Fairless,” said John Muhlbach, the Massillon native and Provost’s teammate on Ohio State’s 1968 national championship team. “He was a year behind me, but we heard there was a kid at Fairless who was a great athlete.

“Ted had excellent speed and could catch the ball. He was fast and quick. He could read the plays well and had a good mind for the game. I would say that there were very few times Ted was ever beaten on a coverage or lost his man. More importantly, he was a hard worker and great human being.”
Provost grew up on a 30-acre farm near Navarre. He played football and basketball with his cousins, then took part in competitive sports for the first time in junior high school. He arrived in high school as a sophomore in the fall of 1963, the fourth year of the consolidation of Beach City, Navarre and Brewster schools that formed the Fairless district.

“I was just another run-of-the-mill skinny kid playing football until I got to high school,” Provost said.

Rankin doesn’t remember it that way.
“Ted was a dominant athlete whenever he stepped onto the field,” Rankin said.

Provost started at safety as a sophomore, then became the Falcons’ quarterback and played both ways as a junior and senior.

“He was our leading tackler on defense,” Rankin said. “On offense, we ran the T-formation and used a lot of quarterback rollouts to take advantage of his athleticism.”

“Quarterback was not my ideal position,” said Provost, who grew to 6-foot-3 as a senior. “I was more of a runner than a passer. That was just where they stuck me.”

Nick Vrotsos, a Massillon assistant coach, saw Provost play and alerted coaches at Ohio State. Before long, the secret was out.
Michigan State made a strong bid for Provost, as did the U.S. Naval Academy. Ohio University offered a scholarship for either football or basketball, then withdrew its offer when Provost delayed his decision too long for their liking. Surprisingly, neither Kent State Coach Leo Strang nor Miami (Ohio) Coach Bo Schembechler would offer Provost a full scholarship.

“We didn’t have to market him,” Rankin said. “All the other high school coaches around here knew of Ted. They marketed him for us.”
Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes saw film of Provost and sent assistant Lou Holtz to watch Fairless play a basketball game against Jackson.
“Lou turned to me during the game and said, ‘I want that guy,’ ” Rankin said.

Provost signed with Ohio State and, three years later, made his mark.
He was an All-Big Ten defensive back as a junior on a defense that allowed just 15 points and 291 yards per game. He intercepted three passes in one game, which still stands as a school record (it has been tied eight times).
The next season, as a senior, Provost was All-Big Ten and All-America. His teammate in the defensive backfield both years was Jack Tatum, who would go on make All-America the next season (1970) and later star in the NFL.

The Los Angeles Rams took Provost in the seventh round of the 1970 NFL draft but traded him to Minnesota. Provost spent two years with the Vikings and St. Louis Cardinals before playing five seasons with Saskatchewan of the Canadian Football League.

By most accounts, Provost maintained the same reserved personality he had demonstrated in high school.

There was one exception.
Purdue had earned a No. 1 ranking in 1968 behind quarterback Mike Phipps and wide receiver Leroy Keyes. The Boilermakers were favored to beat undefeated Ohio State, even with the game in Columbus.
“The excitement for that game was unbelievable,” Provost said. “They had beaten us badly the year before, and I remembered how it felt to lose like that. I really wanted to win that game.”

The teams battled to a scoreless tied until the third quarter, when Provost made his statement. He stepped in front of a Phipps pass, intercepted it and ran 35 yards the other way for a touchdown that put Ohio State ahead for good on its way to a 13-0 victory. Provost’s interception provided one of the key moments of the 1968 national championship season.

That Provost would make one of the biggest plays of the year was no surprise. But what happened when Provost reached the end zone was shocking.

“Ted got pretty excited,” Muhlbach recalled. “He was jumping around in the end zone. Then ...”

“I threw the ball into the stands,” Provost said, in as apologetic a tone as possible.

“Coach Rankin had taught us to just hand the ball to the referee. But we were playing a game earlier in the year where, every time the other team scored, they threw the ball into the stands. Coach Holtz said, ‘If we ever score a touchdown on defense, I want you to do that.’ So, I did what I was told.

“I didn’t normally do any of that celebration stuff. But on that day, I got excited.”

Coming Friday: A look at Lake High School graduate Matt Christopher.
You can reach Repository sports writer Andy Call at (330) 580-8346 or e-mail:

[email protected]



Ted Provost
Fairless, 1963-65


High school: Lettered three seasons as a quarterback and defensive back for Fairless under Head Coach Ron Rankin. ... Started at safety as a sophomore, then became starting quarterback as a junior. ... Rankin said he was the team’s leading tackler, although no official statistics were kept. ... Falcons were 5-4-1, 6-4 and 4-6 in those three seasons. ... Fairless would have tied for the 1964 Federal League championship, but lost 20-16 to Glenwood in the season finale. ... Scored all three touchdowns in an 18-14 victory over Canton South in 1965. ... Was not named All-Stark County or All-Federal League as a senior because Cleve Bryant of Glenwood was named to the first team, and only 11 players were picked for the teams. ... Also outstanding in basketball and track. Provost long jumped 20 feet and ran the 110-yard high hurdles in 14.7 seconds, qualifying for the state meet. He was offered a basketball scholarship by Ohio University after leading Fairless to a near-upset of Canton McKinley in the 1966 sectional-district tournament. The Bulldogs won 62-61 on a last-second shot.

College: Provost played defensive back three years at Ohio State (freshmen were not eligible for the varsity at the time). ... Was selected all-Big Ten as a junior and senior and all-America as a senior. ... His three interceptions in one game are still a school record (tied with eight others) and his 16 career pickoffs rank fourth in school history. ... Was one of the leaders of the 1968 national championship team’s defense that allowed an average of 15 points and 291 yards per game. ... Returned key interception 35 yards for a touchdown in a 13-0 victory over then-No. 1 Purdue that season. ...

Member of Ohio State Hall of Fame.


Professional: Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1970 in the seventh round, but Minnesota Vikings traded No. 5 pick in the 1972 draft to Rams for Provost. ... Played in seven games with the Vikings. ... Was cut by Minnesota the following year, but signed with St. Louis and dressed for four games with the Cardinals, playing in two. ... Went on to play five seasons with Saskatchewan of the Canadian Football League, twice being named all-conference.

What you need to know: Born July 26, 1948. ... Parents Marvella and Theodore (Ted) Provost. ... Grew up in Navarre. ... Now owns Ted Provost Builders, a construction company in Hilliard, Ohio. ... Wife, Ruth, is a human resources manager for Columbus Wood Products. ... Three children — Michael, a senior at Hilliard Davidson High; Doug, a junior; and Molly, a freshman. Michael plays lacrosse and Molly participates in soccer and lacrosse.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

OSU FOOTBALL
Chemistry sparked title team
Provost is 10 th member to make OSU hall of fame
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Tim May
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

For most Ohio State fans, there is a romantic notion surrounding the 1968 national championship team, as if it were chock full of hall of fame-caliber players.
For proof, just look at the OSU Athletics Hall of Fame, as chosen by the Varsity O association. With the announcement that defensive back Ted Provost will be inducted this year, the ’68 team will have 10 members in the hall. That’s one more than either the 1973 or ’74 near-miss teams which, of course, had several overlappers.
"I’m not surprised. We were that good," said Jack Tatum, one of the "super sophs" on the ’68 team. "You go through the roster and there might be 10 or 12 other guys who deserve to be in there, too."
Provost named one right off the bat.
"Timmy Anderson," he said of his fellow defensive back. "He was a No. 1 draft choice. He was an All-American. He certainly belongs in there."
Provost, an All-American as a senior in 1969, when he had five interceptions, didn’t mind admitting he thought he belonged in the hall long before now.
"I just wondered why it hadn’t happened yet," Provost said. "But I am very honored by this."
Ten teammates in the hall is still a big number, but that’s what happens when a team captures the imagination like that ’68 squad, which went 10-0, including a 50-14 win over Michigan and a 27-16 victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl.
"It was the national championship; Woody hadn’t won one for quite a while," Provost said. "And we didn’t win one for quite a while since, until the 2002 team."
There was a camaraderie in ’68, Tatum said, a feeling that not only were there some special players, such as Jim Stillwagon, Rex Kern and Jim Otis, but that it was a special team.
"We all look at it as everybody just being a part of the team, nobody more important than anyone else," Tatum said.
That’s where Provost came in.
"There were a bunch of us sophomores that season, but Ted was a year older, a junior, sort of the old guy for us," Tatum said. "We all just sort of learned together and became a really good defense."
Provost remembered it the same way.
"The chemistry was right," he said. "Everybody got along great. Everybody gets along today, too. It’s one of those things. It just clicked. And it wasn’t just the starters. Someone would get hurt and somebody else stepped in. It was great to be part of that."
Provost’s interception return for the first touchdown in a 13-0 upset of then-No. 1 Purdue helped tip the teeter-totter in the Buckeyes’ favor.
"It’s one of those things that happens in your career," said Provost, a contractor in Hilliard. "It was one play that made a difference, and we had a lot of guys make big plays that year."

 

[ScriptOhio]

There are still many other outstanding players from that team that haven't made it (like):

Nick Roman
Dirk Worden
Bruce Janowski
Leo Hayden
Larry Zelina
Paul Schmidlin
Mike Polaski
Ron Maciejowski
Richard Kuhn
Tim Anderson

That team was really loaded with talent!!!

In addition, the 1968 coaching stall may been one of the all time best:

Woody Hayes
George Chaump
Rudy Hubbard
Bill Mallory
Glenn Ellison
Lou McCullough
Earl Bruce
Lou Holtz
Esco Sarkkinson
Hugh Hindman

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

link

7/15/06

Buckeyes to honor past star Provost
[FONT=verdana, Times New Roman, Times, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]By GREG KOHNTOPP


[email protected][/FONT]

Ted Provost can argue that he played with the best four-year class in Ohio State football history. His class combined to go 24-4 in a three year stretch – freshman weren’t eligible to play – from 1967-1969, which included a national championship in ’68.
On July 7, Provost became the 10th member of that class to be inducted into Ohio State’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He joins former teammates such as Dave Foley, Rufus Mayes, Rex Kern, Jim Otis, John Brockington and Jack Tatum in the Hall.
“It’s truly an honor,” said Provost, a 1965 graduate of Fairless High School. “It’s an honor especially when you think of some of the players who have been put in it. In my class alone, there were 10 guys. That is probably the most by any single class. There are also a couple of more guys who are deserving of being there.”
Provost became an immediate starter in 1967 as a sophomore. As a junior, the defensive back earned all-Big Ten honors in a season which saw the Buckeyes blast No. 4-ranked Michigan 50-14 to win the Big Ten title. Ohio State then went on to defeat No. 2-ranked USC 27-16 in the Rose Bowl to clinch the national title.
Provost added All-American honors to go along with a second straight All-Big Ten honors as a senior. The Buckeyes rolled through their first eight games that season and were the overwhelming favorites to win back-to-back national championships. But a shocking 24-12 setback to rival Michigan ended those dreams. The Wolverines wound up winning the Big Ten and advancing to the Rose Bowl. At the time, only the Big Ten champions advanced to a bowl game and Provost’s illustrious career ended on a bittersweet note.
To this day, Provost admits that it still burns him that his Ohio State career ended with a loss. More importantly, a loss to archrival Michigan.
“What made that so tough was that I was senior,” he said. “I didn’t get a chance to redeem myself. That loss hurt the juniors, but they had a chance to come back the next year in Columbus and avenge the loss.”
But one thing nobody can take away from Provost was the fact that he was a key member of arguably the greatest team in Ohio State football history.
“We were talked about as one of the best teams ever,” he said. “We won the national championship with a young team in 1968. In 1969 we had almost everybody back, but we lost to Michigan.”
Provost, however, believes the current run the Buckeyes are going through under head coach Jim Tressel could rival the run the Woody Hayes led Buckeyes had in the late 60s and early 70s.
“I live right here in Columbus and I think coach Tressel is doing a great job,” Provost said. “I think he has done a great job of keeping guys like myself in contact with the program. He keeps us informed with what’s going on in the program, just like Woody used to do.
“Then you look at the guys he has sent to the NFL and people are still picking Ohio State as a top-five team. When a team can have five guys picked in the first round and 10-12 players drafted and still be a top-five team, that means the program is going in the right direction.”
Provost and the rest of the Class of 2006 will be honored September 15 in Columbus. The group will also be honored at halftime of the September 16 game against Cincinnati at Ohio Stadium. The rest of the class includes Heisman Trophy winning running back Eddie George, former track stars Kevin Akins and Donica Merriman, wrestler Adam DiSabato, baseball players Alex Eckelman and Ron Nischwitz, gymnasts Kip Simmons and Lindsey Vagedes, swimmer Kate Hedman, fencer Patricia Szelle and rifler Annette Kraml.

 

[cincibuck]

The 67 team was picked to win the Big 10. I entered the army that fall knowing that I would be stationed at Ft. Lewis, Washington by December and thinking I'd take leave, drive down to LA and catch the Bucks in the Rose Bowl. Then came the Arizona game and the Bucks got upset. A few weeks later LeRoy Keyes and the Boilermakers opened up a big can of whup ass on OSU and Indiana (!) ended up in Pasedeana.

The next year found me in Lai Khe, Vietnam. I got the scores from AP and my parents mailed me the clippings from the Sunday Sports section of the Dayton Daily News. The tape of the Purdue game played on AFVN TV a week after the fact and I caught the Michigan game sitting in a bunker, listening to Marv Homan live in Columbus. God, how that made me homesick.

When the Bucks won I began to scheme. I'd go to Hawaii on R&R, Arrive there just a day or two before the game, hop a flight to LA (making me legally AWOL) and catch the game and then fly back to Hawaii and then to Vietnam. The problem was that Hawaii was set aside first for married guys with more than 180 days in country and then unmarried guys with more than 250 days in country. I was barely past 90 days.

Then we got word that Woody was coming to the First Infantry Division HQs and my boss lined me up to be his escort officer. Monsoon rains and a series of big attacks in the division's AO forced Hayes to change his travel plans and I lost the assignment of a lifetime.

C'est la guerre, c'est la vie.

 

[mooktarr]

The Buckeye Sports Bulletin had a two page write up on Ted this past weeek. It is a very nice write up encapsulating all of the above.
Ted was a joy to watch play, a great All American for the Buckeyes.

 

[Buckskin86]

Three Rider greats to be enshrined in the Plaza of Honor
May 22, 2008 - Canadian Football League (CFL) Saskatchewan Roughriders


Today the Saskatchewan Roughrider Plaza of Honor Committee announced that three new members will be inducted into the Plaza of Honor. This year Tom Campana, Ted Provost and Lawrie Skolrood will have their names forever etched into Saskatchewan Roughrider history.

TED PROVOST
Ohio State
#10
Safety
1973-1977

* Born in 1948 * Played his college ball at Ohio State * Spent 5 seasons in Saskatchewan * Played in 61 regular season games for the Riders * Played in 1976 Grey Cup game * Had 12 career interceptions including one for a touchdown * Had four career fumble recoveries * Was a Western Conference all-star in 1973 and 1974

CAREER STATS

YEAR TEAM GP INT YDS FR
1973 Saskatchewan 16 5 101 3
1974 Saskatchewan 16 4 75 1
1975 Saskatchewan 1 0 0 0
1976 Saskatchewan 14 3 109 0
1977 Saskatchewan 14 0 0 0
Totals 86 12 285 4

Three Rider greats to be enshrined in the Plaza of Honor - OurSports Central - Independent and Minor League Sports News

 

[ScriptOhio]

At 6-3, 185, Provost was the protypical tall, rangy safety who was a tough run support defender, but earned his nickname from then-OSU Head Coach Woody Hayes for his ability to play pass defense.

"My sophomore year was the first year that Woody started the Buckeye Leafs (on the helmets for great plays) and I had something like seven interceptions in the first four games. Woody said something like 'He has so many leaves that now he's a tree.' That kind of stuck. Everybody thinks its because I'm tall, but it's because of the Buckeye leaves on the helmets," said Provost.

Provost said that to this day he is still recognized around Columbus as "The Tree".

Still #3 (tie) on the all time interceptions list at The Ohio State University:

ALL-TIME INTERCEPTIONS - CAREER
No. 1 Mike Sensibaugh, 1968 to 1970: 22 interceptions
No. 2 Fred Bruney, 1950 to 1952: 17 interceptions
No. 3 William White, 1984 to 1987: 16 interceptions
No. 3 Ted Provost, 1967 to 1969: 16 interceptions
No. 5 Neal Colzie, 1972 to 1974: 15 interceptions
No. 6 Ahmed Plummer, 1996 to 1999: 14 interceptions
No. 6 Sonny Gordon, 1983 to 1986: 14 interceptions
No. 8 Vince Skillings, 1978 to 1980: 13 interceptions
No. 9 Damon Moore, 1995 to 1998: 12 interceptions
No. 9 David Brown, 1986 to 1989: 12 interceptions
No. 9 Kelvin Bell, 1981 to 1983: 12 interceptions

ALL-TIME INTERCEPTIONS - SEASON
No. 1 Mike Sensibaugh, 1969: 9 interceptions
No. 1 Craig Cassady, 1975: 9 interceptions
No. 3 Neal Colzie, 1974: 8 interceptions
No. 3 Mike Sensibaugh, 1970: 8 interceptions
No. 5 Malik Hooker, 2016: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Derek Ross, 2001: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Vinnie Clark, 1990: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Sonny Gordon, 1986: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Ted Provost, 1967: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Arnie Chonko, 1964: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Fred Bruney, 1951: 7 interceptions
No. 5 Fred Bruney, 1952: 7 interceptions