• 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!

DL Mike Kudla (R.I.P.)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
ABJ

Healing Kudla awaits chance

Former OSU defender gets in shape for NFL after hamstring injuries

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sportswriter

Many of Mike Kudla's former Ohio State teammates who joined him in the ranks of the undrafted have signed free-agent contracts and are taking the next step in their football careers.
There was buzz in the air about the NFL at the April 21 spring game, but the former OSU defensive end from Highland High School in Medina County watched near the end of the bench. Kudla remains in a state of limbo after tearing his right hamstring twice in 2006.

Cont...
 
Upvote 0
osugrad21;834837; said:
ABJ

Healing Kudla awaits chance

Former OSU defender gets in shape for NFL after hamstring injuries

By Marla Ridenour

Beacon Journal sportswriter

Many of Mike Kudla's former Ohio State teammates who joined him in the ranks of the undrafted have signed free-agent contracts and are taking the next step in their football careers.
There was buzz in the air about the NFL at the April 21 spring game, but the former OSU defensive end from Highland High School in Medina County watched near the end of the bench. Kudla remains in a state of limbo after tearing his right hamstring twice in 2006.

Cont...
Click to expand...

I'm surprised the Colts have not called him yet. Seriously though, I hope Kudla can get healthy and get a new gig, he is a better defensive player than a lot of people give him credit for.
 
Upvote 0
A story about Brian Hartline a few days ago talked about the summer camp going on, and in the article mentioned that Anthony Gonzales was there, hanging out with Kudla.

I am still pulling for him. If you watch the 2004 scUM game or the 2006 Fiesta Bowl vs. ND, you know the dude can play with the big boys. He was a terror and he was fast.

So I'm hoping his old Buckeye teammates spread all over the NFL can get him a look somewhere when he is totally completely healthy.

C'mon Mikey, we're pullin' for ya.
 
Upvote 0
Folded under

He was finally ready to return. Defensive end Mike Kudla tore his hamstring before the NFL combine, wasn't drafted in 2006, then signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers and tore his hamstring again in training camp.

He suffered one more tear when he tried to rush back, and is only now back in what he says is the shape of his life

"I was getting ready to play Arena ball and the league folded," Kudla said. "The future is kind of up in the air right now, but I'm 24 and I feel like I have lot of good football left."

In the meantime, he finished his degree at the suggestion of Jim Tressel.

He graduated last May with a degree in finance management, and while getting himself ready for football again, worked with younger Buckeyes like defensive end Thaddeus Gibson.

"It's a brotherhood," Kudla said. "You're a link in the chain."
Click to expand...

Buckeyes' past meets present - Ohio State Buckeyes Football & Basketball News - cleveland.com
 
Upvote 0
UpNorthBuckeye;1798996; said:
Yeah, it was Kudla. If I recall correctly, he was wearing a different number than what he wore the next three years.

After that hit, he had some kind of complications and almost died, lost a lot of weight and muscle.

Still don't know why Kudla didn't catch on somewhere in the NFL. Go back and watch the OSU-ND Fiesta Bowl ---- he was a monster.

I guess I should go look in Alumni and see what he is doing now.
Click to expand...

http://medinagazette.northcoastnow....tar-mike-kudla-now-a-salesman-football-coach/

Undrafted in 2006, Kudla didn?t have to wait long to get picked up by a team, as Pitts*burgh grabbed him as a free agent immediately following the selection process.
The injury bug that plagued him his entire Ohio State career bit again, however, as he tweaked an already sketchy right hamstring on the first day of practice.
He was forced to sit out and eventually was cut.
?My hamstring was pieced together,? he said. ?I knew it was a matter of time before it would go again. I was never able to get it quite healed.?
Kudla didn?t give in, trying out with Green Bay in January 2007 and again in November with Miami.
Teams still had reservations about the hamstring as the pain continued to bother him, so Kudla took time off and got himself healed. He put himself in the best shape of his life, changed his agent and concen*trated on getting back to foot*ball.
He was all set to go to the Arena Football League, play in a few games and give NFL teams some film, but the league went bankrupt in December 2008 and Kudla?s life changed.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
UpNorthBuckeye;1798996; said:
Yeah, it was Kudla. If I recall correctly, he was wearing a different number than what he wore the next three years.

After that hit, he had some kind of complications and almost died, lost a lot of weight and muscle.

Still don't know why Kudla didn't catch on somewhere in the NFL. Go back and watch the OSU-ND Fiesta Bowl ---- he was a monster.

I guess I should go look in Alumni and see what he is doing now.
Click to expand...

I used to work out at the same gym as him. I saw him just a few months ago and he was still in amazing shape. The workouts the guy does are just unreal.
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top