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Buckskin86
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Ben Hartsock sets in the cockpit of an Apache Attack Helicopter flight simulator at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan. Pilots use the system to practice tactics and perform maneuvers that would be unsafe to practice in real life.
From left, Oakland Raiders Cooper Carlisle, Atlanta Falcons tight end Ben Hartsock and Carolina Panthers Punter Jason Baker stand in front of the USO Pat Tillman Center at Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan.
Chillicothe Gazette - www.chillicothegazette.com - Chillicothe, OH
Falcons sign prized RB Turner | ajc.com
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[FONT=arial,helvetica] Erik Coleman, left, Von Hutchins, second from left, Ben Hartsock, second from right, and Michael Turner, right, stand for photos during a news conference announcing their signing with the Atlanta Falcons at owner Arthur Blank's Foundation Monday, March 3, 2008, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Amis)[/FONT]
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Buckskin86
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Learning from the best
By LANCE CRANMER ? Assistant Local Editor ? July 13, 2008
Atlanta Flacon's tight end Ben Hartsock picks up Skylar Reisinger and drops him on a mat representing the end zone Saturday during the Ben Hartsock football camp at Unioto. (Sarah Wright/Gazette)
Colt Marshall picked up a couple of tips that might help him one day down the line.
"How to get in the right tight end stance," he said. "That was my favorite one."
Marshall, heading into his sixth grade year at Unioto, couldn't have had much of a better teacher.
The young football player was one of about 100 kids who suited up to participate in the youth football camp organized by Atlanta Falcons' tight end and Unioto High School alum Ben Hartsock.
"I thought today camp was fun and it was nice meeting Ben Hartsock and all the other people," Marshall said. "That's pretty cool."
Hartsock, along with some other NFL players, past and present Ohio State University players as well as members of the Ohio University football team, ran the four-hour camp Saturday morning, teaching fundamentals and basics to the eager youngsters.
"It was pretty cool," said third-grader Lane Ruby, son of former Huntington High School football coach Pete Ruby. "It was a lot of activities that I'm really good at."
"It was fun," added cousin Hunter Ruby, a first-grader in town from Wheelersburg, who picked out passing drills as his favorite thing of the day.
"A camp like this, there's only so much football you can teach in one day," said Hartsock, the fourth-year pro who played seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans before signing with Atlanta as a free agent this spring. "But what we did here, we brought (the kids) out and showed them what it meant to work hard. To have fun playing this game and to just have a good time. I think that was the main thing the kids walked away with."
Jim Cordle, the starting center for the Big Ten Champion Ohio State Buckeyes, remembers meeting OSU players at a camp when he was a kid and knows the kind of impact it can make.
"When I was a kid I looked up to (OSU players). I remember Luke Fickell came to a camp I was at in Lancaster one time," Cordle said. "Stuff like that's inspiring. He did that and I try to do the same for these kids now that I'm at Ohio State."
Learning from the best | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette
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Buckskin86
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Hartsock welcomes new challenge in Atlanta
By LANCE CRANMER ? Assistant Local Editor ? July 15, 2008
Atlanta Falcons? tight end BenHartsock works with a student during his annual football camp last weekend at Unioto High School. (Sarah Wright/Gazette)
In the early years of his career, Ben Hartsock was hungry.
For playing time, for a chance to contribute, for more balls to be thrown his way - sure.
But most of the time, it was just for food.
"When I was in Indianapolis, they're such a pass-oriented team, I really worked to get down to be as small and as fast and as agile as I could," the former Ohio State University tight end said. "So I was 248 pounds. And the last time I weighed 248 pounds was my sophomore year in high school."
But as a rookie for one of the best teams in the NFL, Hartsock did what it took to earn his spot on the team.
During that first season in 2005, the Chillicothe native played in just seven games with two pass receptions before the Colts cut him loose.
He resurfaced the next season with the Tennessee Titans where his career blossomed.
Hartsock played in six games with the Titans in 2006 and then all 16 games a year ago when he caught 24 passes for 247 yards in a breakout season.
The performance was good enough that this off-season, Hartsock signed a lucrative free agent deal to play for the Atlanta Falcons, where he will now have a chance to be a starter for the first time in his career.
Never again will Ben Hartsock go hungry.
"Different teams have asked me to do different things," he said, with his standard warm smile. "Since I got to Tennessee and now to Atlanta, they're asking me to be more of a physical presence so I've been able to belly up to the bar a little bit I guess. I'm about up to 268 now, so 20 or 25 pounds is a pretty big swing for me."
Hartsock welcomes new challenge in Atlanta | chillicothegazette.com | Chillicothe Gazette
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