This morning we received the sad news that Buckeye legend Bill Willis had passed away.

Bill was truly one of the best football players to play for Ohio State. That’s one of the reasons his number was retired just a few weeks ago at halftime of the Wisconsin game.

But to focus solely on his playing ability overlooks the fact that Bill was a trailblazer and one of the courageous men who broke the color barrier both in the Big Ten and National Football League.

Bill was one of the first African Americans to play in the Big Ten and he was a force on the offensive and defensive lines. I know that Bill received some rough treatment in those days, but he answered that treatment not with his own insults, but with hard and fair play. Anyone who insulted Bill was sure to encounter a devastating block or tackle from him in good time.

After leading Ohio State to the 1942 national championship, Bill went on to a successful career with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL. Again, he dealt with racism on a regular basis, but handled the slights with the type of dignity and honor you’d expect from a man of his ilk.

Bill was a Buckeye through and through. His contributions to football and society will be truly missed. The Ohio State alumni family sends deepest condolences to his family and friends at this difficult time.

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I have to say I was impressed with what I saw from our football team last week in its opening game.

I thought we moved the ball well, played pretty sound defense, and were for the most part strong on special teams. I do have to say that something that really stood out was the play of some of our newest Buckeyes. Wide receivers Dane Sanzenbacher and Taurian Washington, as well as running back Brandon Saine all showed great potential.

To me, this was important and impressive. We have a lot of spots to fill on our offense considering guys like Troy Smith, Ted Ginn, Antonio Pittman, and Anthony Gonzalez aren’t here any more. To have some freshmen step up and play that way in their first games is really encouraging.

I hope we get a chance to see some more of these guys this week against Akron. I know a lot of people will dismiss the Zips chances, but as we saw in last week’s Michigan-Appalachian State game, it’s dangerous to ever dismiss a team’s chances out of hand.

Akron will come here with a bunch of guys who probably grew up as Buckeye fans. You can bet those guys will be primed and ready for a chance to play against Ohio State in Ohio Stadium. I expect them to give us a tough test.

As for what to look for, the Zips have been improving under coach J.D. Brookhart. They beat Army 22-14 last week and scored both on offense and on a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown. One player to watch is wide receiver Jabari Arthur who had 11 catches for more than 100 yards and a touchdown last week. He’s a player our defensive backs will have to keep a tab on.

Either way, I’m excited to get out to the game this week. Making it even better is the fact that this is Reunion Weekend and so many of our great alumni are going to be here on campus. You can’t ask for much more than that.

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As a youngster growing up in central Ohio , I knew one thing about Buckeye quarterback Rex Kern.

That was this: Rex Kern was “the man.”

That’s the best way I can describe the hold he had on the Buckeye teams of the late 60s and early 70s. Rex was the unquestioned leader on those teams, and was one of those guys who just found a way to win. Later I got to know Rex personally and came to appreciate him as the personification of what Woody Hayes preached.

Woody told us to play hard and fair on the field and aspire to excellence off it. Rex fit that bill and still does to this day.

That’s one of the reasons why I was so thrilled to see that he was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame last week. To me, it was always a sore spot that Rex wasn’t in the Hall, because he was clearly someone who belonged there.

If you ask any fan or player from Rex’s era, they’ll tell you that he was the engine that powered some great Buckeye teams, including our 1968 national champions. Rex had amazing leadership capabilities, great moxie, and exceptional athleticism.

What he didn’t have was great passing statistics. That was more of a reflection of our offense at the time, though, than Rex’s ability. Woody liked to keep the ball on the ground in those days, and I think through the years Rex was maybe overlooked because he didn’t have gaudy passing statistics.

But people in the know were well aware of Rex and his place in Ohio State history. It’s no coincidence that he was named one of our offensive co-captains when the Buckeye all-century team was selected in 2000. He deserved that spot just as he deserved to be in the College Football Hall of Fame.

I am proud to have known Rex in my life and proud that he’ll be joining me in the College Hall later this year. Congratulations, Rex.

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There is no doubt that Ohio State fans have been feeling a draft the past few weeks.

The NBA draft was the first to interest Buckeye backers when Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Jr., and Daequan Cook declared themselves eligible for the draft. Oden is gone for sure and has already signed with an agent. Conley and Cook did not, and intend to get a gauge on where they will fall on draft day before deciding whether or not they’ll go pro.

My take on this has always been fairly straightforward. In general, many people go to college to help further their professional careers. If a lucrative career is sitting there for the taking after just one year of school, it’s hard to compel someone to stay.

In the case of Oden, I think he undoubtedly made the right choice. Greg would have been the first choice in the NBA draft last year, just as he
will be this year and would have been next year had he elected to remain at Ohio State. For him, going pro makes a lot of sense.

I also don’t quarrel with Conley and Cook testing the waters. There is no harm in putting your name out there to see where it may fall. I do
hope that if either player learns that his draft stock is not high, he makes the right choice and returns to school.

We still have a few weeks before Conley and Cook make their decisions on whether to stay or go. For some Buckeye football players, their futures
have already been solidified.

Two Buckeyes-Ted Ginn, Jr. and Anthony Gonzalez-were selected in the first round of the NFL draft on Saturday. I wholeheartedly congratulate
both. They were huge parts of our success the past few seasons and I have no doubt they will make productive professional players.

I do admit that I was mystified at how far our quarterback Troy Smith fell in the draft. To me it was nothing short of ridiculous to see him go late in the fifth round. While I understand that some skepticism regarding Smith grew out of his performance against Florida, it doesn’t make sense to me to disregard an entire career’s worth of great games because of one bad one.

If there is any positive for Troy, it’s that he landed in a great situation in Baltimore. He is going to come in with very little immediate pressure and he’ll have a chance to learn from a great veteran quarterback in Steve McNair. Plus, both McNair and backup quarterback Kyle Boller’s contracts expire after this year, so maybe Troy’s chance will come sooner than we think.

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I was so saddened to hear this morning that Eddie Robinson, who was head coach at Grambling State University , had passed away after a long bout with Alzheimer’s Disease.

Robinson was the coach at Grambling, a historically black college, for 56 years. In that time he amassed more than 400 victories. To put it in perspective, coach Robinson started at Grambling five years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier.

It is clear that Robinson was a great football coach. But his impact on young people went way past the Xs and Os. There’s no doubt he knew the game inside and out, but he was a positive influence to many, many young men.

In that respect he has always reminded me of Woody Hayes. Woody was a great football coach, but he was also a father figure who really cared about people as players. Coach Robinson was the same way. You can tell by the way player after player speaks about how he helped them become better people.

I had a few opportunities to meet Coach Robinson and always enjoyed his company. I most recently saw him when we hosted the Eddie Robinson Classic here at Ohio State . He gave a speech at the Fawcett Center and I was thoroughly impressed with the insight and humor he had that day. He will be truly missed.

I also hope his passing allows us to refocus on the battle to beat this terrible disease. I was at the Jim Tressel Spring Preview on Wednesday, and that event is sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association of Central Ohio. The folks at the Alzheimer’s Association are doing wonderful work. I encourage you to visit their Web site at www.alzheimerscentralohio.org to find a way you can help join the fight to beat Alzheimer’s.

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You would be hard-pressed to find basketball programs that have enjoyed more success than Ohio State’s men and women have over the past two
seasons.

Each team has earned back-to-back outright Big Ten championships. That is a remarkable accomplishment and not one that you’d expect to see
teams accomplish two years in a row.

In general, our football and basketball teams have dominated Big Ten play this year. Heading in to the men’s regular-season finale against Michigan, the Buckeyes were a combined 38-2 in Big Ten play in football and basketball. That type of dominance is uncommon in a league that
year-in, year-out is among the nation’s best.

What impresses me about both teams, too, is that each has overcome some adversity. Our men started the season without star center Greg Oden, and have not missed a beat once he returned. Our women’s team is without the services of injured standout Brandie Hoskins, but again, that group has persevered.

I am pretty certain that the next month is going to be an exciting one for Ohio State basketball fans. The NCAA basketball tournaments offer
tons of thrills and we will have an opportunity to experience a lot of them.

First, though, we’ll have some big challenges in the Big Ten tournaments. Our women start tournament play later this week and the
men start next week. This tournament is a good warm-up for the Big Dance because it gets our teams better acclimated to tournament play. During the regular season we don’t often play games on one or two day’s rest, but that’s a common theme once the NCAA tournament begins.

I am not too sure how the season is going to finish up for either our men or women. Each will face big challenges in both the conference and
national tournaments. As we all know, a lot of crazy things happen come tournament time.

What I do know is that our men’s and women’s basketball teams have made Ohio State proud both on and off the court. That is something I truly
appreciate.

—
Also published at www.ohiostatealumni.org

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For more than 30 years, Archie Griffin has held the distinction as college football’s only two-time Heisman Trophy winner. That is an honor no one else can claim, but it falls far short of describing the man he is today.

Archie became president and CEO of the Ohio State Alumni Association on Jan. 1, 2004. On that day, he became the leader of one of the biggest dues-supported alumni associations in the world. At 130,000 members strong, the association works to help all graduates and former students to stay connected and make Ohio State stronger.

Archie has followed his record-setting and extensively honored football career with work in human resources, athletics administration, and now, nonprofit corporation leadership.

His football and professional success are more than matched by his community service. He and his wife, Bonita, started foundations to support Olympic sports at Ohio State and youth development in Central Ohio. He is a member of at least six charitable organizations and often heads campaigns to raise funds and awareness for important causes.

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