Senior Moments

In case you missed it this past Wednesday, Malcolm Jenkins held an online chat, albeit brief, on the Ohio State website. Jenkins talked about hope of becoming a captain this season (a near lock in my estimation), the fastest defensive back on the team, as well as his view on Terrelle Pryor.

There was also a piece on James Laurinaitis, in which the Buckeyes’ middle linebacker talks about teaching younger players and some of the reasons why he came back for his senior season.

“It’s really tough to get to the national championship game,” he said. “So to say you came back to try and win that game ... you have to be realistic and realize how hard it is just to get to that game. That wasn’t a big factor at all. If we would have won that game it would have been the same thought process.”

Uh, Jim. I am not sure everyone is buying that. I am pumped, psyched, ecstatic, in fact, that you came back for another season, but come on. If Ohio State had defeated LSU a few months back, I am sure the calculus used by the Little Animal, Jenkins, Boone, and even Marcus Freeman, would have been markedly different. After all, it is the dream of many players to go out on top.

The official website also had a nice, informative piece on players who decided to return for their senior seasons. The one common denominator for many of the players that passed up beaucoup bucks - Hawk, Winfield, Vrabel, and George – is the chance they had to win a national championship. Of the players listed in the piece, only Mike Doss won the elusive, mythical national championship. Despite those results, I think we all hope Laurinaitis, Jenkins, and Boone set of a trend for future Ohio State deliberating juniors (Beanie, are you listening), while increasing the percentage of title winners.