Football Captains Named for 2001 – Ohio State Buckeyes
6/18/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
June 18, 2001
COLUMBUS, Ohio – %^$The Ohio State football team chose its leaders for the 2001 season Sunday night, electing quarterback Steve Bellisari, defensive tackle Mike Collins, linebacker Joe Cooper and fullback Jamar Martin as co-captains for the upcoming year. The foursome, all seniors, was selected at a team meeting at the Woody Hayes Athletics Center.
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%^$”These are four exceptional young men, who will do a terrific job of representing our team and this university,” said head coach Jim Tressel. “All four have been around the program and know how much it means to be an Ohio State captain. I know all of them are humbled to have been chosen by their teammates for this honor.”
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%^$All four players are returning starters. Bellisari and Cooper also served as co-captains of the 2000 squad and are just the fifth and sixth players in Ohio State history to be elected as two-time captains.
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%^$”Obviously, this is a great honor,” said Bellisari, whose brother, Greg, was co-captain of the 1996 Buckeyes. “It means a lot to know your teammates respect you enough to want you to be one of their leaders. Now, it is our responsibility to go out and do just that.”
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%^$Added Mike Collins, “I grew up watching Ohio State football, so this is a special thrill for me, a kid from Newark, Ohio, to be elected captain.”
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%^$Bellisari, a native of Boca Raton, Fla., has started 22 consecutive games. The 6-3, 220-pound southpaw threw for 2,319 yards and averaged 208.2 yards per game in total offense as a junior. He currently ranks seventh in career passing yardage and eighth in career total offense at OSU.
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%^$Collins has started 23 consecutive games and has played in 34 of the Buckeyes’ 36 games the past three years. He finished the 2000 season with 46 tackles and has led the defensive front in tackles in each of the past two seasons.
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%^$Cooper, a product of Independence High School in Columbus, started for the first time last season and finished the year with 80 total tackles (the second highest total on the team) and 10 tackles for loss. He was selected by his teammates as OSU’s co-Most Inspirational Player at the end of the year.
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%^$Martin broke into the two deep as a true freshman in 1998. He started six games in 1999 and all 12 games last year. The 6-0, 255-pounder from Canton, Ohio has been used primarily as a blocker throughout his career, but he is also a very effective runner and receiver.
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%^$”All four of these guys have trained really hard,” Tressel said. “I expect them to be outstanding captains.”
