Champions: Former Buckeyes excelled on the gridiron, in the classroom – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
by Emily Burkhart, News in Engineering Magazine
The Ohio State University College of Engineering
As they walk out of the ’Shoe’s red tunnel on a Saturday afternoon, the Buckeye football players greet a sea of fans dressed in scarlet and gray and chanting “O-H-I-O.”
The ground beneath them is shaking.
The Best Damn Band in The Land is blasting the fight song.
A huge adrenaline rush runs through the players.
But there’s only one thing on their minds.
“We have to stay focused,” Derek Harden, a senior wide receiver on the 2006 team and mechanical engineering major, said. “It’s such a surreal moment, and each time we exit that tunnel we know we’re one game closer to our last.”
Harden was one of three engineering students on the Big Ten champion football team last season; he joined Antonio Smith, a defensive back, and Drew Norman, a long snapper.
With such a demanding field of study, staying focused is something players do both on and off the gridiron.
Smith, who graduated in the spring, had many classes with Harden. They admit that majoring in engineering was a challenge, but to be challenged is what they love.
“Engineering courses themselves are such a tough load. We have to spend so much time in and out of class to keep our grades up,” Smith said during his senior year. “Add on early lifting sessions and afternoons spent watching films and practicing, and it is a challenge.”
A typical day in the life of football players usually starts with an early lifting session around 6 a.m. Scheduled classes on campus immediately follow that workout, and film review sessions are sometimes held before a practice that starts around 3 p.m.
Practice might be over by 6 in the evening, but with local media hoping for interviews, there are many additional requests that make for extra time spent at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. To keep their academic performance impressive, the players also are required to participate in study sessions throughout the week.
Harden also noted how important time management is each day, especially on weekends when a majority of their time is spent traveling so it’s difficult to study with so much going on.
“All of these challenges are preparing us for a much bigger future. Through being an athlete and an engineer I learned to maximize the little free time that I did have,” Smith said.
Norman, who also graduated in the spring in civil engineering, noted that his biggest challenge in achieving success in the classroom was finding time for group study sessions.
“So many students want to study during the day and between classes,” Norman said before he graduated. “That just doesn’t work for us as players, so we are up pretty late in the evening studying.”
As busy as his schedule was, Norman was able to do a summer internship with Smoot Construction Co. on a Columbus Zoo project. He worked with the head surveyor and construction contractor on the East Asia Tiger Pass at the zoo’s newest exhibit, designing site layout for a second floor.
In addition to their academic experiences, the players say support from family is important for their success.
“My parents taught me the basic rules of right from wrong and instilled in me the values of hard work,” Norman said. “I have a brother who attends the Air Force Academy. He’s also a long snapper on their team and the way I see it, he has a much bigger workload and never complains. So I think of him when I start to feel overwhelmed.”
“I’ve carried on the good characteristics that my grandmother raised me to know,” Smith said.
Harden, also a spring graduate, mentioned that aside from his family, which includes his wife and infant son, his Ohio State and high school coaches taught him life lessons of hard work, discipline, responsibility and taking ownership.
Blaine Lilly, associate professor of mechanical engineering and industrial, welding and systems engineering, taught a machine tool and programming course three days a week that both Harden and Smith attended.
“I was impressed by the dedication both of them showed to their classes. I’ve had athletes in class before many times, but never football players,” Lilly said. “It’s pretty clear that the philosophy that head coach Jim Tressel teaches has really taken hold with these guys.”
Harden, Norman and Smith also took courses taught by George Staab, associate professor in mechanical engineering.
“Drew always had his homework ready and was prepared for class each meeting,” Staab said. “After all these years, he still had a very good attitude toward learning. His homework was the neatest, easiest to read and most well organized I recall seeing in more than 15 years.
“When you reflect on the accomplishments of Drew, Antonio and Derek, you can’t help but to admire them. Studying engineering requires self-determination, discipline and commitment. Playing football at a major university also requires the same.
“Combining the two is like having two full-time jobs with little or no personal time,” Stabb continued. “The personal sacrifices they have made in accomplishing this will definitely be repaid after their graduation.”
When the football season ended in January, the three engineering seniors had one major goal on their mind: graduation.
“I’d like to work in the manufacturing field, a position in management where I can utilize all that I’ve learned as a student athlete,” Harden said.
Smith signed a free agent contract with the Indianapolis Colts and participated in training camp with the defending Super Bowl champions. As for his pending career outside sports, he credits himself with a personality to work in engineering sales.
Norman wouldn’t mind exploring options in the business area of engineering.
“I think the opportunity to network and interact with so many different people would be my idea of a great job,” he said.
All three athletes want to be remembered here at Ohio State for their hard work, both inside and outside the classroom. They also agree that their ability to stay focused and grounded has brought them this far and will carry them to their next level, wherever that may be.
