Buckeyes show off positive impact of NIL with Valentine's event

COLUMBUS -- There is, in fact, a feel-good side to the endless NIL conversation.

It's Kyle McCord forming an instant bond and spending an hour with a young kid who couldn't believe an Ohio State quarterback was in the room.

Over there it was Luke Montgomery with a nonstop smile on his face handing out Valentine's Day cards and sitting with a family to eat cookies.

Back on the other side of the room, it was new Ohio State safety Ja'Had Carter jumping to the front of the line to decorate those cookies.

All told it was nine Buckeyes partnering with Cohesion Foundation to spend their Friday evening at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Ohio, which served as a welcome reminder that not every part of the NIL discussion has to be about recruiting inducements, NCAA legislation or massive endorsement deals.

"I mean, it's awesome to come out here with some teammates and just create bonds that you know you wouldn't get to otherwise," McCord said. "We're meeting people that are huge supporters of us and kind of getting the chance to give back.

"I've been talking to [Cohesion] for a while, and then this is the first event I've done with them. You know, I'm really at a loss for words for how impactful it was. So they did a great job of setting it up and getting this all together. It was a great time."

McCord and the Buckeyes wound up spending just over two hours with the families staying in the house across the street from Nationwide Children's Hospital, delivering hand-signed cards, passing out treats and playing impromptu games after a tour of the massive facility.

Even with just one start under his belt, McCord was the most established member of the visiting party from Ohio State -- which effectively turned it into a public debut for a handful of freshmen and a couple newly-arrived transfers.

Newcomers like Carter and offensive lineman Vic Cutler or early enrollees Miles Walker, Josh Padilla, Montgomery, Jelani Thurman, Austin Siereveld and Malik Hartford haven't even had introductory press conferences on campus yet after enrolling in January. But they jumped at the chance to get out in the community wearing a Block O and seeing what that means to people around Columbus.

"Around like a week or two ago, Cohesion reached out to us and just asked us if we could stop by and have some fun with the kids," Walker said. "So, you know, it's definitely great to be out here. I've only been in Columbus for a little over a month now, but fun memories like this always last.

"For me personally, like back home, my dad used to work at the Boys and Girls Club in our town. So I used to go around there and just hang out with some of the kids. This brings back some memories, makes it already feel like home. It's definitely fun to have these opportunities."

There are more on the way as Cohesion continues to grow and it adds more partnerships with the Buckeyes.

And that means Valentine's Day won't be the only heart-warming aspect of NIL moving forward.