Cooper set to wear special number
The 2020 college football season marks the first year that players can wear the uniform number zero and up until now, the Ohio State Buckeyes had not announced if/who was going to be the first in program history to wear that number.
Until now.
Defensive end Jonathon Cooper will be the first Ohio State player to showcase the number, announced on Saturday afternoon by the program and there will be some special significance to that.
Head coach Ryan Day met with the team post-practice talking about former Ohio State and NFL star Bill Willis and how the former Buckeye defensive end would go on to help break the color barrier in the NFL and would go on to be elected to both the College Football Hall of Fame as well as the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Willis wore No. 99 while at Ohio State but the No. 0 will now be associated with him as Ohio State will now be referred to as the "Block O" in honor of Willis.
“This honor stands out from the rest,” said Cooper via a press release. “Being a captain, all the great things that have happened here at Ohio State, this one stands out a lot more to me personally. It doesn’t just represent me, it represents a great man, a great player who played here. I know when I put that jersey on I’m representing him and I have to go out there and be my very best, and I have to do that every single day. This one really means a lot to me.”
Cooper redshirted last year after being named a captain in what should have been his final season in an Ohio State uniform, but it was a season that was derailed with injuries. Cooper and his coaches made the decision for a 2020 return, but that decision almost appeared to be for naught when the Big Ten made the decision to postpone the season.
And now the Buckeyes are just two weeks away from their season opener against Nebraska and Cooper is ready to wear his new number in his final season.
“Jonathon Cooper represents everything that an Ohio State football player should be,” Day said. “He’s tough. He’s accountable. He loves this university and this state. He’s someone who continually embodies our culture of ‘fight.’ And that’s in everything that he does, on and off the field. I’m proud of Coop; he’s the perfect Buckeye to wear the Block “0” for the first time.”
Cooper will now depart from the number of 18, a number that had special meaning due to his birthday being January 8th (1-8) and now 0 will have a profound meaning as well, not just to Cooper but anyone who wears the number moving ahead.
“I will wear No. 0 because it’s not about me,” said Cooper. “No one understood why I wore No. 18; it’s because my birthday is January 8. That represents just me. When I wear that Block “0” it’ll be in honor of a great Ohio State Buckeye and it will represent Ohio State University and all my teammates and coaches. I know I have to play at my very best and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”