COLUMBUS, Ohio — Every time C.J. Stroud steps up to any podium to speak, he always has to remind himself of where he came from and why he’s in the position he’s in.
Wednesday morning was no different.
The Ohio State redshirt freshman quarterback stepped up the podium, having just been named a finalist for the Heisman Trophy, the pinnacle of a college football player, and listened to the first question: one about what the next step for the Buckeyes’ top-ranked offense would be in 2022.
Before he answered that question, before he answered any question, he had to put himself aside.
“First of all, I want to thank God,” Stroud began. “This stuff is crazy just thinking about it as a kid, just playing at Ohio State and having this opportunity as a Heisman finalist. I just want to thank God, give him the glory and praise.”
Then he began to answer.
To Stroud, to those listening, this wasn’t new.
This was something he had done all season long, from the highs against Michigan State and Penn State, to the lows against Oregon and Michigan. Stroud remained in that same place: always wanting to make sure people knew who he was playing for.
It wasn’t mundane or ritual for the redshirt freshman. It was representative of the only thing that kept him at Ohio State, the only thing that allowed himself to be a Heisman finalist in the first place.
The very first time Stroud met redshirt junior wide receiver Kamryn Babb, he was invited to church.
“‘Bro, if you need to find a church, I got you,’” Stroud remembers hearing from his then-new teammate.
The quarterback grew up in the church, the foundation his mother and father set for him. But he said he lost his way, beginning to be influenced by older crowds as he grew up
When he first got to Columbus, Stroud thought the transition was going to be a lot easier. Instead, it was much slower: the cars, the pace at which people lived. It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t home.
Stroud wanted to be home.
This is the mindset Stroud had stepping into church for the first time since he was 10 years old with Babb and redshirt junior wide receiver Xavier Johnson. Then he began to feel something change.
“I remember feeling this sense of home, and I broke down and started crying. I just felt God in my heart again,” Stroud said. “It was something that I needed. I was so far from home. Of course, I make mistakes just like everybody else, but I just remember the feeling of God, like ‘Son, you’re forgiven.’ I just remember having that feeling and I loved it.
“That’s why I try to remember, like, I’m here because of God. That was the moment where I realized it’s because of him I’m here anyways.”
Stroud’s mindset began to shift, even on the football field.
Stroud said he became more focused on developing the relationships around him.
Even through the low points in his first season as Ohio State’s starting quarterback, when those outside of the football program were wondering if he was the right pick for the job, Stroud began to further his connection with other members of his position group, whether it was helping freshman Quinn Ewers find a church or praying with freshman Kyle McCord in the locker room and on the field before his start against Akron.
“I was in their same shoes last year,” Stroud said. “I know what it’s like not to play and you’re watching a peer of yours play in front of you. You think that you could play too, and things like that. It’s tough. I had a hard time with that last year.
“I told them how I dealt with that last year: I just relied on God and remembered his plan is already written and I just have to follow his steps and not try and do my own thing.”
It’s the impression Stroud tries to leave on the recruits that visit Ohio State, being honest with them and saying football and workouts are hard at any college football program around the country, but that the priority is finding the right people to be around.
In the past two years, that has helped Stroud become a leader.
Without that mentality, what he says is a calling, he probably would have left Ohio State. Instead, that calling is giving him an opportunity to encourage others who are on the same path as he was.
“Being so far from home, it’s hard,” Stroud said. “That’s why I sometimes tell some of my younger homies back home… who are looking to come to school out here, like ‘Bro, you’re on your own.’ It didn’t hit me until two weeks after I signed and came here. But you’re literally on your own. Then you find your brothers and you become really close friends with some of your teammates.”
Stroud paved his own way.
He’s not a carbon copy of Ohio State’s last two first-year quarterbacks — Dwayne Haskins in 2018 and Justin Fields in 2019 — who have made the trip to New York City for the Heisman ceremony. He pictured himself in their shoes, but he played how he wanted to play, learning from successes and mistakes.
It’s what kept him even-keeled through the praise and the criticism, allowing him to be focused on the opinion of those around him: his coaches, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
Stroud wasn’t playing to please people. Ever since he went to that first church service with Johnson and Babb, it’s been much bigger than that.
“People are going to talk regardless, good or bad,” Stroud said. “You might as well do you and remain faithful to God.”
