Jones taking it all in stride
Advertisement
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones and a handful of his teammates were all smiles on Tuesday afternoon as they gathered at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in advance of heading west to Los Angeles to take part in the annual ESPYs award ceremony where the Buckeyes are up for awards including "Best Team" after winning the 2014 College Football Playoff national championship.
It will be a chance for Jones, Joshua Perry, Ezekiel Elliott and Braxton Miller to have a little fun before the grind of fall camp kicks in once the calendar turns to August.
"We are going to take advantage of the opportunity to have fun in L.A. and be ready to come back here and get to work," Jones said on Tuesday morning.
Jones is up for an individual award as the "Best Breakthrough Athlete" alongside PGA star Jordan Spieth, NFL receiver Odell Beckham and Little Leaguer Mo'ne Davis. Jones is humbled by the company he is keeping in the race but did not even vote for himself for one key reason.
"I don't think that the three games that I played (were) that great of games (for me),," Jones said. "I don't think that I played to my full potential and I voted for Odell Beckham."
If Jones were to win an ESPY however, an award handed out by ESPN and voted on by an online poll of viewers/readers, it would bring a "dream" of his closer to reality.
"It would be pretty sweet," Jones said. "I am pretty sure that nobody remembers that I posted a picture on Instagram and it was a picture of an ESPY, a National Championship and a Heisman (trophy), and I was like 'College Career Goals'. To see two really in front of me is pretty sweet."
It has been well-chronicled how Jones turned his career around from being buried on the depth chart to climbing to the No. 2 spot before being passed up by J.T. Barrett in Fall Camp 2014 to being elevated to starting QB for Ohio State's biggest three-game stretch in recent memory and winning B1G Championship Game Offensive MVP at the same time. Has it changed Jones and how he is viewed and how he views things?
"It has been a whirlwind, a lot has changed and that goes without being said," Jones said. "As long as I stay grounded within my teammates, my faith and my family then I think that the sky is the limit. Not just for me but for my teammates as well."
Not all of the changes have been to his liking but even with that the good-natured quarterback takes everything in stride and with a smile on his face.
"I can live without some of the stuff like all of these cameras in my face right now," Jones said. "My favorite part is just being around my teammates more and just seeing each and every guy develop to be a leader, a playmaker and someone we can count on."
Jones has become the ultimate team player and wishes that his team could join him on this trip.
"I wish because we are up for a team award and who is it to say that these certain guys can represent the team because no one, or two, or three, or four, or five players can represent the team," Jones said. "(They could) speak for the team maybe but represent the (Ohio State University Football team), I don't think that is possible."
[rl]