There was a little get-together of former Ohio State royalty this past weekend that may have slipped by your attention. The first-ever Charg1ng Heisman Elite Football Camp for youth took place in Urbana from July 9-11 and it was hosted by former Buckeye stars Troy Smith and Braxton Miller.
But it wasn’t just them. The duo brought in another Buckeye legend, former head coach Jim Tressel, to speak to the group and provide them with some pretty cool life lessons.
After Tressel spoke, we got a glimpse into how much he has meant to Troy Smith from a football and role model standpoint. Smith got into a little hot water during his time at Ohio State and Tressel was always there to support and encourage him. So much so that Smith stepped to the microphone over this past weekend and said he calls the former sweater vest-wearing coach “dad.”
“I call him my dad for a reason,” Smith said. ” I call him my dad because, specifically, when I was at Ohio State, if it wasn’t for him I would have been lost. I wouldn’t have been able to play quarterback — I wouldn’t have been able to play football at all.”
Troy Smith: Still a Jim Tressel fan pic.twitter.com/5XItwvssZQ
— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) July 9, 2021
Now, I don’t know that we’ll ever know the depth of the relationship between Smith and Tressel, but you can bet there were a lot of hard conversations, but a lot of love and support as well. That sure sounds like a lot of really good dads I know as well.
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