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When Ben St. John was looking for somewhere to play college football after graduating from Woodmore High School last spring, Ohio State University was always in the back of his mind.
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| Ben St. John |
So last February, when OSU assistant coach Jim Bollman called and left a message on St. John's answering machine, you can imagine his excitement.
“It was real cool,” St. John said. “I grew up a Buckeye fan. It's always been my dream to play there. I got home and played the message and I was like ... WHAT? It was kind of unbelievable. After I talked with him and finally hung up, I was happy and excited. It felt like things were coming together.”
St. John had already sent in an application to become a student at Ohio State, but he was also getting offers to play football at smaller schools.
“I applied to Ohio State to keep it as an option,” St. John said. “I didn't have my mind made up yet. I just applied everywhere that could have been an option.”
Before Bollman, who is the Buckeyes' offensive coordinator and offensive line coach, called St. John, he watched some of the football game tape St. John had sent to the OSU coaching staff. What Bollman saw from Woodmore's 6-foot-2, 295-pound two-way tackle was enough to persuade him to call St. John with an offer.
“He called and told me they needed me on the team,” St. John said. “He said he wanted to meet with me when I came down (to Columbus). I was going down to watch the state wrestling tournament in March. He was explaining the program and said he wanted to meet with me when I came down for the tournament.”
St. John, a heavyweight on Woodmore's wrestling team, came one place shy of qualifying for the state tournament as a junior and senior. When he visited the OSU campus, Bollman gave him a tour and sat down with St. John to explain the Buckeyes' situation on the offensive line.
“He drew up a depth chart and said, 'Let me show you why we need you on this team,' ” St. John recalled. “He talked about how right now we've got a lot of upperclassmen, seven seniors this year.
He talked about coming in as a walk-on. So, I walked on. The middle of March, I called coach Bollman and said I definitely want to come down there.”
St. John now wears No. 66 for the Buckeyes. He plays offensive right guard on the scout team, which drills against OSU's first- and second-team defense.
St. John dresses for home games at the Horseshoe, but he doesn't dress for away games and he never sees game action. He and his parents, Keith and Karen St. John, are paying full tuition, including room and board, because Ben is not a scholarship player.
St. John said life as a walk-on at Ohio State is “really great.”
“They treat us great,” he said. “We've got the same things as everybody else, we're just not on scholarship. They really do try hard to keep us as equals with everybody else.”
After he committed to OSU last March, the coaching staff sent St. John a summer workout schedule he was to maintain on his own before reporting to summer camp on Aug. 4.
While St. John might have been a standout player in high school – he was an All-Suburban Lakes League offensive and defensive tackle as a senior – St. John quickly realized he was just another young pup at Ohio State.
“It's different, a lot faster,” he said. “Obviously you come to a big school like this and everybody is a lot better than in high school. You're going against the starters who have been here a number of years. Everything is fast.”
On normal practice days, St. John finds himself butting heads with defensive linemen Dexter Larimore (6-2, 310), John Simon (6-2, 270), Johnathan Hankins (6-3, 335) and Cameron Heyward (6-5, 288).
“It was definitely a big adjustment,” St. John said. “They're good and they're quick. It was kind of a shock at first. You had to sit back and get your bearings. When you get to the college level, you have to have great technique. I want to get bigger, faster and stronger and I want to develop my skills.”
St. John was in uniform and ran out of the tunnel at Ohio Stadium with the rest of his teammates for the Buckeyes' home opener against Marshall on Sept. 2. It was a night game on national TV.
“It was a great feeling,” St. John said. “It's hard to put into words. It's so much deeper than just saying it was an awesome experience. When you're running out into 105,000 screaming fans who are there to see our team, you realize all that hard work pays off. It's a great experience.”
St. John puts his mind and body through a rigorous workout every day, but it doesn't pay off with playing time on Saturdays. That is something St. John – and all walk-ons – have to come to terms with.
“There's a part of you that always wants to play,” St. John said. “Everybody on the team is competitive and we all want to play. You do the best you can do. You're competing against yourself every day to get better so you can rise up in the ranks and everything like that.
“The thing I always think about, especially on Saturdays, is how lucky I am to be here and how so may people wish they could have this experience. Every Saturday you get to put on that jersey and you feel proud of what you've done.”
Said Bollman, “Ben is an extremely hard worker who loves being part of the Buckeye program. It is a challenge to learn football at this level and carry a full classload – that’s why guys like Ben are so special. They are competing because they love the game and they love Ohio State.”
St. John, who had a 3.63 GPA in high school, plans to major in exercise science at OSU. He also wants to earn a scholarship and eventually become a starter for the Buckeyes.
“That's always a goal,” he said. “I hope I can develop my skills and strength so I can become a starter. I'm here now, so why not have that goal to become a starter. I have great resources here to become the very best player I can be.”
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