Ohio State is hoping to win back-to-back national titles for the first time ever and used the only player to win back-to-back Heisman Trophies as good luck and inspiration to kick off its 2025 season on Saturday.
Buckeye and Heisman legend Archie Griffin was honored during Ohio State’s season-opening game against No. 1 Texas, honoring the running back great and celebrating the 50th anniversary of his second Heisman Trophy win.
Whether or not Griffin’s greatness was the good luck charm the Buckeyes needed against the top-ranked Longhorns is in dispute, but with Griffin in the house, Ohio State knocked off Texas, 14-7, and raced to a strong start to the season.
Griffin also kicked off a new tradition in Columbus as the Buckeyes’ first-ever pregame Victory Bell ringer. A year ago, Griffin became one of the few Buckeye players ever to dot the “i” in the script Ohio in the marching band’s 2024 season-opening halftime performance.
Archie Griffin kicked off a new tradition in Columbus as the Buckeyes’ first-ever pregame Victory Bell ringer on Saturday. Photo Credit: Ohio State Athletics
If the Buckeyes keep having this kind of success while honoring Griffin, they may have to make him a regular in their pre-game schedule.
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For the 15th time, the NFL released its ranking of its top 100 players entering the season, as chosen by fellow NFL players. The rankings are based on off-season polling and released throughout the summer leading up to the first week of play.
Let’s just say, Heisman winners were well represented on the list, which saw the final ten players listed on Monday.
The highest-ranked Heisman winner on the chart was two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who came in at No. 2, just behind 2017 fourth-place Heisman finisher Saquon Barkley.
Two other Heisman winners cracked the top 10, including Joe Burrow and Derrick Henry, checking in at Nos. 6 and 7, respectively. Neither Burrow nor Henry were in the top 40 in last year’s poll.
Jayden Daniels, the 2024 NFL Rookie of the Year, is the fourth Heisman winner on the list, debuting at No. 21 in his first appearance in the top 100. Baker Mayfield, unranked last season, came in at No. 50 as the final Heisman entry on the list.
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Rookies are not on the list but one player who has a chance to crack next year’s top 100 is 2024 Heisman winner Travis Hunter, who will make his NFL regular-season debut this weekend as a Jacksonville Jaguar. Coincidentally, he’ll square off against recent Heisman winner Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers.
The two-way star from Colorado, Hunter is set to play on both offense and defense in his first NFL game, per the Jaguars.
Read hereabout the almost-scientific path Jaguars coaches took to bringing Hunter along this preseason while preparing for how to maximize Hunter’s wide skillset.