Ohio State Football: Former head coach Jim Tressel still throwing strikes

Former Ohio State football head coach Jim Tressel was honored Friday evening at the Cleveland Guardians baseball game at Progressive Field by throwing out the first pitch for Youngstown State University Night. Tressel, who turned 70 this past December, officially retired and stepped down from his role as University President at Youngstown State back in February, and while he no longer gets up every day and drives to his office on campus, he certainly hasn’t slowed down.

Friday night marks just another opportunity for him to be honored by an organization and the community that the organization is dependent upon to thank Tressel for all that he has accomplished and done for so many people. Tressel was also recently honored on the Buckeye Cruise for Cancer when former players, fans, and family celebrated his recent retirement with a celebration. A reported 600 individuals were in attendance.

One of Tressel’s former players, and current local Columbus sports personality, Bobby Carpenter, was able to record Tressel being honored and played the audio version for everyone on his radio program, Morning Juice, on 97.1 The Fan.

After being handed a microphone, true to form Tressel stated,  “People always ask, ‘What were our greatest victories?’ The greatest victories are those guys (his players) and the men they have become, and what they have meant to this community, this University, and their families….When you get to certain milestones in your life, you start thinking about things. Helen and I talk often about how blessed we have been with the people we have had a chance to be around.”

Carpenter wasn’t bashful when proclaiming his admiration for Tressel, “He has paid it forward in ways that very few people on this boat can possibly imagine. I look at the impact he has had on myself, his former players, and guys that I know, and I have tried to extrapolate that…..In everything he has done for myself, my teammates, our friends, and guys who I cannot even possibly imagine……He loves his players. He loves his state. He loves this community more than you can ever possibly imagine.”

Given what Tressel means to so many people in and around the Buckeye State, you can expect the retirement celebrations, ceremonial moments, and accolades to keep being heaped upon the former Ohio State football head coach. I for one can’t think of someone more deserving of these honors. When you go 9-1 against your rival, you can expect to be loved by just about everyone.