When the 24 members of Ohio State’s 2013 recruiting class report for their first collegiate practice this year, their helmets won’t be adorned with the iconic, yet familiar, circle buckeye stickers.
Instead, the only decoration for their helmet will come in the form of a single strip of black tape that stretches down the center of their head gear.
In a new tradition that head coach Urban Meyer established last year, all freshmen football players start their career with that black stripe on their helmet. It can only be removed by a veteran member of the team, and only after the young player proves himself worthy on the field.
“It’s a rite of passage to become an Ohio State Buckeye,” Meyer explained, according to the Toledo Blade. “You have to earn it.”
Five of Ohio State’s 24 scholarship freshmen graduated high school early to take part in the university’s spring semester, and additionally, the Buckeyes’ spring practice. Those five players will have an early opportunity to…
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