The six players suspended for the start of next season apologized to their teammates Sunday.
Columbus -- The Ohio State Buckeyes returned to campus Sunday and met as a team for the first time since six players were suspended by the NCAA for the start of next season. According to two team sources, that meeting included an apology from the players involved and a discussion by the seniors on whether those suspended should play in the Sugar Bowl, as the NCAA has ruled they are allowed to do.
Ohio State's seniors have discussed whether the six players suspended for next season should play in the Sugar Bowl, but the ultimate authority lies with coach Jim Tressel. According to sources, the suspended players are scheduled to travel with the team to New Orleans, but the final decision on what happens to quarterback Terrelle Pryor, running back Dan Herron, receiver DeVier Posey, left tackle Mike Adams, backup defensive end Solomon Thomas and backup linebacker Jordan Whiting obviously lies with Ohio State coach Jim Tressel. One source said one scenario could include the sanctioned Buckeyes playing in the Sugar Bowl, but perhaps not starting.
So the Buckeyes will get back to practice today apparently with a full squad as they prepare to face Arkansas on Jan. 4. They'll practice again Tuesday before flying to New Orleans on Wednesday.
While those six players have been facing reaction from across the country after a news conference four days ago revealed they'd sold memorabilia for more than $7,000 combined and accepted discounted tattoos from a Columbus tattoo parlor, now the Buckeyes have to face this as a team. For the more than 100 players on the roster who had nothing to do with these NCAA sanctions, that may not be easy.
"I can't tell you what I would do, because I've never seen a situation like this," said former Ohio State safety Dustin Fox, a captain on the 2004 Buckeyes team. "If you get up and talk bad about your teammates, it's tough, because those guys are leaders, too. Players like Herron and Posey and TP, they aren't just freshman or sophomore backups."
Fox said he would have wanted an apology from the players, because Pryor, Posey and others have to "try some way to get the team to believe in them," Fox said.
To Fox, the fact that the players are scheduled to play in the Sugar Bowl, while being suspended for the first five games of next season (Whiting is suspended for only one game), complicates the matter. Often in these situations, a player is suspended and the team just moves on without him for a period of time.
This time, the Buckeyes are moving on together, then losing those teammates for the start of next season, unless they lose them to the NFL Draft instead. For now, it started with what was described as a heartfelt apology that was followed by the support of their teammates.
And to think, a year ago on this day, the greatest known concern regarding Pryor was over his pants.
On Dec. 27, 2009, with the Buckeyes in California for the Rose Bowl, Pryor and teammates Doug Worthington and Thaddeus Gibson were left home from the Buckeyes' trip to Lawry's, a prime rib restaurant in Beverly Hills, because Tressel felt they were underdressed when it came to their trousers.
"They were nice jeans," Pryor said. "But coach Tress is a classy guy."
Now Tressel, and the rest of his players, are dealing with something a bit more difficult than leaving guys out of a bus ride to a restaurant.