SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.: Ezekiel Elliott is the most complete running back in Ohio State history.
That’s not just my opinion, but one shared by Akron native Beanie Wells, another member of the Buckeyes’ backfield brethren.
Yet as Elliott plays his final game in scarlet and gray against Notre Dame Friday in the BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl, some OSU fans won’t be sorry to see the junior from St. Louis head to the NFL.
In their eyes, he’s a me-first guy, a perception fed by his second-guessing of the play-calling after a Nov. 21 home loss to Michigan State. Then there’s the five trademarks he applied for this summer, including “Zeke’s Crop Top Bar and Grill” and the sayings, “Hero in a half shirt” and “In crop top we trust.”
I call the latter savvy marketing maneuvers in the same mold as Johnny Manziel’s trademarking of “Johnny Football” during the Browns quarterback’s time at Texas A&M.
I call the former telling the truth, saying what was on the minds of everyone disappointed by the loss to the Spartans that cost the defending national champions a chance to repeat.
In the wind and driving rain at Ohio Stadium, OSU offensive coaches panicked and lost their nerve, just like a previous regime did when Ted Ginn Jr. was hurt in a celebration after returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown in the BCS title game loss to Florida that ended the 2006 season.
So many OSU players have been brainwashed into saying nothing to the media for so many years that Elliott looked like a rebel in speaking out. With just 12 carries, two in the second half, that produced 33 yards and a touchdown, Elliott saw his FBS-leading streak of 15 consecutive games with at least 100 rushing yards snapped. He also said he was leaving early for the NFL Draft.
In the backlash, Elliott was labeled as selfish. His legacy was tarnished. His accomplishments — which include ranking second on Ohio State’s all-time rushing list with 3,812 yards, becoming the first since Wells in 2007-08 to gain at least 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons and rushing for nearly 700 yards in the final three games of a national title campaign in 2014 — were overshadowed.
Asked Tuesday about the perception that he’s self-centered, Elliott said, “It’s somewhat frustrating, it definitely is. How I live is not to worry about things you can’t control. All I can do is continue to compete, continue to handle business and not really worry about what other people are thinking. The most important thing to me is that my teammates know the type of guy I am and what I stand for and that I would do anything for this university, I would do anything to get a ‘W.’ ”
Elliott’s teammates know that and believe he’s misunderstood. Safety Tyvis Powell called Elliott “the biggest team player.”
“You say, ‘He’s whining and he’s unappreciative and all he cares about is getting carries,’ ” co-captain Joshua Perry said. “I would say, ‘No, he’s a really invested player who definitely was feeling emotional after a game. Wished that he could have done more to help the team out.’ At the end of the day people have to drop it. He’s done a lot of great things for us.”
OSU coach Urban Meyer stood by Elliott, inviting him again to join his family at Thanksgiving. While Perry, Powell and Wells wish Elliott hadn’t lashed out, they understand why.
“If you’re judging him off that one instance, that emotional moment, then you’ve got it all wrong. He’s not that person,” said Wells, the Garfield High School graduate in town for pregame work for WBNS-TV (Channel 10) and the Big Ten Network. “We’ve all been there in our career where you’ve been frustrated. It wasn’t the right time to do it, but he’s a phenomenal person, comes from a great family.”
In the discussion of Ohio State’s best backs, Wells said Elliott belongs only behind two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin. Eddie George’s two seasons were just as spectacular as Elliott’s, but George was not the blocker Elliott is. Others might put the high-hurdling Wells or the bruising Keith Byars in the conversation.
“But as far as completeness, catching the ball, his play without the football, it’s never been done at Ohio State. Ever,” Wells said.
No matter what Elliott said on Nov. 21, Ohio State fans have never seen a running back crush defenders with his blocks or hustle downfield to take out one more foe as Elliott does. In a few years, perhaps even his detractors will sit over beers in Zeke’s Crop Top Bar and Grill and grudgingly admit that.
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.