When Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel called, nobody in the Springer family knew quite what to think.
This was several years ago, long before Josh Springer, then a Northmont High School senior, seriously entertained the idea of making the Buckeyes as a walk-on.
Turns out Tressel had called as a favor to the cheerleading staff, encouraging Springer to choose OSU over Kentucky, which had offered him a scholarship to cheer.
How bizarre and ironic, then, that this 5-foot-11, 185-pound OSU cheerleading captain might be playing for Tressel after surviving a walk-on tryout last month despite never playing a down of football in high school. He wants to be a receiver.