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Football
Buckeyes Name Simon, 4 Others Captains for 2012
By Brandon Castel

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State senior John Simon joined elite company on Sunday becoming just the seventh player in school history to repeat as team captain.

John Simon
Photo by Jim Davidson

Simon wasn’t officially named a permanent captain last year until after the season was over. Interim head coach Luke Fickell had opted to go with week-to-week game captains during the 2011 football season, but Urban Meyer announced his captains on Sunday, nearly two weeks before the season-opener against Miami (Ohio).

Joining Simon as captains on Meyer’s first Ohio State football team will be fellow seniors Zach Boren, Etienne Sabino, Garrett Goebel and Jordan Hall. All of whom were selected by their teammates this week, and revealed to the team during a team meeting Sunday night.

Zach Boren
Photo by Jim Davidson

“Announcing who are team captains is one of the great honors I get to do as head coach,” Meyer said in a statement Sunday.

“We had a number of guys get votes. This is a really good group of seniors who I am very proud to have leading this team.”

Meyer said he almost made the mistake of letting his team vote for its leaders back in January, but he was worried it might result in a popularity contest rather than a true representation of the leadership on his football team.

“If you let players vote on it without really knowing your players, they might vote on their boys,” Meyer said back in April.

“Now you’re stuck with a leadership committee that at some point will infiltrate the elite. If they infiltrate the elite, and the elite’s not real strong, they could be brought down.”

Etienne Sabino
Photo by Jim Davidson

Instead, Meyer took his time building an “Elite Eight” leadership committee during the offseason. He got to know his players, and quickly came to appreciate some of the seniors he inherited from the previous coaching staff.

That certainly included Simon, who Meyer basically anointed as a captain a number of times over the past six months.

“Being named captain means a lot,” Simon said.

“I appreciate the votes of the players. This is one of the biggest honors a player can receive and I’ll be proud to lead this team along with four other great guys. We’ll have a really good season if we all lead well.” 

As a returning captain, Simon became the seventh two-time captain in Ohio State history and the first since linebacker James Laurinaitis in 2007-08. Others in that group include Archie Griffin (1974-75), Glen Cobb (1981-82) and Pepper Johnson (1984-85).

Quarterback Steve Bellisari and linebacker Joe Cooper are also in that elite company. Both were captains in 2000 on John Cooper's last team and again in 2001 on Jim Tressel's first team.

All of Meyer’s captains for the 2012 season were originally Tressel recruits, including fullback Zach Boren.

Garrett Goebel
Photo by Jim Davidson

“It is a dream come true and a huge honor to be named a captain at The Ohio State University,” said the four-year starter out of Pickerington Central High School.

“I am appreciative and thankful, and I look forward to being a leader on this team this season.”

Almost everyone assumed both Simon and Boren would be captains on Meyer’s first team, and Etienne Sabino joined that group when he was selected as the third player to represent the Buckeyes in Chicago last month.

“I’m really excited. This is such an honor,” the senior linebacker from North Miami Beach, Fla. said. 

“To get voted by your teammates to be their captain. I am just really honored to be named a captain.”

Jordan Hall
Photo by Jim Davidson

The other two, Hall and Goebel, were somewhat surprises, but only to those outside the program. As a hole-plugging defensive nose tackle, Goebel doesn’t often receive much recognition for his dirty work in the trenches, so this was an exciting moment for the senior from Villa Park, Ill.

“It is an honor that your teammates think that highly of you to name you a captain,” he said.

“I’m going to put everything I have into this responsibility.”

Hall was also a bit of a surprise, if only because he wasn’t much of a leader for the Buckeyes a year ago. His grades weren’t very good, and of course he was suspended for the first two games of the season.

Meyer has raved about his progress this offseason, however, and even a foot injury couldn’t keep him from being a captain as a senior.

“This is a dream come true,” said the tailback from Jeannette, Pa.

“I was hoping to be named a captain but I was also a little surprised when it happened. I can’t thank my teammates enough for selecting me for this honor.”

That probably puts to rest any ideas of Hall taking a voluntary redshirt for the 2012 season. Both he and the coaches expect him to be back on the field, and back in the starting lineup, but the second game of the year against Central Florida.

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