I caught up with Buckeye legend and trailblazer Cornelius Green as we approach the 2018 edition of the Game. He shared his thoughts on the rivalry, his special connection with current Buckeye Dwayne Haskins, his thoughts on this year's team, and much more.
Cornelius Green courtesy of OSU archives
Q: Initially out of high school you wanted to go to Michigan State, talk about what happened there?
Cornelius Green courtesy of OSU archives
Q: Initially out of high school you wanted to go to Michigan State, talk about what happened there?
A: To start off, I used to go to Flint, Michigan every
summer. I felt that when Michigan State was recruiting me that that would be my
calling. I thought it was a perfect match for me to go there. But while I was
attending my recruiting visit, the guy that was recruiting me was really upset
at Michigan State and advised me not to go there. Also, he took me to a little party that Friday night and
left me. I had to find my way back to the hotel, so I just crossed Michigan
State off after that.
Q: Why ultimately did
you choose Ohio State?
A: My main reason for choosing Ohio State was Rudy Hubbard
who recruited me, I felt really comfortable with him. He was the running backs
coach. I think my mom kind of made up my decision because when I visited Ohio
State, Coach Hayes’ whole conversation was about what I wanted to be, and about
my academics. I spent probably about 75% of my time over at the business
colleges and looking at different colleges that I wanted to pursue my career in. So, when I got home, I told my mom all they were talking about was school
mom. They weren’t talking about how good I’d be in football. Obviously, she
said, well you’re going to Ohio State because it looks like they are putting
more emphasis on school than sports.
Q: Where did most
kids from your hometown and the DC area go to school?
A: Most of the kids weren’t getting big division one
scholarships. The majority of them were not getting those big looks. I was one
of the first to kind of get that big look. The majority of the black schools
were looking at a lot of the kids in our area. Once I went to Ohio State and
became successful there, then D.C started become a hotbed for other big
conferences to come in and get a lot of kids out of the area.
Q: Did you get any
flak from your friends or any other people in your hometown, or were they happy
for you?
A: It was amazing how so many people were happy, but thought
I might have made the wrong decision and tried to down my skill level, thinking
I wasn’t good enough to go to Ohio State. A lot of folks were wondering why did
I choose to go to Ohio State, because I played football here in D.C. They
were saying football started in Ohio, and this and that. I had to really
believe in myself because a lot of friends and a lot of mentors and a lot of
other folks thought I made the wrong decision going to Ohio State.
Q: Did you have any
homesickness?
A: I was very homesick. I got an ulcer. I think being
homesick, Woody Hayes, being at a new college all combined was just a little
too much for me. Then once I got there, I started getting letters from the
Ku Klux Klan and all kinds of other racial groups. Then I started getting a lot
of nasty phone calls and death threats. It all kind of adds up and that’s
probably why I think I got an ulcer.
Q: In regards to that
off the field adversity, how did you deal with it?
A: It was really tough, but I thought that if I didn’t make
note of it in terms of the press, letting it get out. Of course, Coach Hayes
knew, but I didn’t let it get out. I kind of kept it to myself. Archie would
answer the phone, and people thought he was me, and so he knew what I was
experiencing. It was tough. Probably one of the toughest times of my life.
Q: This year the
Buckeyes have faced a lot of off the field distractions. How did Woody handle
the noise outside the program to keep you guys focused on your games?
A: Well Woody always kept us really focused. We were a very
close-knit group. A lot of outside stuff didn’t affect us, because Woody was
just a great leader. Of course, you know he followed General Patton so we were
being raised like we were in the Army. He kept all stuff in house for sure.
Q: Nowadays kids have
social media. If they are paying attention to it, it could probably really
bring them down. It can get really nasty.
A: Thank goodness, there wasn’t any social media around when
we were coming up. My goodness. Because as popular as Archie and I were, with
his two Heisman’s, that probably would have gotten very intense with social
media.
Q: You talked about
academics, so maybe just expand on how Woody emphasized academics and the
importance of education. Is that something he instilled right away?
A: That was his whole selling piece at Ohio State.
Especially African-Americans, giving them the opportunity to get a great free
education and to graduate. That’s what Woody was all about. And also, Woody was
about making sure that we paid it forward. As freshmen, twice a week we had to
go over to the Children’s hospital and visit sick kids.
Q: I was just going
to ask you that. What kind of activities did Woody have you do as far as
community service?
A: We did a lot of community service. Especially around
Thanksgiving, I remember Archie and I used to volunteer. We used to go out and
give away like 100 thanksgiving baskets to needy families. I was a big part of
the Columbus community in terms of going to hospitals and paying it forward any
way I could, going out to student community groups and things like that. Also,
I was in the fellowship of Christian Athletes, so I spoke at a lot of churches
as well.
Q: How would you
compare the offense that you played under Woody to Ohio State’s offense the
last few years?
A: Well, they are totally different offenses where we had a
fullback and a wingback in our offense. Whereas, now there is no fullback and
only one back in the backfield. I wish I could have played in this type of
offense. I think my skills would have been displayed more than they were running in a Woody Hayes type of offense. I think I could have had a Heisman running
this offense for sure.
Q: Would you prefer
the read option as opposed to Pro-style?
A: No doubt about it. man, If I could have played in this
type of offense where I had three or four wide receivers and I could run off the
option and all I had to do was read that tackle, I would have had a field day.
Q: Maybe just compare
the physicality of the game of football when you played versus today's teams?
A: I think the game is much softer. The game is obviously
softer than when we played. Even from a practice standpoint, Woody never put a
yellow jersey on me. They are going to protect the quarterbacks now. Of course,
with the concussion scare and things like that I think the game is good being
on the safer side. Of course, the players are much bigger than when we played. It’s
a really good time to play football right now though.
Q: How did you get
your nickname "Flamboyant?"
A: Leonardo Shapiro. He was a beat reporter for the
Washington Post and ended up being the Washington Post editor in sports. He was
well known. I had on some tassels on my pants and some white shoes and all the
other guys out there had on black shoes and he nicknamed me "Flamboyant." He said "Flamboyant Green" directs Dunbar past whatever school we played. The next
day all my teammates all called me "Flamboyant" and "Flam" so it just stuck. But he named me that. I can’t take credit for
giving myself that name, I have to give it to him.
Q: Now I wanted to
talk about your relationship with Dwayne Haskins if that’s okay. Maybe just
talk about your relationship as far as you both being from the DC area and
carrying on that lineage of African-American Quarterbacks at Ohio State.
A: I’m very proud of that. You know, there hadn’t been another African-American quarterback wearing
number 7 as far as I knew of for 45 years; And how amazing 45 years later that an
African-American came out of the Washington D.C area. His dad and I are very good
friends and of course I’m always sending him some nice spiritual quotes, and he
sends me some as well in terms of praying for his son to make sure he stays
healthy, which I always do. But I’m just really proud of Dwayne and his
accomplishments and couldn’t be prouder of a kid like him who is a spiritual
kid, and we both have a spiritual number in number 7.
Q: Talk about how you
got the number 7.
A: It was really wild for me to wear number 7, because when
I first got to Ohio State, they gave me number 25. If you add 2 and 5, you get
7. They gave me the number 7 maybe the 4th or 5th week of
the season. It was amazing. One of my teammates, Steve Luke's mom told me the
night before. She said, "Cornelius I had a dream that you were wearing number 7" and I just thought she had lost it or something. The next day I went into
my locker and lo and behold number 7 was in my locker.
Q: I thought Dwayne
showed a lot of heart against Maryland in front of his family and his friends.
Since you were at the game what were your thoughts on his play and getting to
see him beat the season records for touchdowns and yardage?
A: It was a homecoming for him. I wish I would have been
able to come back home and play in the D.C area where all my friends and family
could come out and see me. So that was a blessing for him to come back home and
also it was a blessing because he had initially signed to go to Maryland, before
switching to Ohio State. So, I think he had a lot on the line in terms of
wanting to impress people in this area that came out to see him. I was just
more impressed with him using his legs in this game because there had been
several games where he never ran the ball. It was great timing for him to use
his legs in this game and to throw so many touchdowns in addition to running. That puts another thing on Michigan’s mind.
Q: Do you think Ohio
State should bring in Tate Martell at all?
A: I think you do because it adds another something that
Michigan’s defense is going to have to get ready for. When Tate Martell comes
in, all he has been doing is running but Urban might get pass happy and make
that kid pass and catch Michigan off guard a little bit.
Q: What advice would
you give to Dwayne as he approaches the Game and the rest of the season?
A: This is a game where you really make a name for yourself.
This is a game where everyone is going to remember what you did. You can throw
that 10-1 record out the window. I think the reason I’m so popular and well
known is because I never lost to Michigan. I’m 3-0-1 against them. Back then,
when we played, if you didn’t win the Big Ten championship or title, you didn’t
go to a bowl game, so all the marbles were on the table when we played. It meant
everything to me.
Q: Do you believe
when OSU plays Michigan that the records truly do go out the window?
A: There is no doubt about it. You can see even when
Michigan didn’t have some good teams and good records, they always played Ohio
State really tough though. You can throw the records out the window. This game
is going to go down as a street fight.
Q: Do you have any
concerns going into the game? Even though Ohio State is 10-1 many people think
OSU has underachieved. Is it a matter of flipping a switch?
A: I think nobody thought that Ohio State’s defense would
play as well as they did when they played Michigan State. I think the defense
is going to show up like they did against Michigan State. That might be
surprising to some, but they played great after the Purdue collapse. They came
back and played good defense. I think Maryland had a very tricky offense. When you come and play Michigan, they are not
tricky at all. You know pretty much what they are going to do. I can’t see them
putting wide receivers out there throwing deep passes. I think the defense has a better shot playing
against Michigan versus playing Maryland, where they split a lot of guys out at
wide receiver.
Q: What advice would
you have for the current team going into the Game with them being a 4-point
underdog?
A: Obviously, never look at that as far as points. I think
we are ready. I definitely think these guys should have some confidence because
Michigan hasn’t beaten us since Harbaugh has been there. So obviously we have
an edge and also, we have an edge being at home. I don’t think Michigan has
seen a passer like Dwayne Haskins and their defensive backs aren’t that good to
me. I feel really good, especially with our passing game.
Q: Did you notice a
difference in the emotion and the intensity during the Michigan game versus the
regular season games?
A: There is no doubt about it. Because we practiced for
Michigan the first day of practice, which was Aug. 20th. I remember
we practiced for Michigan and we were playing Indiana. We practiced for
Michigan Monday and Tuesday, and we practiced for Indiana Wednesday Thursday and
Friday and we weren’t playing Michigan for another 5 weeks.
Q: Do you root for
Michigan to do well during the season or are you just kind of neutral on that?
A: I’m a little neutral with Michigan but I also know that
when Michigan does well and we do well it’s great for the conference and great
for the rivalry. It’s not like I’m always wishing for them to do bad. It’s kind
of been in our favor here lately, so no matter how good they do, we always
catch them at the end of the season, so it’s fine with me.
Q: Do you have a
score prediction for this year’s game?
A: I think we might win 31-17. Put one field goal in there
for us.
Q: Lastly, seeing the
lineage of African-American quarterbacks and now as you look back, how do you
feel about the legacy you started and left at OSU?
A: For what all I had to go through in being the first, I’m so
proud of Ohio State for selecting a person who could play the
position, and not looking at it in terms of color at all. I feel really good about
it. A lot of folks had kind of forgotten
that I started it off, because you see so many African-American quarterbacks at
Ohio State now you kind of take it for granted. And you kind of forget who
started it, and what I had to go through to start it. If I’m the Mount Everest
of African-American quarterbacks at Ohio State, I’m really proud to be the
first.
Permission to reprint article required from author
Nicholas Jackson
Copyright 2018 Nicholas Jackson - All rights reserved.
Nick is a 1997 graduate of Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio where he received his B.S in Biological Sciences. He went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy at Andrews University in Dayton, Ohio and then his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Chatham University in Pittsburgh. He has been published in the Newark Advocate, The Granville Sentinel, and the St. Louis Metro Voice; and professionally in the Journal of Acute Care Physical Therapy. Nick has also been a guest host on 88.9 WLRY and 880AM WRFD
Copyright 2018 Nicholas Jackson - All rights reserved.
Nick is a 1997 graduate of Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio where he received his B.S in Biological Sciences. He went on to receive his Master’s Degree in Physical Therapy at Andrews University in Dayton, Ohio and then his Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Chatham University in Pittsburgh. He has been published in the Newark Advocate, The Granville Sentinel, and the St. Louis Metro Voice; and professionally in the Journal of Acute Care Physical Therapy. Nick has also been a guest host on 88.9 WLRY and 880AM WRFD
Permission to reprint article required from author
Nick’s email: gobucks2204@gmail.com
