Click here for linkOhio State coach Urban Meyer was at the New York Jets' practice Thursday morning, watching Tim Tebow, his former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Florida. Then Meyer returned to Woody Hayes Athletic Center, where just outside his office window, his other Tebow was talking to reporters as several Buckeyes conducted interviews for a final time before the end of classes.
That was John Simon.
John Simon has been called a freak a lot, almost since he arrived at Ohio State as a weight-room addict who played immediately on the defensive line as a freshman. But among the more interesting things Meyer has done since his hiring almost six months ago is to put Simon in context.
Simon is strong. Simon is focused. But it took Meyer to call him "Tebowish."
By doing that last month, Meyer made it clear how much Simon is capable of -- and how critical the senior is to the success of the Buckeyes in what will be Simon's last season in Columbus and Meyer's first.
So is he like Tebow?
"That's a hard question to answer since I never met him, but with his character and with coach Meyer calling me 'Tebowish,' that means a lot," Simon said. "That's exciting, and not just for how great of a football player he was but the kind of person he was also."
Unlike Tebow, Simon isn't going to win the Heisman. Unlike Tebow, he'll almost certainly never make a public speech that is commemorated on a campus plaque. Unlike Tebow, he's unlikely to cause sports analysts to scream at one another, debating his worth. Unlike Tebow, he's unlikely to have a specific action -- one knee on the ground, hand to his face in prayer -- copied and named after him.
"I do not have a move," Simon said.
But what Simon can do like Tebow -- and what Meyer has said he must do -- is set the kind of example that helps turn Ohio State into a Meyer team.
When Meyer spoke to Ohio high school football coaches last month and explained his philosophy of elite players -- that a good team has 10 percent elite players, and if you have just 3 or 4 percent elite players, you're in trouble -- it was Simon he used as an example.
"They're different. God made them completely different. They're freaks. ...
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