By Mark Wilson
January 15, 2015

Yo, Cardale! Thanks for staying in school.

That’s tough for me to say since normally I am the guy that rallies for college athletes to take the money and run.

Run even faster if you are a guaranteed first round draft pick in your selected sport.

Jones was NOT going to be a first round selection.

Thursday was the deadline for college football dudes to declare for the NFL Draft.

Some believed that the quarterback of the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes should take his THREE games of experience and high tail it to the league that pays its players legally.

At no point since this past Monday did I believe Jones had any business rolling off the Columbus campus and into the crazy world of professional football.

NO business.

“I don’t know why you guys made such a big deal,” Jones joked to the media assembled at the Ginn Academy auditorium.

They made a big deal because it’s 2015.

EVERYONE takes the money when they can, right?

Wrong.

It’s not a simple decision and what Jones did by leading Urban Meyer’s band of Big Ten misfits to an improbable NCAA crown was even more improbable.

Third string QB defeats Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon in succession to give Meyer his third national title as a college football head coach.

Third string.

Unheard of.

Braxton Miller goes out before the season and J.T. Barrett takes over and leads OSU to a third consecutive perfect B1G 8-and-0 campaign.

Then, Barrett goes down during the conference finale against Michigan sealing Brady Hoke’s fate as a FORMER Wolverines’ head coach.

In comes Jones, a little known redshirt sophomore, whose own Wikipedia page isn’t sure of his real AGE.

Is he 22 or 23?

Who knows?

In a span of a month, C.J. rolls up 742 passing yards, six touchdowns and wins in the Big Ten title game, Sugar Bowl and newly-minted College Football Playoff Championship Game.

CFPCG; a real mouthful.

But for Jones, it tasted awfully good.

As soon as the Buckeyes put on those ugly title shirts and hats, the talk about Cardale’s future began.

I had many spirited conversations with sports geeks who told me I was a nut job for wanting Jones to stay at Ohio State.

First on the list is the fact that Miller and Barrett are still on the Columbus table.

Why would Jones want to compete with those two fine athletes when he just WON THE FREAKIN CHAMPIONSHIP?

Good point.

I answered that, “HE’S NOT NEARLY READY FOR THE NFL”

Almost too remedial for me.

There is no bigger jump, in my opinion, in any one position from the university ranks to the pros than quarterback in football.

Nothing matches it in baseball, hockey, basketball or other living organism.

Hell, we’ve seen guys go through all four years of college and not be ready for the NFL.

I used Jim Kelly as an example.

You know how many touchdown passes the Pro Football Hall of Fame QB of the Buffalo Bills threw his 1982 senior year at the University of Miami?

How about… THREE.

That’s it. Kelly threw THREE touchdown passes.

Mark Richt, the current head coach at Georgia, led the Hurricanes with a robust FOUR touchdown passes.

Richt threw more than the oft-injured Kelly.

Yet, in the infamous quarterback draft of 1983, Kelly was picked 14th overall.

Kelly didn’t even have a great junior season, like Dan Marino did, to warrant the pick after such a nothing year in ’82.

So, did Kelly bust out of the gate and start right away for the Bills?

Nope.

He didn’t even go to the NFL.

Lest you forget, Kelly began his pro life in the old USFL with the Houston Gamblers.

Cardale Jones doesn’t have the USFL.

And he threw MORE touchdown passes than the great Jim Kelly in just a couple of weeks-time.

Oh, one other thing.

Jones is NO Jim Kelly.

People wanted to be so right about Jones going pro it was almost obsessive.

I asked a friend why he was so intent about seeing this “kid” leave Ohio State and all he could come up with was, “He’s the best talent I’ve seen in college in decades.”

He actually said that.

Pardon me for a quick head shake.

Jones isn’t even the best talent… AT OHIO STATE.

My goodness do we have some short memories.

People glowed at Barrett’s ability to slide right into the starting slot when Miller went down and directed Tom Herman’s offensive attack week in and week out.

Herman is the best collegiate offensive coordinator in the game which is why he is shedding the title for “head coach” at the University of Houston.

Barrett ran Herman’s offense with efficiency and precision and it failed him just one Saturday; when OSU lost to Virginia Tech.

Miller’s only failures, if you want to call them that, came against Clemson in a bowl game and Michigan State in the 2013 B1G title game.

Other than those three? The Buckeyes have won ‘em all.

In the 24 straight regular season conference victories that Meyer has racked up since arriving on campus, Cardale Jones has been responsible for exactly… A HALF OF ONE.

Ohio State was already on its way to a third straight perfect conference slate when Barrett broke his ankle against Michigan.

Jones finished off that game.

The other 23 and a half efforts belong to Miller and Barrett.

Braxton and J.T. are the fellas that got Meyer to the Promised Land.

Jones is the fella that slammed the door.

This is hardly an indictment of Cardale Jones.

Quite the opposite.

I get why there was so much hub-ub over C.J.’s miracle run to the finish line.

We LOVE the new guy!

Sports are loaded with stories about players who basically come out of nowhere to lead their teams to victories and championships.

A famous one is Gene Tenace.

In 1972, Tenace was a little-used backup catcher on the Oakland A’s.

Like Jones, he was really a third-stringer behind Dave Duncan and Larry Haney.

Manager Dick Williams decided to use Tenace in the ALCS versus the Tigers.

His only hit of the series came in the deciding Game Five which proved to be the winner sending the A’s into their first World Series.

He batted a paltry .059 but Williams stuck with him.

In the W.S., it only got better for Tenace.

Four home runs, nine RBI and a .348 batting average later and Tenace was named World Series MVP.

In 1973, he was named starting catcher in Oakland and kept the spot EIGHT seasons between the A’s and San Diego. Tenace won two more titles with Oakland before heading to Southern California.

Tenace’s situation is very much like Jones.

Dave Duncan played the part of Miller and/or Barrett.

There was NO baseball story in the early 1970’s quite like Gene Tenace.

In many ways, you can associate what Steve Fisher did in 1989 at Michigan with Jones.

Replacing Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA Basketball Championship and going 6-and-0 to win it all, was very Jones-like for Fisher.

We just dig those “David and Goliath” deals.

And what Jones did was more “Herculean” than anything.

Meyer says he knew Cardale had it in him.

Well, maybe he did and maybe he didn’t.

What JONES knew pretty darn quickly was that he wasn’t ready for the NFL.

He said so immediately after the game Monday night in Texas.

The minute he made his announcement official in Cleveland, Jones joined five of the past six national champion QB’s to make the SAME decision.

Jameis Winston and AJ McCarron could have turned pro but didn’t. Greg McElroy and Tim Tebow remained when they could have also gone pro.

Cam Newton is the one that got away.

After Auburn’s unlikely push to the title in 2010, Newton declared for the NFL Draft.

There was NO DOUBT that Newton was going to be a number one or two pick and NO DOUBT that his skill set was ready-set-go for the NFL.

Newton and Jones are not the same.

Obviously, Cam has made the right decision as he continues to lead in Carolina.

McCarron made the right decision… twice.

Winston made the right decision as well despite falling short in the national semifinal. He is now going to play baseball for Florida State as the team’s closer. Winston has a shot to have a long pro baseball career.

Tebow made the right decision even though he was so thoroughly lambasted in the NFL, it’s a wonder he made it out alive.

He’s doing television now but at the tender age of 27, you know he wants back in.

Jones played three games and part of a fourth.

THAT is his college experience.

He even made the announcement at his high school because he is more comfortable there.

The idea that folks thought the dude was ready for the NFL is mind-boggling.

I don’t even think he would ready for the damn COMBINE.

Off-season workouts are going to start and Cardale needs to work on his body. He needs to tone that sucker up.

He has all the tools to be great; big arm, speed, height, size and a modicum of strength.

I’m telling you… he is NOT National Football League strong yet.

Think about it.

On Thanksgiving (which seems like just yesterday) Cardale Jones was feasting on turkey and all the trimmings looking forward to a home game against Michigan in which he would be standing there bundled up with a good view from the sidelines.

Sure, he would have to be ready in case Barrett went down but so far, Barrett was looking pretty durable.

By a few days after NEW YEAR’S, Jones was the talk of the nation.

Quick by ANY standards.

The guy who started on the other sidelines in that championship game had already made up HIS mind.

Marcus Mariota, the Heisman Trophy winner, had no reservations about passing up another year at Oregon for the cool cash of the pros.

When we were voting for the Heisman, NO ONE had even heard of Jones.

There was no fanfare for Mariota’s decision.

He did it in a prepared statement.

Here was Cardale standing up there like he was King of the World announcing that (gasp) he would NOT forsake finishing his education for the allure of the big money.

Shock. Horror. Dismay!

Oh, please.

He did the right thing.

“After three games, the NFL was out of the question,” Jones said to the media.

Spot on, Cardale!

“A first round draft pick means nothing to me without my education.”

This is a cat that once tweeted that classes were kind of stupid and why was he bothering at all when all he wanted to do was play football.

Ok, so he fell off the wagon on twitter.

Welcome to the club.

He’s smarter than he lets on.

Meyer claims he was a bit “shocked” when Jones told him he was going to stay and compete for the starting gig later this spring.

I don’t believe that either.

Urban just wanted to play the game.

I will say, if you just appeared on Mother Earth November 29th and knew nothing about Ohio State football or the 2014 campaign, you’d say they have a fairly awesome QB in Jones.

Not knowing there were TWO ahead of him would be the shock; not that he is staying in school.

The best argument there is for Jones to have made his move to the next level is the injury argument.

That one is tough to argue with.

I agree that when a player is on the edge, I say to go pro because of the injury argument; take the cheese.

Cardale Jones gets hurt; it can hurt his pro chances.

Life is risky.

Staying in college is a calculated risk for C.J.

The NFL isn’t going anywhere and they always need talented signal callers.

No highly skilled QB has EVER gone unnoticed by scouts in the NFL.

Jones will be available again in a year.

By that time he could have a full season of games under his belt. Meyer could show him the ins and outs and nuances of football that he needs to know before grabbing the reigns of the Tennessee Titans or whoever.

“Hopefully, I am the starter,” Jones added to the throng. “If not, I have to wait for the opportunity to present itself.”

Oh, man. I dig this dude.

He showed me more on Thursday than he did on Monday.

Ok, maybe that’s a stretch but words can be stronger than actions sometimes.

What he had to say at his high school, named after the father of former Buckeye star Ted Ginn, showed REAL talent, smarts and class.

Jones said it was his life and he has to live it and not those that want him to do something he isn’t cool with.

He is bound and determined to put on that Number 12 jersey and be at spring practice to compete for the starting quarterback spot under Urban Meyer and a new offensive coordinator at Ohio State.

Good for him.

On Monday, I wasn’t rooting for Cardale Jones.

I am now.