Anthony Gonzales. The former Buckeye receiver, is a Republican congressman (U.S. House Ohio District 16) and voted for the president’s latest impeachment. Pretty big Buckeye news! As you might know, Ohio voted pretty resoundingly for The Donald. Some political courage – an odd thing to see.
For those who need a refresher, last time Trump was impeached (approx 30 years ago) it was for trying to get the government of Ukraine to dig up dirt on Joe Biden’s son (ie. Inviting a foreign power to interfere in American elections… which is not a thing that is allowed). This time, after the aforementioned Joe Biden beat the president in the election, the president told his supporters the election was stolen from them and they should march on the capitol. Which they did. And they killed a cop. And injured other cops. Oh and they also threatened the lives of all of the members of the House and Senate, Vice President, Vice President-Elect, AND A BUNCH OF FAMILY MEMBERS THAT WERE IN THE BUILDING. So, this time, the impeachment was for “inciting an insurrection,” which is a little more cut and dried because the insurrection was televised. The first go-round there was only, like, a recorded phone call of the lawbreaking. Will Trump be convicted in the Senate and barred from ever running for office again? Seems unlikely, but crazier things have happened. Like… a shady real estate developer with Jeffrey Epstein-sized skeletons in his gold-plated closet becoming president?
Anyway, back to Anthony, who I assume we nicknamed Gonzo back in the day? (US Representatives can have nicknames right? Like, Louis Gomhert is Gomer Pyle. Kevin McCarthy is The Starburst Curator, Anthony is Gonzo. We’ll just call Liz “Liz”). Gonzo played for YOUR Ohio State Buckeyes from 2004 to 2006. He had a Heisman winning QB in 2006, Troy Smith, and made it all the way to the BCS Championship game, losing to Florida and Coach Urban Meyer.
Gonzales joined 9 of his Republican colleagues – including the #3 leader in the minority, Liz Cheney – in voting to impeach, plus all the Democrats. (Liz Cheney is the daughter of Dick, former VP to GW Bush. Dick was Secretary of Defense under GHW Bush and is also famous for accidentally shooting a guy during a quail hunt. Happens all the time ). You can find Rep. Gonzales’ remarks here. Gonzo voted against impeaching the first time, as did all the Republicans in the House.
- In 3 years at OSU – 33 games, 87 catches, almost 1300 yards and 13 TD’s.
- Gonzo was the last pick in the first round of the NFL Draft (32nd overall) which seems way too high in retrospect – for the Indianapolis Colts.
- Really only played 2 seasons and then tried to play for 3 more. 1300 yards and 7 TD’s for the Colts. Of the players drafted in 2006, Gonzales is 20th in receiving yards. The Jamarcus Russel Draft! The top receiving yards guy from that class is Calvin Johnson, with approximately 4 million yards.
- After retiring at age 27 or so, and after making almost $8M, Anthony did what all former football players do, go to Stanford and get an MBA. Then work at an Education Technology firm in San Francisco and then run for congress. He first ran and won in 2018, when the previous occupant of his seat foolishly tried to unseat Senator Sherrod Brown. Then in 2020, Gonzo took 67% of the vote in the general election, smoking the democrat (yes I know Ohio is gerrymandered as fuck. Gonzo’s district looks like this, conveniently avoiding the population centers of Akron and Cleveland).
- Does he still sleep in a tent designed to simulate altitude??
Urban Meyer is coaching the Jags. The Jaguars are an NFL team (they are? the least known NFL team?) who happen to have the first pick in the draft this year because they’re bad at football. Here’s hoping Urban has more success in the pros than Nick Saban had! They’re going to take Trevor Lawrence and give him 40 million dollars and a Selson Blue commercial.
Will NFL dudes listen to Urban? Is coaching in the NFL less stressful than his jobs at Florida and Ohio State, both of which he left for medical reasons? I don’t know! (Wait, hang on, I’m getting something… oh Urban “resigned for medical reasons” because he covered for a wife-beater and OSU said he couldn’t be the coach of their team anymore. Got it).
The Bucks lost to Bama in the national championship game. 52-24. It was a lot of points. The Heisman winner (DeVonta Smith), the 3rd place guy (Mac Jones), and the 5th place guy (Najee Harris) overwhelmed the 7th Place Guy (Justin Fields) and his friends. (Heisman Voting).
Our running back, Trey Sermon, who was looking very Najee Harris-esque over the last few games, got injured on the first play of the fucking game. According to his mom, he’s fine and training for the NFL Draft. What? I thought he had a broken collarbone or something. DeVonta Smith got injured just after halftime or it could have been even worse. In the first half he had 3 TD’s and over 200 yards. It was nuts.
Anyway – a valiant effort. But it turns out if you’re way more talented than the other team, you usually win.
-Eric
The Buckeye Football Blog 