By Hetuck - VA on 21:43:05 10/01/13
Much has been said about Curtis Grant on this board, but I thought you might like to know something that will always make him a great Buckeye in my book.
I actually did get the chance to see him play a couple of times here in Richmond - and believe me, he was The Beast on the field. I was excited when he chose Ohio State, but when he didn't see the field much his first two years, I often wondered if he regretted his decision to play at OSU. I wondered how much he felt like he was a Buckeye.
But what I'm about to tell you has really has nothing to do with his football exploits.
You see, about two weeks ago, my mother-in-law was placed under hospice care in out home (she's lived with us here in Richmond since her husband died 14 years ago), and recently she's decided to forgo further treatments for the cancer that has metastasized along her spine.
She's been a huge Buckeye fan her entire life, though the last years she has only been able to see them on TV (she last saw them in person in New York playing Miami in a pre-season game). She's such a rabid fan that she watches games in her room alone, because her game-related emotional outbursts (good and bad), are too much for everyone else to take. She makes Buckeye candy for the neighbors and she knits scarlet and grey blankets for any baby that she can give one to.
Well, this past Friday her new Hospice home health aid came over and when she entered the house, she saw a few Buckeye items around the room (the big cache and over-the-top Buckeye decorations are all down in my man cave), but it was enough for her to tell us that her ex-boyfriend played for Ohio State (Curtis Grant, of course). She said they broke up a few months before he left for OSU and she hadn't really seen him since. However, she went on to say how great a guy he was and that he was the nicest guy she ever knew.
Well, she ended up taking a few pics of the man-cave and my mother-in-law, and texted them to Curtis. Yesterday, when she came by, she dialed a number on her cell phone and handed it to her. Of course, it was Curtis on the phone. They chatted for several minutes and then said goodbye. She beamed from ear to ear just from that call. She hasn't stopped talking about it yet.
But within about an hour the doorbell rang. Curtis had called his mother and had her bring my MIL an autographed shirt and a program from Saturday night's game. She also stayed to chat awhile. Even though she's from the area, she had to drive about and hour and a half just to do this.
Later the 'ex'-girlfriend told my wife that Curtis was going to come home for the bye weekend and was going to make time to surprise my mother-in-law with a visit while he's here.
Heck, my mother was on cloud nine with the phone call and the shirt - she called every relative and friend we have from here to Ohio about it. When he comes over to visit, there won't be enough Kleenex to sop up the tears she's gonna shed that day.
So I just thought I'd pass this along so you would know what kind of men are in our football program. I'm sure Curtis has any number of 20-something things he could be doing with his time, but instead he chose to make a dying woman's last days a little bit happier. A woman he doesn't know - he only knows it's a Buckeye in need.
And I don't care if he ever makes another tackle - I'm very proud of this man, and I hope you are too.
Go Bucks!