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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > October > 11 > Entry
OSU’s Coleman: “I Got the Party Rockin’”
COLUMBUS — Kurt Coleman summed it up perfectly:
“I got the party rockin’.”
While you may think the Ohio State senior safety and team captain was talking about his spectacular, first-quarter, 89-yard interception return for a touchdown against Wisconsin, Saturday, Oct. 10 — the play that lit the fuse on the Buckeyes’ 31-13 romp over the Badgers at Ohio Stadium — he actually was talking about the Saturday before that.
Instead of suiting up with the Bucks for their game at Indiana, the Northmont High grad was back in Dayton, enduring a one-game suspension by the Big 10 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Illinois’ back up quarterback in the final minute of OSU’s blowout victory over the Illini in late September.
Not allowed to accompany the team, he came home to watch his alma mater defeat Wayne High on Friday night, then stayed over so he and his brother Kyle could surprise their little sister, Cassie, at her 13th birthday party.
“A bunch of 12 and 13 year old girls and us — yeah, I got the party rockin’,” he laughed. “Actually the party was supposed to have been in Bloomington if I’d travelled with the team.”
The hit on the Illini’s Eddie McGee grounded him, though he said it was “just a split-second thing” and “not intentional.
“I didn’t really know I’d hit him in the head, but people kept talking to me about it afterward and I started to get more aware of what happened. When Coach Tress (head coach Jim Tressel) finally called and told me I was being suspended, my stomach kind of dropped.
“I didn’t get mad, I just planned to learn from it — learn you can’t hit the quarterback helmet to helmet Then I decided to turn it into a positive.”
He did in three steps:
— He did his best to prep his back-up, freshman Orhian Johnson, for IU: “I wanted him to see what I saw, know what I knew.”
— He got his sister a special present: “She’s into retro, so my brother and I got her two pairs of Chuck Taylors — one high top, one low.”
— He made his return to the Bucks line-up quite emphatic. He had 14 tackles Saturday and his interception return was the fifth longest in OSU history.
Under pressure from the Bucks defensive front, Badger quarterback Scott Tolzien threw the ball high as he avoided a sack.
“The ball came right to me and as soon I got it, I saw a sea of red and just got behind my teammates and they led me all the way down the field. I did the easy part, they did all the work.”
His score put OSU up 7-0 and — like last week — got the party rockin’ on a day filled with big plays by the Bucks.
Asked if scoring his first college TD — as a crowd of 105,301 gave him roaring support — was a lot better than that birthday party the week before, he surprised you and shook his head:
“Both memories are something I’ll cherish. To see my sister’s face on her birthday — that will always be a special moment for her. You’ve got to remember, football only goes so far…but family is forever.”
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