Buckeyes In The NFL - Week One Recap September 15, 2009 Source: OSU Official Site Thirty-seven former Ohio State football players made opening day rosters in the NFL.
Santonio Holmes is the 19th Ohio State player to play in and win a Super Bowl, the first Buckeye to be named Super Bowl MVP, and, in his third NFL season ... the greatest Super Bowl Buckeye ever.
Before Holmes, 20 other Buckeyes had won a total of 27 Super Bowl rings. Four-time Super Bowl participant and three-time winner Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots makes a compelling case with his Super Bowl resume.
But it's hard for it to get bigger for Ohio State than Holmes' game-winning catch on Sunday.
Not bad for a guy who was the second most-known receiver on the Buckeyes during 2005, his final year in Columbus, and, though he was the 26th player taken in the 2006 Draft, was the fourth of the five Ohio State players that went in the first round.
I only covered Holmes' final season at Ohio State, in 2005, but in my four years on the OSU beat, he might be at the top of the list of great players whose greatness was never completely appreciated at the time.
Holmes is fifth in OSU history with 140 career receptions and 2,295 yards and he's third with 25 touchdown catches.
His 131-yard game against Arizona was his fifth 100-yard receiving game in three NFL seasons. In his three seasons at Ohio State, he had six 100-yard games, including his final game, when he caught five passes for 124 yards against Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.
Feel free to suggest other great OSU moments in Super Bowl history - I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on the complete history of Buckeyes in the Super Bowl.
But that catch in that spot - that's tough to beat. I imagine a photo of that play will find its way into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Santonio Holmes at Ohio State
2003 - 32 catches for 549 yards and 7 touchdowns
2004 - 55 catches for 769 yards and 7 touchdowns
2005 - 53 catches for 977 yards and 11 touchdowns
100-yard receiving games
2003
vs. Indiana - 6 catches for 153 yards
vs. Michigan - 10 catches for 121 yards
2004
vs. Marshall - 10 catches for 224 yards
2005
vs. Michigan State - 5 catches for 150 yards
vs. Indiana - 5 catches for 104 yards
vs. Notre Dame - 5 catches for 124 yards
