Not-so-shocking: Cardale Jones had his reasons for staying in school

Not so shocking: OSU’s Jones had his reasons for staying in school

By DOUG LESMERISES

Northeast Ohio Media Group

CLEVELAND

Cardale Jones slumped in a chair in his 12 Gauge T-shirt, his two-month-old daughter, Chloe, in his arms, his decision made, his life changed.

Soon he’d hand off his daughter to his mother in a back office at Ginn Academy, now filled with family who’d soon pose for a photo. This was a celebration of something new, though Jones had minutes earlier announced that nothing was changing.

He was returning to Ohio State.

“He fooled them, too, didn’t he?” asked Florence Jones, wearing an Ohio State shirt and ear-to-ear smile.

First, her son had shocked the world by leading the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night.

Thursday afternoon may have been a greater shock.

The 22-year-old, 6-foot-5 legend-of-the-month with a 3-0 record as Ohio State’s starter and the measurables and talent to intrigue the NFL decided to come back for a future with no promises at Ohio State. The battle to start in 2015 between Jones and the injured quarterbacks ahead of him, Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, will make for a reality series.

“I think he put himself in a great position in life,” said his Glenville High School coach and mentor from Ginn Academy, Ted Ginn Sr. “Football, I think he’s got a fair shot to compete, that’s all that matters. All you do is get a chance in life, and when you get it, you’ve got to seize it.”

Seize it. That was the idea that most thought would lead Jones to strike out for the pros while he was hot. That wasn’t his idea.

“Oh my God, I’m glad all this is over with,” Jones told cleveland.com back in that room after his announcement, which had TV cameras lived up across the basketball floor for a player that two months ago, few college football fans could have named.

A little nervous before the cameras, though poised, he was at peace now.

“Just to have my phone ring a little less and be able to get back with my guys and take this offseason on,” Jones said. “I hope everything goes back to normal a little bit. I little less cameras and stuff like that, I think it’ll be more normal.”

This wasn’t normal. The sports world, at 4 p.m. Thursday, turned its eyes toward Cardale, some of them maybe still thinking his name was Cordale.

“He knew what he wanted to say, and what he wanted to do,” said his mother.

The news conference was an opportunity for Ginn Academy to introduce the school for at-risk boys to those who don’t know it. The basic tenant of those who play for Ginn is to pave the way for the players coming behind them. This was a chance for that. Jones, like the others, understands that. So Ginn Sr. worked the introduction music, Drake’s “Started from the Bottom,” as Jones walked in for what turned out to be a stunning but somewhat anticlimactic announcement.

In the gray T-shirt bearing his nickname, Jones stepped to the podium and took it all in stride like a former third-stringer would.

“My decision was very simple,” Jones said. “After talking it over with my family, my friends, my coaching staff, I’m going to return next year for school.”