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Three Ohioans helping beef up offensive line for Team USA
Published on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009
CANTON: Football is said to be a game that is won in the trenches. If that is the case, Team USA is more than prepared along the offensive front for the IFAF Junior World Championships that kick off today at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.
''This offensive line is just awesome,'' USA lineman Jack Mewhort said. ''It's a bunch of nasty dudes playing together.''
Mewhort, who will play at Ohio State, probably should have thrown the adjective ''big'' in there, too.
This group is monstrous.
Unlike the high school teams from which these players recently graduated, the players standing next to them are just as big, maybe even bigger.
The nine offensive lineman on the roster weigh a combined 2,637 pounds, averaging 293 pounds. They range in height from 6-foot-3 to 6-7.
''I'm used to being that one guy at the high school that sticks out like a sore thumb,'' Hudson graduate Brian Winters said. ''Coming here is a different game plan. Everyone is just as good and just as quick as you.''
Winters, a 6-foot-5, 310-pound guard headed for Kent State, is one of three offensive lineman from Ohio on the roster. Mewhort at 6-foot-6, 285 pounds, recently graduated from Toledo St. Johns. Brian Smith, a Walsh Jesuit graduate and Medina resident, is the tallest player on the line at 6-7. He weighs 277 pounds and will play at Northwestern.
''Right now, probably physically, Brian Winters is the most advanced, but they are all good-sized kids,'' offensive line coach Frank Lenti said. ''Jack and Brian Smith, they've got Big Ten-type bodies. I know Northwestern is really high on Brian Smith.''
With only nine linemen on the roster, all will get plenty of playing time, said Lenti, who coached Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb at Mount Caramel High School in Chicago.
For many of the linemen, though, the experience is more than just football reps.
The players have become fast friends.
Mewhort, Winters and offensive tackle Oday Aboushi — a 6-foot-6, 300-pound Brooklyn native destined for the University of Virginia — have been dubbed the ''Three Amigos'' because of the amount of time they have spent together.
''They've just found new friends, and that is really what part of this is all about. Those kids have kind of grabbed onto one another and you see them around all the time,'' Lenti said. ''They will all go their separate ways on July 6, but a lot of these guys will be lifelong friends.''
Smith and Winters don't have to travel very far to get home after the World Championships are over, giving them a different experience than the rest of Team USA.
They probably won't be as excited to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame or visit Fawcett Stadium as some of their teammates. They have seen it all plenty of times before.
''The coolest part for me about it is my family can come,'' Smith said. ''I think my mom bought like 22 tickets or something for my family and friends. I think that is the neatest part. I get to celebrate this opportunity, being able to wear the red, white and blue with all the people near and dear to my heart.''
And some of those people are quickly becoming the men standing in the trenches right next to him.
''Nobody is here to be a superstar,'' Smith said. ''We are all here for one reason and that is to win a gold medal and go home July 6 with the gold medal hanging around your necks.''
Jonas Fortune can be reached at jfortune@thebeaconjournal.com.
CANTON: Football is said to be a game that is won in the trenches. If that is the case, Team USA is more than prepared along the offensive front for the IFAF Junior World Championships that kick off today at Fawcett Stadium in Canton.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Canton, OH
Posted 08:35 AM, 06/27/2009
Parochials. . . .
Akron, OH
Posted 01:05 PM, 06/27/2009
This enterprise is a prime example of OVEREMPHASIS on kids football.
rmk, akron
Morton Grove, IL
Posted 04:47 PM, 06/29/2009
You two very immaturely turned a positive accomplishment into some kind of debatable argument. I say good job to the YOUNG MEN who represent our country!
Hudson, Oh
Posted 04:57 PM, 06/29/2009
well said hayesmei... great job team usa!!
stow, oh
Posted 05:03 PM, 06/29/2009
Yes Hayes, I completely agree with you, being as one of these YOUNG MEN OVEREMPHASIZED is my brother. These are not "kids" playing football, these are young men who have trained very hard for something they have worked at for their entire lives. This is an HONOR for them to be representing the USA. I am so proud of my brother. I believe if your child were ever afforded this opportunity, you would have broadcasted this link all over.
