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Ohio State defender brings toughness, savvy to NFL
By Marla Ridenour
Beacon Journal sportswriter
POSTED: 11:46 a.m. EDT, Apr 22, 2008
When coach Thomas Wilcher first saw Vernon Gholston in the hallway at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Gholston had a Bible in one hand and his books in the other.
Wilcher was taken aback by the freshman's body, already so sculpted from a year of weightlifting that Wilcher thought he was someone's uncle. But as Wilcher tried to convince Gholston to try to play football for the first time, he took note of what Gholston was carrying.
Even then, there was much more to Vernon Gholston than what was on the outside.
Ohio State's junior defensive end has since molded his God-given frame into a well-oiled machine. His dazzling workout numbers and 221/2 sacks over the past two seasons, more than anyone in the country in that span, might have vaulted him into the top seven of the NFL Draft this weekend. He was one of six prospects the league invited to New York.
''There's four logical picks for No. 1 and he's one of them,'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. ''I think he'll end up at Oakland.''
The Miami Dolphins, who have the first pick, negotiated with several players before agreeing on a deal with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long on Tuesday to make him the No. 1 selection. The Dolphins reportedly talked with Gholston, as well. The Oakland Raiders hold the fourth pick.
Gholston, for his part, always seemed somewhat of a conundrum.
Is he a ''Lawrence Taylor type,'' as Cass Tech's former defensive coordinator and Gholston's longtime mentor Charleston Fobbs recently called him?
Can ''a very quiet, internal guy,'' as Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock described him, become one of the NFL's most-feared pass rushers? ''I don't think you'll ever see Vernon show his emotions,'' Heacock said.
Can the criticism that he takes plays off and is inconsistent be attributed to the fact that he has played defense for only four seasons and football for six?
Or is Gholston still fighting the same inner battle he did as a freshman, when he loved the training part of football, but hated the violence?
Fobbs hears all the knocks and said Gholston ''has been here before.''
''People have underestimated him all his life,'' Fobbs said. ''Local high school coaches said, 'You're going to go to Ohio State and you're not going to play.' He made (second team) All-American.
''He's been looked at before by coaches who didn't want him. He went to Michigan and ran a 4.45 on FieldTurf at 248 pounds, then did it again and ran 4.5, and Lloyd Carr didn't even ask him into his office. He went to Michigan twice before he went to Ohio State, and they didn't offer him. He said, 'That's OK, you're going to regret not getting me. I'm going to make him pay.' Vernon has been a thorn in Michigan's side every time they play Ohio State.
''If Miami overlooks him, guess what team Vernon is going to have a great game against? That's the kind of methodical kid he is. He puts his mind to something and he's going to excel at it.''
But because Gholston is a religious man — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he can hold an audience spellbound with Bible school stories — Gholston might never try to take a quarterback's head off. Even last season in his three-sack performance against Michigan and Long, the All-American left tackle whom the Dolphins are making the top pick in the draft, Gholston once dropped Chad Henne with a chest bump.
Fobbs believes that Gholston can be violent in his own way.
''When kids are bigger parents tell them, 'Be careful, don't hurt Johnny,' '' Fobbs said. ''You have to break that mentality in two or three years when you've heard it for 12 or 13 years. He has a mean streak. He'll run somebody down. I haven't seen anybody run him over, I see him putting offensive tackles on their behinds. Ask that Michigan State guy he put on his head with one arm, 'Is Vernon violent?' and he'll tell you yes. Ask Chad Henne after that game. But he's not going to be a dirty player, he's not going to do a head slap or throat chop.''
Wilcher said the reason that Gholston spent his sophomore and junior years playing guard was that Fobbs didn't like his tenacity.
''(Fobbs) wants you to kill 'em, knock 'em out and Vernon said, 'I didn't come play football to hurt anybody. I guess the game is not for me,' '' Wilcher said. ''He told us he was not coming back. I told him he could play for me, he wouldn't have to worry about defense, 'I'll put you someplace easy to get the feel of it.'
''He figured out what to do. Every year he'd go out for his position and coach Fobbs turned him down. His senior year I said, 'I don't care what coach Fobbs said, get out and play defense.' Because he was one of the fastest guys on the football team, he played linebacker. He led the team in tackles and fumble recoveries and made all-state.''
Even though he believes that playing offense served Gholston well, Fobbs disagrees with Wilcher's version and said, ''It wasn't a toughness issue.''
Because Gholston was so raw, Fobbs said he wanted him to play junior varsity to learn the game. He feared injury if Gholston led with his head while making a tackle, or that getting pounded by older players would make him quit.
Wilcher said Gholston ''doesn't want that persona as a rough, tough, arrogant person who's got a chip on his shoulder. He says, 'I'm a person you can have a conversation with.' One day we went up against an All-American lineman and Vernon pushed the lineman into the quarterback. He said, 'Coach, that's how I'm going to play.' He's got a peace about himself. He's also a great craftsman, home skills, he likes that stuff.''
Wilcher may never have convinced Gholston to go out for football if he hadn't tapped into Gholston's interest in body-building. Gholston said he started lifting weights when he was 13 and admitted that ''brought me to the football side.''
Asked what sparked that at 13, Gholston said, ''One day I saw myself getting a little gut and I thought, 'I need to fix this.' I started working out and got really serious about it. When you do something, you want to go hard at it. I kept doing more and more day after day.''
Slighted by Michigan, Gholston was happy to go where he was wanted in 2004. But a broken hand in Ohio State's 2005 season opener forced him to redshirt. In the spring of 2006, St. Vincent-St. Mary's Lawrence Wilson was supposed to challenge for a starting role at defensive end. But it was Gholston who stole the show, previewing his 81/2-sack season. As a junior, Gholston broke Mike Vrabel's Ohio State record of 13 sacks in a single season, tied the team record with four sacks in a victory over Wisconsin and was named Big Ten defensive lineman of the year.
But even now, Heacock doesn't sound like Gholston's biggest cheerleader, at least when it comes to his demeanor.
''I think he can play in the NFL. Mean streak, I don't know,'' Heacock said. ''Wlll Smith didn't have a big time mean streak, but he's an all-pro. Vernon is tough, competitive, he'll fight you.''
Fobbs takes a different view.
''With all the things they've said he's lacking, he still has more sacks than anybody in this draft with half the number of snaps,'' Fobbs said. ''For all the things he's lacking, for all the great players who have played at Ohio State, how is it that he has better sack numbers for a single season?
''He's playing in a conference that produces offensive linemen. Look at the guys from Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, they're all over the country. If there's any conference that's hard to get sacks in it's the Big Ten. It's a running conference. I'm not saying let's be so proud of the numbers, but numbers establish his consistency.''
Wilcher called Gholston ''the most prolific kid I've had, but not the most athletic kid.''
''Sometimes the best athletes get to the pros and only last a couple years,'' Wilcher said. ''They don't build the tenacity, the desire, the high motor Vernon has.''
Fobbs said NFL teams should also take Gholston's character into account.
They recently went to Los Angeles for a taping of The Best Damn Sports Show, and Fobbs said Gholston took ''two pair of jeans, a pair of gym shoes and two pullover shirts in a duffle bag that was smaller than most folks' carry on.''
Training in Phoenix before the combine, Gholston was invited to attend the rookie of the year party at the Super Bowl.
''He went in jeans and a long button-up shirt, was there for an hour and asked if he could leave,'' Fobbs said. ''He didn't want to party, that's not his thing. They asked him to something the next night and he wore the same shirt and jeans.
''He's not going to buy those big diamond earrings and pendants. He's going to help his mama and brother and family. He's still driving the same car he had for the last couple years and he bought it used. He said, 'I might work out something with endorsements and get the use of a vehicle, but I'm not going to buy something new.''
Gholston took pride in the fact that he was the only player at the combine who showed up for interviews in a suit. Fobbs said Gholston borrowed the idea from an OSU teammate who did it last year.
''A couple other guys had on a nice jacket or shirt, but I did it from head to toe, fully dressed. It's all about how you present yourself,'' Gholston said. ''I wear a lot of suits here. Me putting on a suit is nothing, it just shows that I'm serious about what I do and go after it.''
That's why Fobbs said Gholston worked out again at Ohio State's pro day when his numbers from Indianapolis were already eye-popping. That's the essence of Gholston.
''When I get into something, I'm fully into it. I want to be one of the best and achieve the highest,'' Gholston said. ''Constant improvement, constant growing, seeking knowledge. That's what I'm about.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
When coach Thomas Wilcher first saw Vernon Gholston in the hallway at Cass Technical High School in Detroit, Gholston had a Bible in one hand and his books in the other.
Wilcher was taken aback by the freshman's body, already so sculpted from a year of weightlifting that Wilcher thought he was someone's uncle. But as Wilcher tried to convince Gholston to try to play football for the first time, he took note of what Gholston was carrying.
Even then, there was much more to Vernon Gholston than what was on the outside.
Ohio State's junior defensive end has since molded his God-given frame into a well-oiled machine. His dazzling workout numbers and 221/2 sacks over the past two seasons, more than anyone in the country in that span, might have vaulted him into the top seven of the NFL Draft this weekend. He was one of six prospects the league invited to New York.
''There's four logical picks for No. 1 and he's one of them,'' NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said. ''I think he'll end up at Oakland.''
The Miami Dolphins, who have the first pick, negotiated with several players before agreeing on a deal with Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long on Tuesday to make him the No. 1 selection. The Dolphins reportedly talked with Gholston, as well. The Oakland Raiders hold the fourth pick.
Gholston, for his part, always seemed somewhat of a conundrum.
Is he a ''Lawrence Taylor type,'' as Cass Tech's former defensive coordinator and Gholston's longtime mentor Charleston Fobbs recently called him?
Can ''a very quiet, internal guy,'' as Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Heacock described him, become one of the NFL's most-feared pass rushers? ''I don't think you'll ever see Vernon show his emotions,'' Heacock said.
Can the criticism that he takes plays off and is inconsistent be attributed to the fact that he has played defense for only four seasons and football for six?
Or is Gholston still fighting the same inner battle he did as a freshman, when he loved the training part of football, but hated the violence?
Fobbs hears all the knocks and said Gholston ''has been here before.''
''People have underestimated him all his life,'' Fobbs said. ''Local high school coaches said, 'You're going to go to Ohio State and you're not going to play.' He made (second team) All-American.
''He's been looked at before by coaches who didn't want him. He went to Michigan and ran a 4.45 on FieldTurf at 248 pounds, then did it again and ran 4.5, and Lloyd Carr didn't even ask him into his office. He went to Michigan twice before he went to Ohio State, and they didn't offer him. He said, 'That's OK, you're going to regret not getting me. I'm going to make him pay.' Vernon has been a thorn in Michigan's side every time they play Ohio State.
''If Miami overlooks him, guess what team Vernon is going to have a great game against? That's the kind of methodical kid he is. He puts his mind to something and he's going to excel at it.''
But because Gholston is a religious man — Ohio State coach Jim Tressel told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he can hold an audience spellbound with Bible school stories — Gholston might never try to take a quarterback's head off. Even last season in his three-sack performance against Michigan and Long, the All-American left tackle whom the Dolphins are making the top pick in the draft, Gholston once dropped Chad Henne with a chest bump.
Fobbs believes that Gholston can be violent in his own way.
''When kids are bigger parents tell them, 'Be careful, don't hurt Johnny,' '' Fobbs said. ''You have to break that mentality in two or three years when you've heard it for 12 or 13 years. He has a mean streak. He'll run somebody down. I haven't seen anybody run him over, I see him putting offensive tackles on their behinds. Ask that Michigan State guy he put on his head with one arm, 'Is Vernon violent?' and he'll tell you yes. Ask Chad Henne after that game. But he's not going to be a dirty player, he's not going to do a head slap or throat chop.''
Wilcher said the reason that Gholston spent his sophomore and junior years playing guard was that Fobbs didn't like his tenacity.
''(Fobbs) wants you to kill 'em, knock 'em out and Vernon said, 'I didn't come play football to hurt anybody. I guess the game is not for me,' '' Wilcher said. ''He told us he was not coming back. I told him he could play for me, he wouldn't have to worry about defense, 'I'll put you someplace easy to get the feel of it.'
''He figured out what to do. Every year he'd go out for his position and coach Fobbs turned him down. His senior year I said, 'I don't care what coach Fobbs said, get out and play defense.' Because he was one of the fastest guys on the football team, he played linebacker. He led the team in tackles and fumble recoveries and made all-state.''
Even though he believes that playing offense served Gholston well, Fobbs disagrees with Wilcher's version and said, ''It wasn't a toughness issue.''
Because Gholston was so raw, Fobbs said he wanted him to play junior varsity to learn the game. He feared injury if Gholston led with his head while making a tackle, or that getting pounded by older players would make him quit.
Wilcher said Gholston ''doesn't want that persona as a rough, tough, arrogant person who's got a chip on his shoulder. He says, 'I'm a person you can have a conversation with.' One day we went up against an All-American lineman and Vernon pushed the lineman into the quarterback. He said, 'Coach, that's how I'm going to play.' He's got a peace about himself. He's also a great craftsman, home skills, he likes that stuff.''
Wilcher may never have convinced Gholston to go out for football if he hadn't tapped into Gholston's interest in body-building. Gholston said he started lifting weights when he was 13 and admitted that ''brought me to the football side.''
Asked what sparked that at 13, Gholston said, ''One day I saw myself getting a little gut and I thought, 'I need to fix this.' I started working out and got really serious about it. When you do something, you want to go hard at it. I kept doing more and more day after day.''
Slighted by Michigan, Gholston was happy to go where he was wanted in 2004. But a broken hand in Ohio State's 2005 season opener forced him to redshirt. In the spring of 2006, St. Vincent-St. Mary's Lawrence Wilson was supposed to challenge for a starting role at defensive end. But it was Gholston who stole the show, previewing his 81/2-sack season. As a junior, Gholston broke Mike Vrabel's Ohio State record of 13 sacks in a single season, tied the team record with four sacks in a victory over Wisconsin and was named Big Ten defensive lineman of the year.
But even now, Heacock doesn't sound like Gholston's biggest cheerleader, at least when it comes to his demeanor.
''I think he can play in the NFL. Mean streak, I don't know,'' Heacock said. ''Wlll Smith didn't have a big time mean streak, but he's an all-pro. Vernon is tough, competitive, he'll fight you.''
Fobbs takes a different view.
''With all the things they've said he's lacking, he still has more sacks than anybody in this draft with half the number of snaps,'' Fobbs said. ''For all the things he's lacking, for all the great players who have played at Ohio State, how is it that he has better sack numbers for a single season?
''He's playing in a conference that produces offensive linemen. Look at the guys from Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin, they're all over the country. If there's any conference that's hard to get sacks in it's the Big Ten. It's a running conference. I'm not saying let's be so proud of the numbers, but numbers establish his consistency.''
Wilcher called Gholston ''the most prolific kid I've had, but not the most athletic kid.''
''Sometimes the best athletes get to the pros and only last a couple years,'' Wilcher said. ''They don't build the tenacity, the desire, the high motor Vernon has.''
Fobbs said NFL teams should also take Gholston's character into account.
They recently went to Los Angeles for a taping of The Best Damn Sports Show, and Fobbs said Gholston took ''two pair of jeans, a pair of gym shoes and two pullover shirts in a duffle bag that was smaller than most folks' carry on.''
Training in Phoenix before the combine, Gholston was invited to attend the rookie of the year party at the Super Bowl.
''He went in jeans and a long button-up shirt, was there for an hour and asked if he could leave,'' Fobbs said. ''He didn't want to party, that's not his thing. They asked him to something the next night and he wore the same shirt and jeans.
''He's not going to buy those big diamond earrings and pendants. He's going to help his mama and brother and family. He's still driving the same car he had for the last couple years and he bought it used. He said, 'I might work out something with endorsements and get the use of a vehicle, but I'm not going to buy something new.''
Gholston took pride in the fact that he was the only player at the combine who showed up for interviews in a suit. Fobbs said Gholston borrowed the idea from an OSU teammate who did it last year.
''A couple other guys had on a nice jacket or shirt, but I did it from head to toe, fully dressed. It's all about how you present yourself,'' Gholston said. ''I wear a lot of suits here. Me putting on a suit is nothing, it just shows that I'm serious about what I do and go after it.''
That's why Fobbs said Gholston worked out again at Ohio State's pro day when his numbers from Indianapolis were already eye-popping. That's the essence of Gholston.
''When I get into something, I'm fully into it. I want to be one of the best and achieve the highest,'' Gholston said. ''Constant improvement, constant growing, seeking knowledge. That's what I'm about.''
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her Browns blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/browns/.
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