5 Buckeyes who are worthy of being in Ohio State’s Ring of Honor

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On Tuesday, it was announced that former Buckeye head coach Jim Tressel would be inducted into Ohio State’s Ring of Honor during this year’s season opener against Ball State on Sept. 5. The addition of Tressel will be the first to the Ring of Honor since Troy Smith in 2014.

Tressel will be the third head coach in the Ring of Honor, joining Paul Brown and Woody Hayes, and he will be the 10th member overall.

With a program as prestigious as Ohio State, it’s a bit of a surprise that there are now only 12 inductees in the Ring of Honor. While you don’t want to add so many members that it takes away from the greatness of those that have been included so far, there does feel like there is room for a few more inductees, especially considering the list of accomplishments and accolades of those that are deserving.

Now that it has been revealed that Tressel will be the next inductee to the Ring of Honor, we can start thinking of who could be next up after Tressel to join the group. There are five people who immediately come to mind as worthy of seeing their name placed up in C-Deck next to some of the other great Ohio State Buckeyes.

Orlando Pace

If we’re being honest, Orlando Pace should have been added to the Ring of Honor years ago. During the three seasons he played at Ohio State, Pace was a two-time Unanimous All-American, two-time winner of the Lombardi Trophy, and winner of the Outland Trophy in 1996.

If you need any more evidence of how impactful Pace was on the field, he was the Big Ten Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 1996, which was the same season he finished fourth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Along with all the awards Pace earned, he also popularized the pancake block, which led to him being called “The Pancake Man”. The Sandusky native would go on to be drafted first overall in the 1997 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams. Pace was just as dominant in the NFL, earning numerous Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors, winning a Super Bowl, and earning induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, three years after he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Even though there are a lot of great offensive linemen who have worn the scarlet and gray over the years, Pace is undoubtedly the best of the bunch. Not only was Pace dominant on the field at both the college and professional levels, but he has also been a model human being.

For any future additions to Ohio State’s Ring of Honor, Pace’s name deserves to be at the top of the list.

John Hicks

Once Orlando Pace is inducted into the Ohio State Ring of Honor, it shouldn’t be long before John Hicks joins the group. In a way, Hicks walked so Pace could run a couple of decades later.

The guard from Cleveland won the Outland and Lombardi Awards in 1973, which was the same season in which he finished as runner-up in the Heisman Trophy voting. Along with his individual accomplishments, Hicks was also a member of the 1970 team, which won a national championship.

Following the conclusion of his college career, Hicks was taken with the third overall pick in the 1974 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. Hicks was named the NFC Rookie of the Year in 1974, which was the first of his four seasons in the NFL.

Hicks is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, as he was inducted in 2010. Despite not having quite as much size as Pace, there’s no doubt Hicks had just as big of an impact on the field.

James Laurinaitis

Ohio State has produced a lot of great linebackers. Chris Spielman, Tom Cousineau, and Randy Gradishar are just a few names that come to mind. A serious argument could be made that the current Ohio State linebackers coach is the best of them all.

James Laurinaitis won just about every defensive award a player in college football could during his time in Columbus. The Buckeye linebacker was a two-time Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, two-time Lambert Award winner, and a recipient of the Nagurski, Butkus, and Lott Awards. Laurinaitis was a three-time All-American selection as he played for an Ohio State team that went to two national title games.

To go along with his play on the field, what makes Laurinaitis such an appealing candidate for Ring of Honor induction is his love for Columbus and Ohio State. After growing up in Minnesota and playing professionally in St. Louis, it would have been easy for Lauriniatis to make his home in either of those places.

Instead, Laurinaitis came back to Columbus following his NFL retirement, and it doesn’t look like he will be leaving any time soon, as he looks like he could be a candidate to be the next defensive coordinator of the Buckeyes, as well as Ryan Day’s successor whenever Day decides his time as Ohio State head coach is done.

Paul Keels

The voice of Ohio State football and basketball over the last nearly three decades has been “Big Daddy” Paul Keels.

The Cincinnati native started his professional broadcasting career in Detroit, even calling Michigan football and basketball games from 1981 to 1987. After returning to his hometown for a while, Keels eventually joined WBNS radio and the Ohio State Buckeyes Radio Network in 1998.

While the Ring of Honor currently consists of players and coaches, if there was anybody who deserved to be in the group who wasn’t a player or coach, it would definitely be Paul Keels. The play-by-play voice of the Buckeyes is one of the best in the business and has done a phenomenal job at describing the action during games to those who weren’t able to actually watch the games.

There’s no doubt Keels has put in the work to be in the conversation with Ohio State greats.

Ezekiel Elliott

Even though Ezekiel Elliott might not have a Heisman Trophy like Archie Griffin and Eddie George, what Elliott does have that the two running backs in the Ring of Honor don’t is a national championship.

Had it not been for Elliott’s performances during the Big Ten Championship Game in 2014 and the two College Football Playoff games, Ohio State likely wouldn’t have won it all.

After J.T. Barrett was injured in the Michigan game, Cardale Jones was called on, even though just a few months earlier, he was the third-string quarterback on the depth chart. Luckily, Jones had Elliott to lean on.

All Elliott did in wins over Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon was rush for at least 220 yards in each game, including an 85-yard dagger late in the Sugar Bowl win over the Crimson Tide.

When Elliott’s career at Ohio State ended, he only trailed Griffin on the all-time rushing yardage list. Elliott would go on to be drafted fourth overall in the 2016 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. During his nine-year NFL career, Elliott rushed for over 9,000 yards and found the end zone 88 times.

If Elliott is ever inducted into the Ring of Honor, maybe they could find a way to give his name in the stadium a crop-top styling since that was his trademark while he was a Buckeye.

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