Packers' Corey Linsley turned life around at Ohio State to reach NFL

Green Bay He nearly quit football entirely. Two years into a sinking collegiate career on and off the field Corey Linsley considered switching to track and field at Ohio State.

The center even spoke with the Ohio State track coach. He was close. This seemed like a logical exit strategy.

"You're better than that," he told his Wholesale Bags son. "That's like saying, 'Well, that didn't work out. Now, I'm going to go this route.' That's not how you handle life. That's not how you handle problems. You handle them head on."

So Linsley stuck with football, Urban Meyer took over the team, and Linsley matured into a team captain and first team all Big Ten selection. In Green Bay, the 6 foot 2, 299 pound Linsley has a chance to start. The three way competition among Linsley, JC Tretter and Garth Gerhart should be a must see, 12 round brawl this summer.

No way would Linsley even be in this position if he hadn't made major structural changes to his life. Lang before him. Linsley partied too much. He didn't take football seriously. He was suspended for two games in 2011 for a "violation of team rules." And when he nearly lost it all, when he was ready to retreat to track, he got his act together.

One day after the Packers took him in the fifth round (161st overall), the sound of airport announcements blared in the background at his Detroit connection. Next stop, Austin Straubel International Airport.

Linsley Wholesale Sunglasses realized he wouldn't be sitting there without reprioritizing his life.

"I was in a place," Linsley said, "where I wasn't putting myself in a position to progress in any area of my life. I was in the stereotypical college lifestyle. I'd have fun. I wasn't really buckled down at all. Coach Meyer and all the coaches there really forced me to buckle down and say, 'These are the opportunities you have. You have to do it yourself.'"

Neither the team nor Linsley ever publicized the reason for the suspension. But Linsley is the first to admit he was lazy, out of shape and, well, enjoying Columbus like any red blooded college student would.

Football players carry celebrity status on campus. Go to a party and your rules are different.

"Especially at Ohio State, football players are put on a pedestal," Linsley said. "Not saying I ever was, but you can get away with a lot more stuff as a football player. So that doesn't help if you're trying to become a better person.

"I just was never putting the effort toward football. I was never putting the effort toward academics. It was never bad stuff. It was the lack of effort."

Meanwhile, the Buckeyes were in NCAA sanctioned disarray.

The turning point, Linsley said, was one of Meyer's initial team meetings in January 2012.

Meyer's Florida teams were no choir boys. Arrests were common in Gainesville. Still, when he told the team in Columbus that one day their kids would view them as either good fathers or bad fathers, Linsley listened.

"I said, 'Man, that's real. That's 100% true,'" Linsley said. "He tells it like it is. There's no sugarcoating, because that's how life is. There's no sugarcoating in life. It clicked in my mind. So I told him I'd dedicate myself to the football team."

Linsley cut "all the crap" out of his life, "all the lazy stuff, all the partying." Instead of playing an hour of video games, he spent an extra hour in the weight room. His strength reached new highs across the board. Linsley credits his girlfriend for helping him refocus his life, too. drinking, he stayed home and played euchre. He might enjoy the occasional Maker's Mark, but if he goes out, it's probably to continue his "Trivia Night" domination more than anything.

Ohio State co offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Ed Warinner wanted to give all players a clean slate. But, yes, he had heard the grumblings about Linsley. The reports weren't promising.

"He had underachieved, was immature and made some bad decisions about how to manage his life," Warinner said. "He grew up. . He had an epiphany, whatever you want to call it. He knew it was time to live up to his potential and fully commit."

As Warinner said, this Buckeyes staff "saw the end result of it." They only saw "the good parts; we didn't see any of the bad."

The good helped Ohio State roll to a 24 Wholesale Cheap Sunglasses 2 record in two seasons. Linsley was the point man. Warinner and Meyer entrusted him with all the protection calls, all communication. Responsibilities often given to quarterbacks, Warriner said, were given to Linsley.

Through the recommitment, Linsley added more and more strength. Back to high school, he could always lift a lot of weights. These last two years, Linsley's regimen was different.

"The regimen was, you can take a horse up to a river but you can't make it drink," Linsley said. "Or you can shove the horse's head into the water and I guarantee some water is going to get in there somehow. That's the type of training we did at Ohio State."

The culmination were his 36 reps at 225 pounds at the combine that tied for second overall. Warinner believes Linsley is even Wholesale Handbags stronger in his lower body, where he gains leverage on bigger nose tackles. The power translates.

Linsley engaged in daily battles with 320 pound nose tackle Johnathan "Big Hank" Hankins, now with the New York Giants.