It was early in April, before Curtis Samuel would become a household name among Ohio State fans and a personal favorite of Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer, when he introduced himself to the program in earnest.
It was Student Appreciation Day, and Meyer inserted Samuel, the mega-talented true freshman from Brooklyn, into the intra-squad practice in front of 2,500 fans. Before his first play, Meyer whispered in Samuel’s hear.
“Just go,” the coach told him. “Just get the ball and go.”
The former Erasmus Hall star went all right, a blur 50 yards to the house. He hasn’t stopped since, running his way into a prominent role in the Buckeyes backfield, competing for regular touches once the season gets going Saturday at home against Navy.
Meyer hasn’t stopped praising Samuel since that day, smitten with the 5-foot-11, 197-pound playmaker, telling ESPN, “he stole my heart,” talking him up like a proud parent. On media day, he cut off wary reporters’ questions regarding how much Samuel would see the field.
“He’s talented and he will play this year,” Meyer said emphatically, later adding, “I love that kid, and man oh man, does he go hard.”
It often takes football prospects from the city time to adjust when they choose the nation’s elite programs, the talent level is so different. Even Staten Island defensive tackle Dominique Easley, a first-round pick of the Patriots in last year’s draft, didn’t take off immediately at Florida.
But Samuel — soft spoken and humble, hard-working and determined — hasn’t hit a wall yet. He developed confidence by challenging himself against Division I-bound upperclassmen as a freshman at Erasmus Hall, facing elite prospects on the camp circuit, receiving an invite to “The Opening,” Nike’s prestigious scouting event at its headquarters, and playing in the Under-Armour All-American Game.
“I was very confident that my game from high school would translate to the college level,” Samuel said on media day. “Right now, I’m physical enough, I can take a pounding.
“I’m ready.”
He certainly has looked the part.
The games have yet to begin, but the hype isn’t complete hyperbole. He has forced coaches and teammates to take notice. Samuel was an afterthought when the spring began, overshadowed by more well-known freshmen recruits and established teammates who came from football hotbeds. Samuel was the Brooklyn kid few knew about, highly ranked but untested coming from a city better known for its basketball.
But he made plays all spring and so far this summer, breaking one big play after another, kept on impressing Meyer and his staff — not only with his playmaking ability and his game-changing 4.3 40 speed — but also his toughness, getting laid out one spring practice and bouncing back to deliver a hit right back. In a circle drill in which the goal is to overpower an opponent as the entire team watches, he flattened linebacker Dante Booker, drawing a wild reaction from his offensive teammates.
“Never once have I seen him flinch,” Buckeyes running backs coach Stan Drayton said in a phone interview. “Just a tough nut. His contact demeanor has to be the most impressive thing. He loads his body up. He’s trying to strike people. He’s the hammer. He ain’t the nail.”
Samuel said he wanted to enjoy his senior year with his friends, but E-Hall coach Danny Landberg knew better. If Samuel wanted to excel at Ohio State, he couldn’t afford to waste any time. He graduated early, with a B average, and enrolled last January.
“It was 100 percent the right thing to do because: a) He’s already got a semester under his belt [with a] 3.0 GPA, 12 credits; b) He’s put on 20 pounds of muscle already; and c) He’s gotten to understand the whole system,” Landberg said.
E-Hall assistant coach Ray Lizzi was taken with Samuel from the moment he laid eyes on the kid as an eighth grader. He was impressed by his talent, his effortless gait and quick understanding of the game, and his speed. But what really stuck with the assistant coach was Samuel’s maturity, his desire to get better and listen, and do the right thing, arrive on time, leave late, never get into trouble — qualities Drayton rattled off that he has seen as well.
“The kid doesn’t curse, doesn’t have tattoos, never comes home late,” Lizzi said. “The type of kid I [would] let marry my daughter if he’s old enough.”
Meyer seems ready to marry one of his girls off to Samuel already — and the freshman has yet to even win a game for him.
Home grown
This isn’t a college football town, but the area will have players in significant roles on several notable programs this fall. Here’s a look:
Player, College, High School, City, Position, Year
Devon Cajuste, Stanford Holy Cross, Seaford, LI, WR, Senior
Curtis Samuel, Ohio State, Erasmus Hall, Brooklyn, RB, Freshman
Brandon Reddish, Syracuse, Fort Hamilton, Brooklyn, CB, Senior
Terrel Hunt, Syracuse, Christ the King, Brooklyn, QB, Senior
Jabrill Peppers, Michigan, Paramus Catholic (N.J.), East Orange, N.J., CB, Freshman
Josue Matias, Florida State, Union City, Union City, N.J., OG, Senior
Jordan Lucas, Penn State, New Rochelle, New Rochelle, CB, Junior