Head at the CFP, Heart in Los Angeles
Yogi's "Empty the Call Sheet" newsletter written on the plane home from the Cotton Bowl
Standing in the end zone as Jack Sawyer had a strip sack that turned into an 83-yard touchdown brought chills to my spine last night at the Cotton Bowl. As I watched him race down the sideline, teammates following and his sideline exploding with enthusiasm, I had a parallel vision toward the path he has been on since he chose to attend Ohio State, as he grew up a stone’s throw away from that campus.
When he met head coach Ryan Day on the sideline amid jubilation I had to imagine that underneath it all was a shared thought of “this is why you came here, this is why you came back, this is what elite leaders do when the moment asks for one's best.”
Or simply, when adversity strikes, the best teams and best players respond.
While the confetti rained down and the clock struck zero, I also thought about how Sawyer returned for this final season with the vision to lead his beloved Buckeyes to a title and now he is one game away from exactly that.
I also thought about this Buckeye team. Picked to win it all in the preseason, stumbling midseason and looking like a completely different team at the end of the regular season - Ohio State could have folded when it got hard. This community of coaches and players could have packed it in after the nightmare that was the loss to Michigan.
Instead they came together. They united in a powerful and purposeful way. Or as Ryan Day told us on set post-game, this team is a “great story.”
After the game, I raced toward midfield and found Jack Sawyer among throngs of media members, teammates and Cotton Bowl personnel.
He stopped, shook my hand and proceeded to give an honest, passion-fueled interview that aired on the Big Ten Network
For the next 90 minutes, Ashley Adamson, Jake Butt and our incredible crew filmed a postgame show that was part analysis, part celebration, and part looking ahead to the CFP National Championship game against Notre Dame and former Buckeye Marcus Freeman.
What a story, right?
Once we got back to our hotel and I settled into my room I looked at the clock and it read 3:58 am. My flight would leave in a few hours and my mind drifted back to where it had been for every moment I had not been on TV all week.
I took off to Dallas from LAX on Tuesday afternoon. As the plane lifted off, I felt the wind shake the wings in a way I rarely had. My heart seemed to stop a few times as the plane would have sudden movements one way or another. Once in the smooth skies, I saw an Instagram post from Kayna Whitworth, my colleague and close friend Rhett Lewis’s wife. Kayna is a Good Morning America and ABC World News Tonight correspondent and phenomenal at her craft. It was a picture that their son drew about the potential wind and fire that stopped me in my scroll and under my breath I whispered, “gosh, I hope LA will be ok.”
By the time we landed in Dallas, the fires had already begun to take over Malibu and would rapidly spread across Los Angeles.
By the time I woke up on Wednesday homes were burned to the ground, families were displaced and schools were beginning to close.
It was scary. It was sad. It was surreal.
Over the entirety of the week I did what most of us across the nation did, checked in on LA while scrolling on social media. Having a family, in-laws and friends whose lives were upended, it was a helpless feeling in my bones. One I had never felt before.
When the camera was on, I was living out a childhood dream. When the camera was off, I was witnessing a nightmare for millions of people.
After getting a few hours of sleep I woke up and raced to the airport this morning. Delayed, I began to track the news and eventually I found my way back to Instagram. As I scrolled and scrolled, I kept seeing the same things – and this time LA was coming together. Restaurants were offering free meals to those who lost homes or were on the front lines. Small businesses were setting up clothing drop-off points for children and families. Companies were donating materials for displaced animals.
Neighbors were opening their doors to strangers.
Then I thought about Ohio State, Jack Sawyer, and this simple yet profound game.
Sports can teach us about life and life can be a professor for sport. Over the past month, Ohio State has found a way to respond amid adversity. And in a dramatically more serious reality, Los Angeles is also beginning to respond to unfathomable adversity. Neither have anything to do with one another, but both stories are worth sharing.
I’m flying back home now, eager to see my children, my wife and our community. And I’ll compete to try to do what all Angelino’s have already begun to do – show up for one another, meet the moment and amid heartbreaking adversity – respond.
Thank you for reading today’s Empty the Call Sheet newsletter and if you are looking for insight on how to support those in need in Los Angeles please visit this link:
Much love to all,
Yogi
It’s been quite a week. From the CFP to LA, my thoughts from the sky.
#LAStrong 💙❤️
#LongLA 💔❤️🙌 love you buddy