Buckeyes name 2012 captains

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Five senior leaders have been chosen by their peers on the Ohio State University football team to be team captains in 2012. Coach Urban Meyer announced the captains at a team meeting Sunday night.

“Announcing who are team captains is one of the great honors I get to do as head coach,” Meyer said. “We had a number of guys get votes. This is a really good group of seniors who I am very proud to have leading this team.”

Representing four different states, they are:

§  Defensive lineman John Simon, from Youngstown, Ohio, and Cardinal Mooney High School;

§  Fullback Zach Boren, from Pickerington, Ohio, and Pickerington Central High School;

§  Linebacker Etienne Sabino, from North Miami Beach, Fla., and Dr. Krop High School;

§  Defensive linemen Garrett Goebel, from Villa Park, Ill., and Montini High School; and

§  Running back Jordan Hall, from Jeannette, Pa., and Jeannette High School.

The five have combined for 185 games played and 74 starts, with four having played in 39 career games apiece, respectively, and a fifth – Jordan Hall – a veteran of 29 games. Boren leads the group with 27 starts with Simon at 26 and Goebel (13), Sabino and Hall (five each) following.

Some thoughts from each:

Boren:“It is a dream come true and a huge honor to be named a captain at The Ohio State University. I am appreciative and thankful, and I look forward to being a leader on this team this season.”

Goebel:“I’m excited. It is an honor that your teammates think that highly of you to name you a captain. I’m going to put everything I have into this responsibility.”

Hall:“This is a dream come true. I was hoping to be named a captain but I was also a little surprised when it happened. I can’t thank my teammates enough for selecting me for this honor.”

Sabino:“I’m really excited. This is such an honor…to get voted by your teammates to be their captain. I am just really honored to be named a captain.”

Simon:“Being named captain means a lot. I appreciate the votes of the players. This is one of the biggest honors a player can receive and I’ll be proud to lead this team along with four other great guys. We’ll have a really good season if we all lead well.”

Simon becomes just the seventh two-time captain in school history and the first since James Laurinaitis was named captain in 2007 and again in 2008.

Ohio State is ranked 18th in the initial Associated Press Top 25 poll, marking the 24th consecutive season and the longest current streak in the country, to be ranked in the AP preseason poll. The team opens its 2012 season Sept. 1 vs. Miami (Ohio).