COLUMBUS, Ohio — It’s been a tough season for Ohio State with injuries, especially for star wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. One former Ohio State running back had a similar season and shared how he was able to work through the high expectations and get healthy enough to get back on the field.
What You Need To Know
- Jaxon Smith-Njigba has struggled with a hamstring injury, which has kept him off the football field
- Former OSU running back Keith Byars said he knows exactly how JSN feels
- Byars had a historic junior season but broke his foot right before his senior year
- Byars encourages JSN to keep working hard and believes everything will fall into place
Of all the players returning to the Ohio State football team this year, Jaxon Smith-Njigba had some of the highest expectations. But in the first quarter of the first game, he suffered a hamstring injury that’s kept him mostly off the field since.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba runs on the sideline during the Notre Dame game. (Spectrum News 1/Brandon Coello)
“He wants to play in the worst way and he’s frustrated,” OSU wide receivers coach Brian Hartline said. “That being said, he’s done a great job not being a distraction and picking the guys up and staying locked in and Face-Timing the guys before the game on Saturday. All of those things have been awesome. But I know as a competitor he’s frustrated.”
The story sounds familiar to one former Ohio State star.
“I can understand what Jaxon Smith-Njigba is going through better than most,” former OSU running back Keith Byars said.
You may remember Byars from the famous one-shoe run against Illinois in 1984.
Keith Byars looks at old pictures of his OSU football days (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
“No question would be the one-shoe football run,” Byars said. “The 67-yard touchdown run against Illinois. At the time, Ohio Stadium, they sat 90,000 people in the stadium before they expanded it I think I’ve run across close to a million people that were there that day.”
Byars’ junior season was historic. He finished with over 1,700 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns, finishing second in the Heisman Trophy race.
“I didn’t get the trophy as a junior but I said I’m certainly planning on winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior,” he said. “Had a great off-season, really good preseason practice with the team and the week of the first game I broke my foot.”
During Byars’ senior season, he played in only four games. He said he knows how JSN is feeling right now.
“It’s frustrating,” Byars said. “And that’s the best word to tell you, but it’s worse than that, the way you feel. It takes me back to my senior year at Ohio State.”
Byars said he believes JSN will still be able to accomplish his dreams. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)
That senior-season letdown didn’t stop Byars from reaching his ultimate goal. He went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL and he said he knows JSN will still achieve great things.
“Just don’t ever lose sight of your dream,” Byars said. “Your dreams will still come true if you keep working hard and the way you’ve worked to this point. It may feel like it, you may have some down days you think all this work is out the window, but trust me, it’s not. Your future is still bright.”
