Mansfield relatives root for MJ, freshman OSU starter

COLUMBUS – Michael Jordan had a sizable support group in Ohio long before the blue-chip football recruit from Michigan announced he would be attending Ohio State.

That fan club could swell by the tens of thousands Saturday when he becomes the first true freshman to start on the offensive line for the Buckeyes in a season opener since College and Pro Football Hall of Famer Orlando Pace in 1994.

But only a few, like Demone Shoulders, can say they were charter members of the club.

Shoulders, one of several relatives in Mansfield, is Jordan's grandfather. His daughter, Jacquie, and her husband, K. Michael Jordan, live in Canton, Michigan, where Michael played for Plymouth High School and blossomed into one of the top 10 tackles in the country.

The 6-foot-7, 310-pound Jordan will start at left guard for the Buckeyes.

"Starting as a freshman, I can't say I saw it coming," said Shoulders, who was born in Mansfield, but also lived in Chicago and Louisville before moving back to town 18 years ago. "I knew when he got the opportunity to show up, he'd show up and play. Then we started hearing rumors that he was taking reps with the first team and holding his own with the first team. It's like, well, something's going on here.

"Then when you hear that he has a chance to do something that hasn't been done since Orlando Pace and only three times in (over) 100 years, that's a lot of pressure on a freshman."

An early enrollee, Jordan started taking snaps with the first team midway through spring drills and had his black stripe removed — signifying he was ready to be a Buckeye in coach Urban Meyer's eyes — before fall camp.

"I'm confident in Mike," said offensive coordinator Ed Warinner, who also doubled as the offensive line coach the past four years. "Trust me, there's a lot of things to worry about (heading into a season opener), but I'm not going to worry about Mike Jordan. He'll show up and play hard and do what we ask him to do. He may not be perfect in the first game, but he has tremendous skills, and he plays hard, and he knows what he's doing. I'm very confident he'll get off to a good start."

Shoulders, who says he'll be at Saturday's noon opener against Bowling Green "with bells on," never teased his grandson about staying away from the University of Michigan.

"I didn't tease him; I just told him he couldn't go to Michigan," Shoulders said. "Michael was born in Cincinnati and when he was a little fellow we talked to him about going to Ohio State to play football. So that seed was planted a long time ago."

Wait, at some point Jordan was a little fellow?

"He was kind of little," Shoulders said, laughing.

Roy Shoulders, a long-time teacher and coach at St. Peter's, is  Demone's first cousin and an avid Buckeyes fan. Roy and his wife hosted a family reunion last summer and Jordan attended.

"He was going into his senior year and the Michigan-Ohio State (recruiting war) was real," Roy Shoulders said. "With him being from Michigan, you knew the pull from Michigan was real because you knew they weren't going to let someone with that size and speed and potential for even more growth get away.

"Man, when he said he was going to Ohio State, I was happy. Boy, that's a steal. He's humble, a nice kid, a good student  ... and he was also an unbelievable wrestler in high school."

Senior captain Pat Elflein's move from guard to center this season opened the door for Jordan. But he wasn't just handed the job. He battled at least three other players and all were highly-touted recruits as well. Freshman Matthew Burrell and sophomore Demetrius Knox were top 100 recruits in their respective classes. Junior Evan Lisle was ranked as the 106th best recruit in 2013 and played in all 13 games last season.

But once Jordan started working with the first team there was no moving him. It became easy to see why he averaged six pancake blocks as a high school senior and didn't allow a sack.

"It's the way he comes out every day," Elflein said. "It's tough for a true freshman, coming in early in the spring, to go through all that and still maintain an intense drive. He comes in every day and just keeps going and going and going. We see a lot of potential in him, and that's what kept him there. He's earned it."

He also earned the admiration of fellow guard Billy Price, who will make his 29th consecutive start Saturday.

"It's not just my confidence level (in Jordan); it's the unit's confidence level," Price said. "The coaches really feel strongly about him. He goes hard, he blocks a guy and he finishes a guy. That's what we want in our offensive linemen."

Quarterback J.T. Barrett took it into his own hands to initiate the big freshman, refusing to call him by his famous name until he felt it was deserved.

Barrett called him Marcus instead.

But after careful deliberation, and consulting with his fellow captains, Elflein and middle linebacker Raekwon McMillan, Barrett gave Jordan his name back.

"He's special; I saw it in winter workouts, how he had a little toughness to him," Elflein said. "He's a quiet kid who doesn't say much, but when you start rocking and rolling at workouts, you see it come out a little bit. Then when the pads are on, he's a whole different dude. He'll try to take you out."

In an email to the Mansfield News Journal, K. Michael Jordan mentioned that former Mansfield Senior football coach and principal Stan Jefferson, now the director of player development for the OSU football program, was one of the reasons he and Jacquie felt comfortable sending their son to Ohio State.

"I felt confident that he would make sure Michael graduates with the degree he wants," wrote the elder Jordan. "I made coach Jefferson promise to stay at Ohio State at least until my son graduates."

Demone Shoulders has known Jefferson for years and agrees "Coach J" will be a good influence on his grandson.

"Stan, being a Mansfield product, we were like, hey, we know someone you need to see," Shoulders said. "I had a pretty good idea where (Michael) was going (to school) ... and, yeah, we kept it a secret.

"Both grandfathers were rooting for him to come to Ohio State."

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