Going to Ohio State University was never an ambition for Jeff Moody, let alone being Brutus Buckeye.
Moody wanted to stay close to his rural Ohio home of Fredericktown in Knox County. But his dad encouraged him to apply to Ohio State and become a fourth-generation Buckeye.
Nearing the end of his freshman year at Ohio State’s Mansfield campus, Moody learned about Brutus tryouts.
He drove to the Columbus campus multiple times a week that spring. Brutus team members have to be full-time students at OSU’s main campus, so after making the team, Moody made plans to transfer.
His three years of being Brutus were marked by volunteer events, bowl games and a College Football Playoff national championship ring.
But Moody’s greatest hope for his senior year was to be Brutus at The Game, something he accomplished last November in Ann Arbor.
Moody was buzzing from the minute he woke up that morning to the moment he walked down the tunnel into the Big House. He could feel the energy. He didn’t want to leave that game with any regrets, he said.
During a timeout late in the third quarter, Moody pulled off a now-legendary stunt.
He ran into the end zone and shuffled over the “M” in Michigan with his feet, leaving a massive “X” in the snow. He marched to the sideline and walked a Script Ohio into the snow in the red zone, jumping onto the field to dot the “i”. Then he ran over the “M” one more time for good measure.
Moody didn’t realize just how many people saw his antics until someone from FOX Sports came over and told him that Brutus was going viral. When he finally turned on his phone after the game, it was exploding with messages from the small crew of people who knew his secret.
It was a moment Moody said he’ll never forget.
“Getting to do something that leaves just a little bit of a mark on this rivalry that I’ve grown up watching is probably one of the proudest things I’ve ever done,” Moody said. “I look back on it and I’m like, I can’t believe I got to be a part of that.”
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Meet the Brutus who crossed out the Michigan ‘M’
Reporting by Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
