COLUMBUS, Ohio — While the Ohio State football team has been busy prepping for its first-round playoff game against Tennessee Saturday, one player has also been working on giving back to the community. Center Seth McLaughlin tore his achilles earlier this season, but that hasn’t stopped him from continuing to support his new home of Columbus.
It was a hero’s welcome for McLaughlin at the Mid-Ohio Food Collective earlier this week. The Buckeye’s center raised money for the food bank by selling hats with a slogan any offensive lineman would appreciate.
“If you saw me, I was going to be wearing this hat, so that’s how people knew me," McLaughlin said. "I saw a lot of people and heard a lot of people like 'hey, where can we get one of those? And if I wanted to do something like that, to make the hats and sell them. And I just saw an opportunity there.”
The Alabama transfer did a similar fundraiser last year, selling fewer than 100 hats. But this year, Buckeye nation backed him up.
“I didn’t know what to expect," he said. "And looking back now, I expect to sell that many. But going into it, I originally bought 100 hats, we sold out like that. Then I got another 200, and we sold out like that and I was like 'oh no we need to keep going.' So we ended up getting 300 more, selling 600 total and sold out.”
They sold out so fast that the president and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective couldn’t even get his hands on one.
"I tried to buy one and couldn’t get one," Matt Habash, the president and CEO of the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, said.
The initiative raised nearly $12,000.
“It’s over 30,000 meals," Habash said. "Now, think about that for the holidays. We all celebrate around a meal during the holidays, and for the people that don’t have that opportunity, this will give them that opportunity.”
McLaughlin said he had hoped to sell more, but his season-ending injury made it difficult. But he shared he’s glad he was able to help, something he saw as an obligation to Buckeye fans.
“Just coming here and being embraced by Columbus and Buckeye Nation, it’s my duty to give back for all the love and support they’ve given me to accomplish a lot of goals that I had," McLaughlin said.
One of those goals was to win the Rimington Trophy as the best center in the country, something he achieved last week.
“It just means a lot for me coming from my story, coming to Columbus in January, I was kind of down," he said. "I was at the lowest point in my career. Everyone was calling me the worst center in the country. And to win the award for best center in the country, it meant a lot for me.”
And Buckeye Nation is glad to give back the support he’s given them.
“It was just an opportunity to understand how important it is to have that connection to people in the community to give back, people who have been given much have an opportunity to give back, and he has exemplified that," Habash said.
“I think it’s really important that you start giving back to those people who are giving to you and make it important for you on Saturday," McLaughlin said.