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Patrick the Profound.

By Zach Helfand,
Daily Sports Editor

here did this kid come from? This And, there are the kids at C.S. Mott Children's
colossus of a kid who had waltzed Hospital, where Omameh visits each Thursday,
into St. Francis DeSales High School regular as the rising and setting of the sun. Here
in Columbus? There had been a kid like him in he is again, this man, strolling into the hospital.
the feeder school, but that kid had been a foot He's even bigger now than he was at DeSales, with
shorter and with glasses - a bit awkward. It was a presence to match. "Yes! My guys!" he bellows
the same kid who showed up to his first football to two teenaged patients. To the younger ones he
practice in sixth grade wearingiflips flops and a must seem like a big friendly alien, dropped here
wristwatch. And besides, that kid was supposed by some benevolent race. Football is a hobby of
to go to St. Charles, destined for academic great- his, he tells them when he introduces himself. But
ness. What was he doing here? he's got other priorities. "I'm kind of a big deal,"
But there he was, Patrick Omameh - bigger, he says. "I'm the No.1 tennis player in the world."
minus the flip flops and the watch - and coach And some kids laugh and some don't know how
Bob Jacoby was a believer. He inserted Omameh, to react and they all gravitate towards him. "Pat-
as just a sophomore, into his triple-option offense's rick always steals all the attention!" jokes team-
keystone position: center. He was responsible for mate Mike Kwiatkowski. The kids are believers
all the calls. And, as always, Omameh shined. too.
That's what this is, really. The story of Patrick
Omameh is a story of radiance. He started fo u mn
three years at DeSales and got a perfect 4.0 grade
point average and gave out Christmas presents Is it hard being Patrick Omameh? Being every-
to the less fortunate members in the community. thing to everyone?
After Jacoby left DeSales, Omameh shined for the This night, it doesn't seem like it. Omameh
new head coach, Ryan Wiggins, and Wiggins was arrived in a white RAV4 he named Ravioli, Ravi
a believer too. for short. That's the way it is with him.
"He's really almost too good to be true," Wig- He never planned to go to the hospital each
gins said. "I think anybody who's dealt with him week. It just sort of happened, like when he
feels that way." Which is a pretty good approxima- showed up for football practice that first day.
tion. Greg Frey, Omameh's first offensive line coach at
There's Omameh's offensive coordinator at Michigan, made the freshmen lineman visit the
Michigan, Al Borges, who said, "I hope my son hospital. But when his obligation was up, Omameh
grows up to be like Patrick Omameh. And I can't stopped going.
think of a better compliment than that." At that time, David Moosman, an older line-
There's Mark Dantonio. After one recruiting man, caravanned players to Mott in his car. One
visit with the Omameh family, the Michigan State night, he asked Omameh if he had anyschoolwork.
coach felt moved to call Jacoby. "In all the years Omameh said no, and, trusting his instincts, away
of recruiting," Jacoby recalled him saying, "he's he went in Moosman's car. Again and again.
never had a home visit like he had at Patrick's Each time he went, the hospital staff would say,
house." "Alright, see you next week." So Omameh would

Photos by Marissa McClain Design by Nick Cruz


4 FootballSaturday - November 17, 2012

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