It is a mixed bag for Buckeyes today. Here in the east, this year's version of the team will be eagerly reporting for camp. Out west, in Oakland, another group of Buckeyes is reluctantly on a different mission. Here we say hello. There, they say goodbye. They will be burying Jack Tatum today, one of the greatest Buckeyes to play the game, on one of the greatest Ohio State teams ever. Ohio State has sent a contingent and my good friend Bill Myles will be among them, representing the athletic department. So I understand will be teammates John Hicks, Phil Strickland, Jim Stillwagon, Jan White, Rex Kern, and likely others.

Jack Tatum arrived at Ohio State two year's ahead of me. Not only was I privileged to see him play, but I would often see him in the dorm and ride the elevator with him. The most striking thing that I remember was that for as fierce as Jack was on the field, at least around us, he was so quiet and soft spoken off it. In the words of his wife Denise, "He played for the love of the game."

You probably know a lot about Jack the player. But you probably know less about Jack the person. The Oakland Tribune has a nice story that remembers Jack as a family man. Check it out and pay your respects:

Family, friends, fans remember former Oakland Raider Jack Tatum