Former Ohio State football player Nick Bosa was named the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year for the 2022 season after an 18.5 sack season for the San Francisco 49ers. With his outstanding season, Bosa became the second Buckeye great to win the award. 

The first and only Ohio State football player to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award before Bosa was Randy Gradishar, who won the award in 1978. While most fans are aware of Bosa’s accomplishments playing for the Buckeyes and 49ers, many fans might not be old enough to remember the tremendous inside linebacker. So let’s take a quick look back at his career.

Gradishar was a three-year starter for the Scarlet and Gray, 1971-1973, and he recorded 320 tackles, and the Buckeyes won two Big Ten Championships. In his senior year, Gradishar had 134 tackles, and the Ohio State defense only allowed 64 points all season. He also finished 6th in the Heisman Trophy voting. Gradishar was a two-time First-team All-American and inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1998. His accomplishments earned him being named to the Ohio State Football All-Century team in 2000.

After his stellar career for the Buckeyes, it was time for the great linebacker to make his mark in the NFL. He did just that, and quickly.

NFL Career 

After being drafted by the Denver Broncos with the 14th pick, Gradishar earned the starting spot in the middle of his rookie season, putting him on track for an outstanding 10-year NFL career. He was named to his first Pro Bowl in 1975 and would be so honored six more times.

With Gradishar leading the way Denver’s defense became one of the best in the NFL and was known as the ‘Orange Crush.’ What made the inside linebacker a special player was that he could stuff a run between the tackles but was also athletic enough to chase down ballcarriers and defend the pass, and these stats will bear that out.

Gradishar finished his 10-year NFL career with 2,049 tackles which was the NFL record at the time which shows he caught ball carriers all over the field. He also intercepted 20 passes and returned four back for touchdowns.

Now that Nick Bosa has ended the long drought of former Ohio State football players not winning the Defensive Player of the Year Award, will Buckeye fans have to wait four decades for another to win it? I wouldn’t bet on it because the ‘Little Bear’ has plenty of tread left on the tires and has registered 34 sacks the last two seasons. He could join the few who have won the award multiple times.

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