Ohio State Football Players Receive Viral Challenge From Gymnastic Addi Watson Star

A few Ohio State football players take on gymnastics challenge from standout Buckeyes star Addi Watson and the footage goes viral.

Brutus Buckeye and the football team do the quick cals drill prior to the NCAA football game against the Ohio Bobcats at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 13, 2025. Ohio State won 37-9. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ohio State University’s Addi Watson is a sophomore rising star on the gymnastics team who challenged a couple of football players to add gymnastics to their offseason routines, according to Grayson Weir, a Senior Editor at BroBible.

However, the risk versus the reward for the Ohio State football players is not worth it because it’s not an off-season approved activity by head coach Ryan Day and his coaching staff. It can also potentially land those players on the injured reserve list.

Fortunately, for them they were able to escape the gymnastics actives without any issues. However, it was very entertaining from the videos as they tackled some of the activities on the bars, floor, rings, and vault on social media.

Some of them were able to perform backflip actives on the mat, while others needed assistance from a spotter. All things considered the crossover event attracted a lot of attention from fans on social media, but not the attention that your football coaching staff wants to see so close to fall training camp, and summer workouts already underway.

Jonathan Luck is a TikTok fan and commented, “Bros getting those celebrations ready for the season.”

Another one by the name of Melanie shared, “Whoever spotted the standing tucks and saved that man- I’d trust her with my entire life.”

CuddleFlops said, “I love how excited they are when they land a flip.”

The Ohio State Buckeyes are also one of the favorites to potentially compete for a national championship next season.

As for Addi Waston, she did not compete during her freshman season in 2026, according to BroBible, but is expected to be a major part of OSU women’s gymnastics moving forward. 

Before attending Ohio State, Waston, the College Station native, finished fourth on vault and seventh in the all-around at state in 2024, and is a 2024 Nationals Qualifier. During the 2025 regionals finished fourth on vault and top eight in the all-around. As a high school freshman, she won the 2021 Western Bar Championship.

Ohio State’s Women’s Gymnastics Has Been Consistent Over the Years

Ohio State's women's gymnastics team has shown consistency and athletic excellence with their continuous appearances in the postseason and competing in the Big Ten competitions.

 However, they have not been able to raise the national championship trophy. They have made nine national championships appearances throughout their history with their last appearance being in 2012 finishing fourth in their NCAA Championship semifinal session behind Alabama, LSU, and the University of Washington.

Conference results for recent years are 7th in 2025, 4th in 2024, 4th in 2023, and 5th in 2022.

Earlier this year, Ohio State women's gymnastics head coach Meredith Paulicivic shared about the 2026 squad, after they qualified for the Regional Final in Lexington: “I’ve never wanted it as much for a team as this team. We’re really bonded. We spent nine days in Spain together, and I just feel like it’s a closeness like no other team that I coached has been.”