C.J. Stroud Felt 'Disrespected' When Ohio State Signed Now-Longhorns QB Quinn Ewers
Quinn Ewers is now the No. 1 quarterback for the Texas Longhorns. Which, in and of itself, is one of the most high-profile positions in the sport of college football.
However, he wasn't always planning on being with the Horns, originally signing with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the fall of 2021 after reclassifying to the 2021 class.
And ahead of him at Ohio State, was none other than C.J. Stroud, who would go on to be one of the best quarterbacks in Buckeyes history, finishing his career as a two-time Heisman finalist, and nearly leading the Buckeyes to a national title appearance in his final season.
However, even though he was the starter in Columbus, the signing of Ewers by the Buckeyes did not sit well with Stroud. In fact, he even felt 'disrespected' by the program after the signing of Ewers, who at the time of his singing was the No. 1 overall player in the country and was brought in by the Buckeyes to presumably be the quarterback of the future.
"Justin (Fields) was the starter, and I was the backup," Stroud said in a pre-draft interview with Uninterrupted’s The Shop, "The next year they brought somebody else in, Quinn Ewers the Texas quarterback, who was the No. 1 player I think ever ranked in high school. They brought him like the weekend of fall camp, which is training camp which is training camp for us, and I kind of felt disrespected. I didn't like that."
But why didn't he like it? After all quarterbacks are signed year after year by every college program, and more often than not, in consecutive classes.
According to Stroud, it was because he wasn't aware that it was happening until the day of.
"They told me the day he came," Stroud said. "I kind of think everything that I have gotten in my life has been earned, never given, and I pride myself on that. I think that's kind of why I have a chip on my shoulder a little bit. That's kind of why I have that dog in me. I mean they brought in a guy two weeks before our first game, and I thought I was the guy."
Ultimately, Stroud held on to the starting job. while Ewers, would leave Columbus and move on to Texas. And the rest of course is history. Stroud would go on to be picked No. 2 overall by the Houston Texans last month, where the next step of his career is set to begin.
But at the end of the day, Stroud realizes that the college game, just like the NFL is a business, and that it helped shape him into who he is now.
"That just shows you man, its a business at the end of the day," Stroud said. "And now, I'm doing it for myself. I know the business that I’m in, that it is, in a sense, cutthroat."
Ewers is no stranger to that type of pressure either, having been forced out of Columbus after losing the battle to Stroud, and then beating out Casey Thompson and Hudson Card for the starting job in Austin.
Was that also cutthroat? Perhaps. But it is also simply the nature of the college game in 2023, and it is not likely to change anytime soon.
You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan
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