Almost everything about the press conference Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones held on Thursday was strange. From his tweet earlier in the day to the shirt he wore as he strolled to the podium, most people thought it was obvious that Jones would be declaring for the NFL Draft.
Instead, Jones announced that he will be furthering his education. And if he seemed uncomfortable at all, that’s probably because the big announcement setting wasn’t his idea.
“It wasn’t my idea, holding a press conference and all eyes on me and me being the center of attention,” Jones told Mike & Mike in the Morning on Friday, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I’m not that type of guy, period. That wasn’t something I put together, but I thought it wasn’t a big deal.”
One of the first things Jones said during his press conference on Thursday is that his decision to stay at Ohio State was “simple” and that he doesn’t know why everyone made such a big deal over it. That comment gave me the impression that Jones was pressured into it.
At one point, Jones was asked who his inner circle is and if he could talk about the people who helped him make his decision. He said he would prefer to keep his inner circle private. It’s probably safe to assume those people are the ones who came up with the idea of a big press conference at his high school.
As Black Sports Online noted, Peyton Manning also held a press conference when he was at Tennessee to announce that he would be staying with the Vols. Jones’ announcement wasn’t unprecedented, but the way it went down was a bit unusual.
