This is the deal behind the deal.
David Cole, born on the first day of 1943 and gone before Billy Price played in a New Year’s Week bowl for Ohio State, still loomed on Monday’s scene.
His grandson signs an NFL contract before lunch and among the matters scrolling through his mind (lunch, finding a house, a 1:30 rookies meeting, offensive line coach Frank Pollack’s assignments) his grandfather is on the list.
“When I lost him my senior year in high school, it re-structured your world around what actually happened,” Price says over said lunch. “I know he’s looking down and he’s happy and he’s proud of what’s been going on.