By almost any measure, Joel Hale’s college football career appeared to be over.
He had taken the ceremonial rose and rambled out onto the field with the rest of the Ohio State seniors before the final home game last year against Michigan.
He had switched from the defensive line to the offensive line before the season, to give a brand-new unit at least one experienced player in the mix, but then had to deal with an unspecified injury that kept him out of all but one game and prevented him from playing in the postseason run to the national championship.