Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer wears the ‘JBS Strong’ armband for deceased Mentor teenagers

On By Littum

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Ohio State’s Jack Sawyer has officially become an Ohio legend.

Before the senior defensive end made history, sealing the Jan. 10 game against Texas with an 83-yard fumble-recovery touchdown and sending the Buckeyes to the national championship, he was already a legend for a teenager battling cancer.

The mentor teen reached out to Sawyer on Instagram a year before he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare bone and soft tissue cancer, in his freshman year of high school.

At the time, Sawyer was still playing high school football at Pickerington North. In addition to the fact that Sawyer was already becoming an OSU icon even as a high school student, the teenager was drawn to Sawyer for a serendipitous reason.

The two boys had the same name.

During the younger Sawyer’s battle with soft tissue cancer and the older Sawyer’s burgeoning college football career, the two exchanged messages and FaceTime calls, according to Matt and Dawn Sawyer, the younger boy’s parents.

No. 33 even sent the boy a care package with a handwritten note and Buckeyes gear, they said.

“He was our only child and we tried for six years to have him,” Dawn Sawyer said of her son, who she said was smart beyond his teenage years.

“He said, ‘I’m not afraid of dying. I’m afraid of leaving my parents.’ “

The Northeast Ohio teenager lived by “PACE,” or “Positive Attitude Changes Everything.” The motto gave him strength and bravery throughout his treatment at UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, Dawn Sawyer said.

“I complained via text to some friends I went to high school with,” she said. “I felt sorry for Jack. I felt sorry for Matt and I. I felt sorry for our family. And they said, ‘Remember PACE.'”

“I said, ‘oh my gosh,’ and I looked at Jack, and I said, ‘PACE: Positive Attitude Changes Everything.’ And he said, ‘That’s going to be my motto on this journey.’ And seriously, for 18 months until the end he was living on PACE and then he was very, very strong some days than Matt and I.

In the final months of his life, the younger Sawyer was able to see the Ohio State defensive end wearing an armband emblazoned with “JBS Strong“at every match in his honor.

On November 5, 2023, the younger Jack Sawyer lost his battle with cancer.

In the year following his death, the elder Jack Sawyer continued to carry on his legacy.

Rising to national prominence with a fumble recovery that turned into his first college touchdown in November, exactly one year after his young friend’s death, the Ohio State football captain cemented his place in Buckeye history with an 83-yard fumble recovery against the Longhorns — all with the younger Sawyer’s memory by his side.

Sawyer played in the first Jack B. Sawyer Memorial Golf Outing in June, where the late boy’s parents said they finally met him in person.

“I said, ‘Jack saw you put your bracelet on and was just surprised that you would take the time to do it,'” Matt Sawyer said.

“He said, ‘Mr. Sawyer, your son was a hero of mine because when I’m practicing and I feel like I have nothing left to give and I’m at the absolute end of my energy, I think about your son and what he’s going through, and if Jack could push through his treatments and be strong and brave, so will I when I’m not.’

of the year golf outing takes place at noon at St. Denis Golf Club, 10660 Chardon Road, Chardon, on June 21. The Sawyer parents are also extending their Mentor High School student memorial scholarship for a second year, as it would have been their young son’s senior year. .

Besides having the same name, the two Jack Sawyers have other striking similarities.

Dawn Sawyer said she believes No. 33 is her Jack’s angel number, as he was randomly assigned to be buried in section 33 of the cemetery. The first Ohio State football game the Sawyer parents went to after their son died was the Nov. 9 game where the Ohio State captain scored his first career college touchdown.

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Dawn Sawyer said she also believes her Jack left her with a mission: to carry on his legacy.

“When he first died, I had a hard time,” she said. “I was a mother, so I had a hard time knowing what my purpose would be. I think we’re recognizing that’s his legacy. If this platform or any other platform can help increase awareness of Ewing sarcoma, we will.”

After losing their only son, Matt and Dawn Sawyer said they have “so much joy” in rooting for the Ohio State player with whom he shared a name. They said the Ohio State defensive end is not only a lasting connection to their son, but he is also a young man of character worth supporting.

“He’s going to be in the NFL and he’s got so much going on in his life, but to take the time to connect with my son who was going through a tough time, what that means on a human level is unfathomable,” Matt . Sawyer said. “He’s probably going to make millions of dollars, and at the end of the day, nothing is as important as his connection with people.”

Sophia Veneziano is a Columbus Dispatch reporter supported by the Center for HumanKindness at The Columbus Foundation. She can be reached at [email protected].