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I Love College
Is it better than the NFL?
Danny Healey
November 07, 2025
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You know those ESPN 30-for-30 documentaries that start with, “What if I told you…”.
Iconic I know. I’ve got a good one for you today in the Diary.
What if I told you…. I have never been to a BIG college football game?
I told you! We’re getting crazy today.
But honestly, I’ve been to a million Patriots games. College ball just isn’t a thing in the North East. But this Ohio State crowd, the famous 105,000-person Horseshoe stadium, and the city of Columbus was just different.
When I say “different”, I mean a lot cooler than an NFL game.
I am an NFL guy through and through but being on-site for this Ohio State vs Penn State game was surreal, especially with the all-access passes the Buckeye coaching staff kindly granted our squad.
I mean, meeting Brutus the mascot was an absolute dream come true.
Today’s super deep and inspirational cliche takeaway: Go To A BIG College Football Game!
It was life-changing as a die-hard sports fan.
Here’s why I might consider moving to Columbus, Ohio and join the Ryan Day coaching staff as a graduate assistant…
And you’re welcome because today’s newsletter might read more like a picture book than a blog!
Flying into Columbus last week, I had zero idea what to expect.
Ready, close your eyes and picture what the city of Columbus, Ohio looks like in your mind. That’s pretty much exactly what it looks like.
Not meant to be a diss, but there are also some surprisingly beautiful aspects as the city.
As you head north up High St, two miles, you start to run into all the college bars, campus and the football facilities.
It’s a fun ass town. For all my Bostonian readers, it reminds me a lot of Southie. Quaint area with a million bars.
Then you get into the football facilities, which are absolutely incredible.
When I say all this town cares about is college football. It is truly all they care about. And I absolutely f***in’ love it.
Some context as to why I was out there…
I worked with Matt Patricia last year on The Coach podcast with Bill Belichick when they both weren’t coaching and doing a lot of media. I was the producer of the show on the Shadow Lion side, and got pretty close with coach Matty P (former Pats legendary D coordinator and now DC at OSU.
Through that, I also met Head Coach Ryan Day this summer. My friend Tommy McDonnell is also very close with Coach Day and gave our crew quite the experience.
We got into Columbus on Friday and got to see the team walk through at the practice facility.
The first room in the facility showcases the hardware from last year’s National Championship.
I really was a year late to this whole “Buckeye Fan” thing. Would’ve been nice to add another championship ring to the trophy case.
Archie Griffin is still the only college player ever to win two Heisman trophies, so he was nice enough to give the second trophy back to the school to display in the hallways.
Archie!
“The Game”, which is the annual rivalry game against “the team from up north” is taken very, very seriously…
They literally refuse to say Michigan’s name on that campus. Do NOT tell Patricia or Day I just typed out that word.
But it is hands down the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Just as the wall reads!
After Friday’s practice, we hit the bars and it quickly reminded me I am too old to keep up with the college folks.
We were SUPER well rested for Saturday’s festivities after the early (late) night out.
Despite being old and battling, we headed to THE Horseshoe.
Then we fully pretended like we were about to suit up to take on the Nittany Lions and walked out of the tunnel ready to rock.
The craziest part of being on the field was getting there an hour early and just watching the entire stadium fill to capacity to the 105,000 people STRONG.
The energy was just incredible.
Oh wait, almost forgot! I ran into my fellow Colgate alumnus Rob Stone.
He hosts Fox Sports’ Big Noon Kick-off and was a mentor to me in the early days of Morning Blitz. Shoutout Colgate!!
But yeah, Ohio State was just next level. Never seen any sports atmosphere like in my life.
Especially on a beautiful fall weekend.
To the Horseshoe, and Columbus, Ohio… I will be back.
And College Football, you are pretty damn cool. You have my interest.
That being said, I have officially committed to THE Ohio State University. Let’s go win the damn Natty!!
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My NFL Power Rankings - Post Week 9
Super Bowl Contenders
Buffalo Bills
Kansas City Chiefs
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
New England Patriots
Los Angeles Rams
Indianapolis Colts
Philadelphia Eagles
Frisky Playoff Squads
Seattle Seahawks
Denver Broncos
Tampa Bay Bucs
San Francisco 49ers
Wild Card Weekend Hopefuls
Los Angeles Chargers
Baltimore Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Fringe Good
Minnesota Vikings
Chicago Bears
Dallas Cowboys
Atlanta Falcons
Interesting but not good
Arizona Cardinals
Washington Commanders
Cincinnati Bengals
Carolina Panthers
New York Giants
Really Bad Football Teams
Las Vegas Raiders
Cleveland Browns
Miami Dolphins
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Tennessee Titans