When the Miami Gardens Vikings cut 7-year-old Jeremiah Smith, he ran home in tears to his father, Chris, who hugged him and promised that one day, he would fulfill his football dream. Nearly 13 years later, Smith is not only one of the state’s top wide receivers but has also been named a captain at Ohio State. When his father found out, he couldn’t hold back his tears.

Smith sat alongside his wide receivers coach, Cortez Hankton, and called his father with a piece of news that carried years of meaning. They wanted to tell him that his son “has been named captain by his teammates.” The moment his father heard the news, the emotion in his voice was unmistakable, as if he was struggling to hold back tears.

“I give, I give, oh, praise the Lord for all the, and Jeremiah for the hard work he has put in. I’m proud of him. Very proud,” said his father through the call, his voice breaking as though he was about to cry.

Following up on his words, the Buckeyes’ wide receivers coach let his father, Chris, know what kind of man Jeremiah has become and how much he has grown since his early days.

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Hankton told Chris that Jeremiah “walks around every day with this sense of humility, man, and grace, and does his job at a high level.” At the end, the coach asked his father to give his final words to the young man, and his father offered praise and a suggestion as well.

“You know, man, where we come from, man, we grind. So, I’m proud. I’m very proud. Put in work, man. Being a leader and by yourself- those are the words. And I love it,” said Chris Smith.

The Buckeyes announced seven players as team captains Saturday, with junior wide receiver Jeremiah Smith among those honored. Smith will share the responsibility with Brandon Inniss, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., Jaylen McClain, Payton Pierce, Julian Sayin, and Austin Siereveld on Ryan Day’s Buckeyes.

When Smith arrived in Columbus, there were high expectations for him to play a bigger role at Ohio State, and he never left anyone disappointed. In his first two seasons with the team, he recorded 163 receptions for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns.

He enters his junior season already ranked seventh in program history for receptions, eighth for receiving yards, and fifth for receiving touchdowns.

“He’s grown up emotionally. He’s going through these experiences. He’s won a national championship. He’s done a lot of things in a short period of time. And I think that, for Jeremiah, he has an impact on a young generation. They all look up to him. He’s like a cult hero,” said Ryan Day in his conversation with WBNS 10TV during Big Ten Media Days.

Right now, the 20-year-old has a big responsibility on his shoulders to prove that, along with being a generational player, he has what it takes to lead the team to glory, and he appears confident about it.

“I’m trying to make everybody around me better,” Jeremiah said during the Big Ten Media Days. “That’s what all the greats did. That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to leave the jersey better than I found it.”