Buckeye Hall of Famer gives for the team

Jeff Uhlenhake believes his job working with student-athletes helps to keep him young. As a strength coordinator for the Buckeye football team, he appreciates the carefree attitude most players have about the future and finds their optimism to be contagious. In return, Jeff is pleased to talk with them about his experiences on and off the football field, as a former player and current coach.

Among the insights he is quick to share with players is the concept of taking the term student-athlete literally. “You are a student first, athlete second,” Jeff said. “I tell them to develop educational abilities in school and to have a balanced life. Playing sports by itself isn’t everything and they must do their best with the educational process.”

Inducted as a member of the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008, Jeff knows what he’s talking about. After playing football in high school, he was a red-shirt Buckeye for a year and a four-year starter. In 1990, he earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from the College of Education and Human Ecology—and admits it took a small village to get him there.

“When you give financial support to any athletics team, that’s one of the things behind the scenes that you don’t think about. Those tutors aren’t free and I’m grateful I had the opportunity for the help needed,” Jeff said.

In 1989, he joined the Miami Dolphins for five years and played alongside Dan Marino. He then joined the New Orleans Saints for two years, and concluded his National Football League career with the Washington Redskins.

Jeff’s financial success at that time inspired him to make a major gift to help Ohio State student-athletes excel. With assistance from the university’s Office of Planned Giving, he established a trust that will provide scholarship opportunities in the future.

Jeff had previously created an endowed scholarship, an experience that he has found rewarding. “I received a thank you letter from a student over two years before he realized he was actually writing to me,” Jeff said. “It was great to see his surprise when he recognized the connection.”

With his professional playing experience, Jeff made a transition to a career in coaching—first at the high school level, then for the NFL and the Cleveland Browns, and eventually to Ohio State and Central Ohio. It was a return to where his heart is. “you work with some of the best players in the nation, yet you know there’s a real purpose behind the program. Jim Tressel has a true mission for making an impact on these young lives,” Jeff said. “That’s a great highlight of the situation here at the university.”

Jeff clearly recalls the day in 1976 when, as a third-grader, he watched the Wolverines beat the Buckeyes 22-0. The memory of that day more than 30 years ago fueled his passion for the rivalry—and he knew he would be a Buckeye for life.
Both his brother and sister are alumni and their parents are avid Buckeye fans, still attending many games a season. “There is a total commitment there by my family,” he said.

A resident of Columbus, Jeff is married to Angie, a high school biology teacher now taking some time to care for their two young sons, Jake and Ben. The proud dad is thrilled the boys are showing some athletic skills. “Even so, I just want them to be good kids and to always represent themselves well,” he added.

Clark setting bar among productive tight ends

Dallas Clark leads the NFL in receiving yards through two weeks

By Jamey Eisenberg

September 25, 2009

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- It was only one game against a team that struggles to defend tight ends, but Dallas Clark showed why we touted him this offseason as the best player at his position with his performance Monday night at Miami.

Clark helped the Colts beat the Dolphins with seven catches for 183 yards and a touchdown. They're biased, but Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning and wide receiver Reggie Wayne agree with us that Clark is the best tight end in the NFL.

Wayne said he even plans to make "Vote for Dallas Clark for Pro Bowl" T-shirts this season.

"Oh yeah, by far he's the best," Wayne said after Monday's game. "I felt like that for years. I felt like he's been way overdue to get his props."

Added Manning: "Dallas doesn't go underappreciated around here. I certainly hope he gets the national attention he deserves."

We're trying Peyton, we're trying. But Clark has plenty of competition to be the best tight end this season. In fact, the position is loaded with talent, and it might be the best year we've ever seen for tight ends.

It also helps that some teams -- like Miami, Buffalo, St. Louis, Detroit and the Giants -- have struggled to defend tight ends. The Dolphins, for example, allowed Tony Gonzalez to catch five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in his debut with the Falcons in Week 1 before Clark ran through their secondary.

This week, the Dolphins face Antonio Gates, and the Chargers should expect Gates to play well just like Gonzalez and Clark.

"We always want to get Antonio going," San Diego coach Norv Turner said in a conference call Wednesday. "We are going to look for ways to get him the ball."

Clark, Gates, Gonzalez and Jason Witten came into 2009 as the best tight ends in most Fantasy leagues. We expected Kellen Winslow, Chris Cooley and Jeremy Shockey would bounce back after poor seasons last year, and so far they haven't let us down.

We were also counting on Owen Daniels, John Carlson and Dustin Keller to keep improving, and each one is off to a good start. The only tight end who we liked that has struggled so far is Greg Olsen, but we still expect him to rebound once he and Jay Cutler develop a rapport.

Along with that, there have been pleasant surprises with how Todd Heap has come back from his injury woes, Benjamin Watson looks rejuvenated with Tom Brady's return and Brent Celek has turned into a better sleeper than we anticipated. There have also been positive signs from Heath Miller, Kevin Boss, Jermichael Finley, Zach Miller and Visanthe Shiancoe.

And the numbers suggest tight ends are thriving. Through two games, there are 10 tight ends with at least 10 catches, six with at least two touchdowns and 18 with at least 75 yards receiving.

Clark leads the NFL in receiving yards with 222, and Celek (14), Cooley (14), Carlson (12), Gonzalez (12) and Winslow (12) are among the NFL leaders in receptions. There's no reason to suggest these tight ends will slow down their production either.

Winslow (19), Celek (18), Cooley (17), Gates (16) and Witten (14) lead their team in targets, and Carlson (16), Gonzalez (16), Daniels (16) and Clark (14) are second on their respective teams. It shows how much quarterbacks are leaning on tight ends.

Fantasy owners should be happy with the tight end play to start the season. And in case you missed on one of the elite tight ends, there are options to add off the waiver wire with Celek (70 percent ownership), Boss (69 percent), Heap (58 percent), Watson (55 percent) and Finley (27 percent) still available in some leagues on CBSSports.com.

Can these tight ends keep up this level or production? That's what we'll have to find out. And we're curious to see if Clark will remain in the No. 1 spot as we predicted.

Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is one person who disagrees with us. Like Wayne and Manning, he's biased toward his own tight end, but he said Gates is the best in the NFL based on his career and continued production.

"Other quarterbacks would answer their tight end," Rivers said when asked on a conference call about Gates. "I think he could be argued as the best, and I certainly feel he is."

Gates gets his turn at the Dolphins this week. We'll find out if he can perform like Clark did, and it should be fun to watch the tight end battle continue throughout the season.

Underrated Clark’s top of NFL’s tight-end crop

September 29, 2009

By Justin Cohn

How is Dallas Clark not a Pro Bowler? How is he not a household name among NFL fans?

Travesty.

What Clark, the seventh-year tight end out of Iowa, has been doing lately has been magnificent. One might argue he is the most important cog in the Indianapolis Colts’ offense, aside from quarterback Peyton Manning.

And by lately, I mean the last three years.

Clark has been demonstrably successful this season in prime-time games. He had seven catches for 62 yards and a touchdown during Sunday night’s 31-10 victory at Arizona, and that comes after seven catches for 183 yards and a touchdown in a 27-23 Monday night victory at Miami. He’s become a staple of the highlight TV shows.

In 2007 and 2008 combined, he had 135 catches for 1,464 yards and 17 touchdowns. Compare that to the AFC’s three Pro Bowl tight ends of last year: Clark had more touchdowns than Tony Gonzalez’s 15, he equaled Antonio Gates in receptions and touchdowns, and he eclipsed Owen Daniels in both categories.

And Clark played fewer games than all three.

It’s true that you can pretty much spin statistics any way you want. And the blocking ability of tight ends has to be greatly accounted for, too. But Clark could be the most versatile tight end in the NFL.

Clark is essentially the Colts’ No. 2 receiver, especially since Anthony Gonzalez’s knee injury. He lines up wide, in the slot and on the offensive line. He draws double coverage sometimes, blocks defensive ends other times. He even runs the ball.

On third-and-one early in Sunday’s game, the Colts (3-0) knew they couldn’t rely on Joseph Addai or the offensive line to get a first down – they’d already missed on one earlier – so they went with Clark on an end-around that gained seven yards. On the next play, Manning connected with Reggie Wayne for a one-handed 20-yard touchdown and a 7-3 lead.

The next Colts drive saw Manning find Clark on a 10-yard slant pattern for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead. The game was never again in doubt.

This is nothing new. It’s no secret that Clark is Manning’s go-to guy when the pressure is on, say on third-and-five, and that’s because he’s reliable during moments of such magnitude.

There is no way that the 6-foot-3 Clark is as big as his listed weight of 252 pounds, and he’s not as physically overpowering as either the 6-foot-4, 260-pound Gates or the 6-foot-5, 243-pound Gonzalez.

Granted, those guys revolutionized the position by proving they could be a receiving force on every down. But Clark is revolutionizing things, too, through his sheer versatility. He should be beloved, not just by fantasy football players crazy for his stats.

Gonzalez, typically regarded as the NFL’s best tight end, had just one reception for 16 yards in the Atlanta Falcons’ 26-10 loss to New England on Sunday. That was a big game for the Falcons. When was the last time Clark had such meager production in a big game? The best I could come up with was a two-catch, 15-yard effort in a 24-20 loss to New England – in 2007.

So you can take Gonzalez, Gates, Jason Witten or Chris Cooley. These days, I’ll take Dallas Clark, and I bet I’m not the only one who would.