Archie Griffin wants Buckeye Nation to do more than cheer - he wants them to donate blood.
The Ohio State legend is backing the Abbott and Big Ten’s We Give Blood Competition, a nationwide push that tracks blood donated and registered by fans for the Big Ten school of their choice. Griffin said the window opened on August 12 and runs through December 4, and he’s hoping Ohio State fans help close the gap.
“The competition has been going on since August 12 and runs through December 4, so time is running out, and we want Buckeye Nation to show up,” Griffin told Buckeyes Wire. “OSU fans go from coast to coast, and so you can go donate blood anywhere in the country, and then go to the website and register your donation towards Ohio State and make sure credit is given toward the Buckeyes.
“Giving blood is such an important thing to get involved in,” Griffin continued. “Donated blood has so many uses; it could be for an accident, maybe surgery of some sort, so you always need blood.
We’ve got to make sure that our centers have the right amount of blood to help the people that need to be helped. And with this campaign being across the country, because the Big Ten is spread out throughout the country, it can go a long, long way to help.”
Griffin said the drive fits the kind of message Woody Hayes used to hammer home: find ways to help other people. He also pointed out that the effort is simple enough that donors can even walk away with a free T-shirt.
“And to me, I’ve always felt that this campaign is one of the easier ways that you could pay it forward, as my former coach Woody Hayes talked about all the time - doing things to help others,” Griffin said. “One of the easier ways you could do that, because when you don’t need blood, you know that you’re making a difference, and you may be saving a life, but you know that you’re making a difference.”
Right now, Ohio State sits in third place, trailing Wisconsin and Nebraska. Michigan is just behind the Buckeyes in fourth. Griffin said a few thousand more Ohio State donors could make a real push.
“We’ve got some work to do. Again, I just envision that stadium.
It’s small, but six or seven thousand people in that stadium giving blood - it can make a difference,” Griffin said. “And this campaign started back on August 12th.
So if you’ve given blood from August 12th, any time from August 12th through now, you can go back and log that donation in for Ohio State, or whatever college you want to log in to, and that would count as well. So I know there’s probably a lot of people out there who may have given blood August 12 or after and maybe not logged it in.
You can log in to the school of your choice.”
The competition is about more than bragging rights, but Griffin made clear that if there’s a scoreboard, he wants Ohio State on top. Fans can donate at a blood center near them, then log the donation at BigTen.org/Abbott. A photo is required for verification when submitting it to the site.
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