St. Ignatius beats St. Edwards 20-17

Blake Thomas of St. Ignatius scored this touchdown against St. Edward in 2011, then went on to sign with Ohio State. But his football career is probably over.

(Joshua Gunter, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A week ago, the Thomas family had one of those weekends, seeing the opportunities ahead for one child and helping another deal with disappointment.

At St. Ignatius, senior John Thomas took over the full quarterback duties when fellow senior Pete Mahoney was unfortunately lost for the season to an ankle injury.

At Ohio State, redshirt freshman tight end Blake Thomas found out that his college football career is almost certainly over.

“One's career is flourishing and the other's is most likely ending,” their father, Kevin Thomas, told cleveland.com today.

The decision on Blake Thomas was made after he suffered another stinger in practice last Saturday. It was something he had dealt with before while redshirting during his first season in Columbus in 2012. Kevin Thomas said the OSU medical staff wanted to investigate the issue further, and an MRI revealed a chronic condition that could put Blake at risk for much more serious injury if he continued to absorb hits.

“It's too bad,” Kevin Thomas said. “They haven't completely ruled him out, but there's concern if he took a large hit he could risk paralysis. They shut him down. When it comes to the neck, you don't take any chances there.”

Urban Meyer confirmed the injury and end of Thomas' football career while meeting with reporters after Ohio State's scrimmage this afternoon.

"Wonderful kid, great program," Meyer said. "He'll always be a Buckeye."

Kevin Thomas watched the Buckeyes scrimmage last Saturday, and said he saw his son show the coaches what he could become as a blocker. Working in as a second-team tight end against the first-team defense, Kevin Thomas said a few blocks by his son had Urban Meyer shouting, “That's how you block, Thomas.”

Kevin Thomas said his son is back in Columbus and watching his teammates at another scrimmage today as the Buckeyes end a tough week of two-a-day practices.

Glenville's Devan Bogard and Blake Thomas of St. Ignatius as they prepared to sign with Ohio State in 2012. Bogard is coming back from a torn ACL, and Thomas's football days are probably over because of a neck condition.

At 6-5 and 250 pounds, Thomas came to Columbus with a reputation as a blocker. He helped St. Ignatius to a state title as a senior in 2011. Former St. Ignatius linebacker Scott McVey, who was part of the 2010 class, also had his OSU career cut short by injuries, leaving the team after the 2011 season following three shoulder surgeries. Now there's more tough luck for a Wildcat-turned-Buckeye.

Thomas will always hold a unique place in Ohio State football history.

He was the last player to commit to Ohio State with Jim Tressel as the coach, giving his pledge on May 16, 2011, two weeks before Tressel was forced to resign amidst an NCAA investigation. Thomas picked the Buckeyes over Boston College.

“Regardless of what happens with the football program, OSU will always have a good head coach, a good team and I’ll be getting a good education,” Thomas said then.

His father said his son intends to continue in the pre-health professions program with a plan of going to dental school.

Thomas is the third OSU player to have his career likely ended this week. Ohio State announced earlier that junior special teamer Adam Griffin and senior safety Jamie Wood were almost certainly done with football because of shoulder problems.

Updated with Urban Meyer confirmation at 1:30 p.m.