Kosta Karageorge should be standing on the Ohio Stadium turf today, recognized as one of 24 senior football players at their final home game as an Ohio State Buckeye. But the walk-on defensive tackle remained missing last night, and he won't be there for the game against Michigan.

Kosta Karageorge should be standing on the Ohio Stadium turf today, recognized as one of 24 senior football players at their final home game as an Ohio State Buckeye.

But the walk-on defensive tackle remained missing last night, and he won�t be there for the game against Michigan.

Karageorge, 22, was last seen walking out of his E. 7th Avenue apartment around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Now, his face is on more than 5,000 fliers blanketing windshields, utility poles and walls near his apartment; around Lennox Town Center; and near the area in Grandview Heights to where his cellphone was last traced.

More than 150 people gathered at Stauf�s Coffee Roasters on Grandview Avenue yesterday to get the word out that Karageorge is out there somewhere.

Jeremiah Webber, who coached Karageorge as a wrestler at Thomas Worthington High School, organized the effort.

�I�m very scared for him,� Webber said. �I�m worried. I�m trying to remain optimistic. We love him, and we want him home.�

Columbus police are treating his disappearance as a missing-person case, with nothing to indicate there was foul play. Adult men are allowed to go missing, said Sgt. David Pelphrey, a Police Division spokesman, but the family has concerns, and police are ramping up their response.

Karageorge is described as

6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing 285 pounds. Although pictures show Karageorge with hair, friends and family say he recently shaved his head, so he�s bald with a short beard. He sometimes uses his middle name and goes by �Alex.�

Last night, a group of former OSU football players said they�re offering a cash reward for information that helps police find Karageorge. Matt Finkes, a defensive player from the mid-1990s, announced on his Twitter page that the alumni are putting $1,000 toward the reward.

Karageorge�s parents called Columbus police on Wednesday evening after he didn�t return to his apartment and didn�t show up for football practice that day.

According to the police report, Karageorge�s mother, Susan, said her son texted her at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday to say, �I am sorry if I am an embarrassment but these concussions have my head all f---ed up.�

His sister Sophia Karageorge said her brother has a history of sports-related concussions, and the family is worried that he might be disoriented because of one he suffered a month ago. Karageorge also wrestled for three years for the Buckeyes.

Webber said he�s not sure what that text meant.

Karageorge �is a very competitive person,� Webber said. �He holds himself to very high standards ... He always wants to make people proud.�

In a statement, team physician Dr. Jim Borchers said: �First and foremost, our primary concern is for the health, safety and welfare of Kosta. While we are not able to discuss or comment about the medical care regarding our student athletes, we are confident in our medical procedures and policies to return athletes to participation following injury or illness.�

Head coach Urban Meyer said in a statement that his thoughts were with the family of Karageorge, a �hard worker on the field and pleasant off the field.�

�We pray that he is safe and that he is found soon,� Meyer said.

Friends from Thomas Worthington, current and former co-workers of Karageorge�s parents, and strangers came out to help yesterday.

Paul Santuoso and Cat Silveria have lived in Grandview for only about a year and don�t know Karageorge. But, they said, a friend went missing when they lived in Florida, and they remembered how many people helped search for him.

�We were inspired to help,� said Santuoso, 27.

Friends of the Karageorges said parents Susan and George would be the first to help if someone else were in their position.

�It�s every parent�s worst nightmare,� said Kristy Morehart, who worked with Karageorge�s mother.

Anyone with information about Karageorge�s whereabouts is asked to call 614-747-1729 or Columbus police at 614-645-4545.

@allymanning