Luke Wypler: Meet Ohio State football center, traveler, skydiver

2021-12-29 18:26:34 By : karen liu

Luke Wypler's name came up a lot during Ohio State's fall camp. Teammates and coaches praised the redshirt freshman, but it still seemed unlikely he would play. After all, Harry Miller, the versatile junior, was expected to start at center.

A combination of Miller's injuries and Wypler's stellar performances led to the Montvale, New Jersey, native taking over the position, and he started all 12 games this season.

The media voted him All-Big Ten honorable mention. 

He and left tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere, left guard Thayer Munford, right tackle Paris Johnson Jr. and right tackle Dawand Jones were collectively named semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award, which goes annually to college football's top offensive line. 

However, as compelling as Wypler's incredibly fast rise on the field has been, he's even more interesting away from the gridiron. 

Week 1:Nicholas Petit-Frere roots hard for the 'OSU Luckeyes.'

Week 2:Cody Simon could be OSU's No. 1 singer, he's definitely Kobe Bryant's No. 1 fan

Week 3:Bryson Shaw might be Ohio State's funniest player, no joke

Week 4: Jesse Mirco is Ohio State's country music fan, not from this country

Week 5: Cam Brown was bowling before his Ohio State playing career took him to bowl games

Week 6: Jaxon Smith-Njigba opens up about the challenges of college life

Week 7: Marcus Williamson is Ohio State's philosopher defensive back

Week 8: Emeka Egbuka is a wordly and wise wide receiver

Week 9:Terajda Mitchell is the fashion expert of the Ohio State Buckeyes

Week 10: Antwuan Jackson is OSU's Hercules and a big teddy bear

Week 11: Noah Ruggles gets a kick out of surfing

Week 12: Paris Johnson's hobbies include learning new languages and how to samba

Learn more about Luke Wypler with this Columbus Dispatch Q&A.

What is a subject you like talking about that doesn't come up often in conversation? 

That's really interesting. I like to travel a lot. So I think traveling and experiences outside of just playing football. I have skydived in my life. I have been heli skiing. Kind of like those fun things. Surfing. Just having traveled a lot ... I like talking to people about places they've been, places I've been, comparing them and that kind of thing. I think that's something that really interests me that usually don't come up in conversation a lot. 

Where's the coolest place you've been? 

I think Queenstown, New Zealand, is probably the coolest place I've been to. It was probably my favorite as well, so I'm a little biased towards it. I spent a week there a few years ago. By far one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. 

Is that also the place where you went jumping out of a plane?

What inspired you to do that? 

For me, it was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I didn't want to look back, and say, 'Oh, I wish I would have done that.' So I was in New Zealand with my brother, and he's a little bit older than me. And, at first, it was a fun week. We went heli skiing. Did a lot of things ... Snowboarding and stuff. ... At the end of the week, we saw a place downtown that said you could go skydiving. But I had joked about it with him, and he said, 'Oh, yeah, I'll do it.' And little did I know, he'd just signed my life away. And I was only 14 at the time. I got on a bus, and he walked down the street. And I went skydiving all by myself. 

You describe skydiving as a 'once in a lifetime opportunity,' and I got to tell you, that's exactly what I'm afraid of. 

What's the most adventurous thing you've ever done, because it sounds like you've had a few adventures?

Probably traveling to Australia and New Zealand all by myself is one of the craziest things I've done. At 14 years old ... I was in Australia for a few days with my older brother, and he was working, so I kind of got to tour the city by myself. So that was probably one of the most adventurous things I've done. Since then, it's been a lot more football than travel, so I would say that was probably one of the more adventurous things, for sure. 

What did your family think of you heading off, by yourself, as a 14-year-old, to travel Down Under? 

I think my parents trusted my brother for the most part — until he let me jump out of a plane. But they didn't have a problem with it. I am very familiar with flying, so they knew I could get around the airport pretty well. They weren't really too concerned. Just that I made it out there and my brother kept me safe is really all that mattered. 

Would you ever want to get a pilot's license someday? 

Actually, it's funny you say that. Yes, I would. One of my good family friends is a pilot, and he took me up in his plane last summer, and I thought it was really, really cool. So that is definitely something I would definitely look into in the future. I think it's something that's really interesting and allows you to be a little bit more mobile.

What else is on your bucket list? 

I think one of the things I really want to do is adventure out into Europe. I've only been to a few countries there, and I think I really want to explore Europe. That's probably one of my biggest things.

OK, so what are the few European countries you've visited? 

I've been to England and to Italy, and that was it. I have family in Italy, and I played a rugby game in England a couple years ago. 

Was rugby something you were really good at? 

My dad played football in college, and then when he was older he started playing rugby — around like 23, 24 years old. He played up until around his early 50s, so my whole life growing up, I remember going to rugby games. Like, St. Patrick's Day there's always one, and that's always in my head. Every year, all the men's teams played in a tournament by a parade and program for New York. So from being a little kid, I've always been around the sport, and as I got older, it was something I kind of took to. And it was something I didn't put a lot of focus into. It was just something I played for a club team here and there on the side. And I really enjoyed it, but it was definitely more of a part-time sport than a full-time sport. 

Is it something you can see yourself taking up again, and maybe playing into your 50s? 

I don't know about the age 50. Hopefully, my body is able to hold up that long. But, yeah, that's definitely something hopefully maybe after my football career, I can turn back to and play a little bit in my golden years.  

If you weren't a football player, what would you be? 

I'm not really sure. That's a really good question. I really like photography. I've always thought about maybe a career in that. But I've never given that much thought. I mean, football's always been something that's really big in my life and something I've really enjoyed. So I've always (thought of that) as option one as a career path. Never given much thought to option B. 

With you being a center and a guy who plays with a helmet and pads on, how often do people recognize you? 

Ha! It's funny you say that. Because I was actually having a conversation with one of my teammates the other day, and he was saying that everywhere he goes, he's always recognized and everyone always asks for autographs, so it's hard to escape that football world. But for me, I can go places. Like the other day, I was Downtown. I have a 10-month-old Rottweiler, and we were walking around. Someone came up to me and asked about my dog. And they had an Ohio State football sweatshirt one and the whole nine. Obviously, an Ohio State football fan and didn't even recognize me. Didn't even mention football. It was more asking about my dog. So I feel a lot of times, I'm able to escape the limelight as I'm kind of not a high profile player like C.J. Stroud or TreVeyon (Henderson). I really like that aspect of it, though. 

My dog's name is Thor. He's a 10-month-old dog, but he's 130 pounds, so he's not really a puppy. 

Named after the Marvel character?

Yeah. I think Thor, it was just kind of a fitting name for him because he's very disruptive, and a little bit crazy, and even though he's not lugging around a big hammer, his head almost acts like one. 

Now I know you said you don't mind not being recognized, but we live in an NIL world, and I understand you've been selling $50 sweatshirts? 

Ha! Yes, I have been getting a lot of people asking lately, and I stopped the website a while back, just to focus on football. And I was thinking maybe after the season, starting it back up again, and seeing what we can do with it. But for right now, the website's down. Once I put it back up again, I'm hoping to maybe build a little more of a following and then kick it off again.

Have you heard from the Michigan fan whose tweet you were featuring on your sweatshirts, the tweet that said nobody would buy a $50 Luke Wypler sweatshirt? 

Yes, I have. He's a really nice guy. I talked to him briefly when I first posted everything. And I understand. It wasn't coming from a place of hate or anything. But it was just funny that it happened, and I was happy with what I was able to do with it. 

Please, tell me you sent him one? 

Yes, I did. I actually think he bought one for himself. I got one for his nephew and signed it. 

I read a comment from you, that one reason you are really a fan of what the NCAA has ruled in terms of NIL is that it will allow you to contribute to Columbus charities. Which charities are important to you? 

One of the ones I really want to (support) is Nationwide Children's Hospital here in Columbus. I know that's a really big one and a common one for most people, but I think that offers so much help for kids, and most of them are Buckeye fans. We see a lot of them come through the facility a lot to hang out with us. So that's one I really want to give back to. And a few of the local food banks where we've helped out in the past, I'd really like to give back to them.