BEREA, OHIO -- When the Baldwin Wallace University football team opens its season on September 14 at non-conference foe Bluffton University, senior CAPITAL ONE Academic All-American candidate Addison Carbone (Hudson) will finally have come full circle. A key to the Yellow Jackets' success on defense this fall will hinge on his development.
Against Bluffton a year ago, a 45-13 BW victory at The George Finnie Stadium in Berea, Carbone had three tackles but was injured and lost for the season. He had to trade his helmet for a headset and spend the rest of the season in press boxes offering color commentary during broadcasts by campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM.
But even though Carbone enjoyed doing games on the radio, his injury haunted him all season long.
"At first it was really really hard to miss out on a full season of football, especially because I had worked so hard for it in the offseason," said Carbone. "Then it was even harder once we lost a few games.
"My injury was more frustrating when Max [BW graduated two-time All-OAC DT Max Wagner] got hurt," continued Carbone. "And even worse once I realized I would never play again with the graduated seniors of 2012. Guys that I've been lifting and sacrificing with for three years. That was tough because you develop a love of your teammates.
As for doing games on WBWC, Carbone said, "Sure it was fun doing games on WBWC. It was a great opportunity to learn a new skill. But I'm ready to strap on my helmet and get back to playing football."
Throughout his injury Carbone was given advice from many people, but Coach Gibbs [BW third-year Head Wrestling Coach Jamie Gibbs] was the most influential.
"It [the advice] was the most clear from him [Gibbs]," said Carbone. "He said, you got hurt and your wrestling career is over. Try to make this a positive experience. Spend the time working hard and be the best football student-athlete and team leader that you can be.
"It was great advice," continued Carbone. I" took a look at the situation and thought about graduate school, which is really expensive. I decided that I'm going to come back to BW for a red-shirt fifth year to play football and academically be a triple major in marketing, management and finance. I also have the option of beginning my MBA (Master's in Business Administration)."
He has also been working on his physical aspect during the offseason.
"I've been trying to be as big as I can be for the past six years and I'm still only five-foot-and-11 inches and 245 pounds," said Carbone, who had 26 tackles and lettered as a sophomore and went on to earn another varsity letter as BW's starting 285-pound wrestler. "All I can do is to be in the best physical condition possible and then rely on what I've been taught by our outstanding coaching staff."
Carbone played many sports growing up. He always wanted to show people what he can do when it came to his abilities in each sport.
"I played basketball in eighth and ninth grade because other kids thought I got cut from the seventh grade team and I wanted to prove them wrong," said Carbone.
Carbone is simply a competitor.
"I get to spend everyday trying to make myself better in each of the things I love, one of which is football," said Carbone. "Football is the ultimate team sport. If I do my job and my teammates do their job, it's almost impossible for an offense to move the ball."
Carbone explained that he is not the biggest guy on the field but he likes the challenge to go against the taller, bigger and stronger players.
"The other side of football is maximizing your potential with technique, mental toughness, identifying tendencies and knowing defensive concepts," said Carbone. "I think that's where I excel and maximize my potential. It's where you combine athletic ability with both intelligence and work ethic. It simply correlates to real life. It correlates to maximizing your potential."
Academically, Carbone excels in the classroom. He carries a 3.678 grade point average.
"My parents and my peers have helped meet to compete and excel in the classroom," said Carbone. "I came to BW from Hudson High School with fellow senior wide receiver Gabe Adams and safeties/ outside linebackers Zack Barley and Jake Brandy.
"My parents would motivate me to make the Honor Roll in high school by pointing out when Gabe and Zack made dean's list and I didn't," Carbone explained. "In college it's the same motivation, and I don't like not being good at something, so if I'm in a class for three hours a week and have homework on top of that I'm gonna figure out a way to be good at it."
On the field, Carbone's development has been continuous, says BW veteran Defensive Coordinator Jim Meyer.
"We were really expecting him [Carbone] to have an outstanding junior season." said Meyer. "He had really worked hard in the offseason and was just a beast to block. It really hurt when he went down because teams were able to double-team Max [graduated two-time All-OAC tackle Max Wagner]."
"I am looking forward to having an excellent season and our goal is to win the Ohio Athletic Conference title and earn a spot in this year's NCAA Division III Playoffs," said Carbone, who carries a 3.678 grade point average. "We have worked hard in the offseason and we have the talent to compete.
"We have to say focused," continued Carbone. "Every game in the OAC is a tough, big game. Every opponent has quality student-athletes. We need to apply the lessons we have learned from our freshman through senior season and lead the way as a senior class."
That is easy for Carbone to say as according to Head Coach John Snell, Carbone is a natural team leader.
"Addison takes his role as a team leader very seriously," said Snell, who enters his 12th season at BW. "He, like the rest of our seniors want to win an OAC title and advance to the playoffs."
"He is one of our best student-athletes," continued to Snell. "He dedicates his time in the classroom to be a quality student. He dedicates his time to being the best he can be on the football field, in the lockerroom and with our younger student-athletes. And, he dedicates himself to being a leader on our campus."
"Carbone is an outstanding leader on and off the field," Snell explained. "He is fun to be around, has great work ethic and is a great part of the Baldwin Wallace football family."
FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact SID Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu and Assistant SID Jeff Miller by telephone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bwyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.
NOTE: This story was written by Baldwin Wallace University summer intern Brian Meredith. Brian is a 2013 graduate of Ohio University and is currently an intern with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League.
