“He wants to be just like me and do everything I do,” responded Colts rookie DrewOgletree when asked about his son. colts
When Drew Ogletree extends for a pass from Matt Ryan, he’ll stretch out his gangly arms and flash a tattoo that can explain everything.
Drew was in the hospital wing for 13 minutes that day, but those ticks of the clock made enough of an imprint to become his first tattoo: The distillation of a father's love, something he has long been able to give but never receive.That was seven years ago. Some days, it feels like seven decades. Others make it more like seven days.
Without him, Drew forged his way in a body that was soon a head taller than most everyone. In high school, he became an all-state football player who caught 102 passes as a senior and an even better basketball player, finishing as the Division III player of the year in Ohio. Findlay eventually offered a half-ride, so Ogletree jumped at it. He showed up and the coaches planted him at wide receiver, since he could bench press only 225 pounds a single time.
Finally, the two went outside and had the conversation they never had before, grown man to grown man. Andre Ogletree apologized for going away and rarely coming back, for not being a father or a grandfather or even a fan at his games as his mother, aunt and grandparents always had.Drew told him he wanted him back in his life. His son taught him the value of fathers, after all, and he’d been waiting two decades for his. Andre agreed, and they started to meet up for dinner.
It’s what finally urged him to leave Findlay, the place he felt indebted to for giving him a chance when nobody else would. He had entered the transfer portal and then come back out, but the loss of the 2020 season to COVID reminded him of what else he lost, and what that man wanted, and so he transferred to Youngstown State.
All the while, Drew’s son was in kindergarten, reaching the age where he understood what his dad was chasing out here. Drew had Andrew Jr. during the summers, so he’d bring him to everything, from 5:30 a.m. workouts to bonfires and squirt-gun fights. One week, the players voted him Player of the Week.
“Right now, I’m getting chills just from thinking about them looking up to me,” Drew said. “They watch my every move.” Drew's mind was spinning by the time he started a Zoom press conference, when he was fist pumping the air.Drew’s father worked as a stonemason, filling empty plots of land with concrete so full establishments could grow. He molded little of his oldest son's life, but he laid more of a foundation than he ever realized: He passed him some of these genes, which now stretch 6 feet and 5 inches, amass just 4% body fat and can lift more weight than any other tight end in the NFL Draft.
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