Anthony Gonzalez is not sticking to sports. In fact, he’s running about as far away as “stick to sports” as one can possibly get, by apparently preparing to run for political office.
If you don’t immediately recall Gonzalez, you may need your memory jogged just a little bit. He was best known from his days playing wide receiver at Ohio State from 2004-2006 as one of Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith’s favorite targets. From there, Gonzalez spent five years playing with the Indianapolis Colts, although injuries derailed what looked to be a promising career early on. The former Buckeye caught 7 TDs in his first two seasons, but none in his last three before being out of the league in 2011.
Since his NFL career wrapped up, Gonzalez pursued an MBA at Stanford and is now coming back to Ohio in hopes of reaching the statehouse. He’s filed paperwork to run for a state representative seat in Ohio’s 16th district which covers heavily gerrymandered parts of northeast Ohio.
Here’s the report from Cleveland.com:
Former Ohio State University football star and Cleveland-area native Anthony Gonzalez has filed official paperwork to run for Ohio’s 16th congressional seat in 2018.
A filing received by the Federal Election Commission on Aug. 28 lists Gonzalez’ address as an apartment in Crocker Park, the Westlake outdoor shopping complex. Since retiring from the National Football League and receiving his MBA from Stanford University, Gonzalez, 32, had worked for an education technology company in the San Fransisco bay area. But he recently moved back to Ohio to prepare to run for the seat, which is up for grabs since the incumbent, Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci, is running for governor rather than seek re-election.
The FEC paperwork lists a home in Dublin, Ohio, as Gonzalez’ campaign office. The home belongs to Gonazlez’ campaign treasurer, Natalie Baur, a Republican operative who worked last year as finance director for U.S. Sen. Rob Portman’s re-election campaign.
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The unusually shaped 16th District, which is considered a safe Republican seat, includes Wayne County, and portions of several others, stretching from rural suburbs east of Akron and up to Cuyahoga County’s western suburbs.
Gonzalez graduated high school from powerhouse program St. Ignatius so he’ll be well known in the area. And when it comes to public recognition in Ohio, there’s not many things you can do better than being a former Ohio State football players. In fact, he’ll probably have a humongous head start over any potential opponents because of his athletic career. All he has to do is play this highlight from the Buckeyes’ 2005 win over Michigan and it’s checkmate.
There’s no better bipartisan message in the Buckeye state than beating Michigan.
