ROCKET MAN
Safety Hickman is emerging as a star for the Buckeyes
First of all, almost nobody calls him Ronnie. If someone calls Ronnie Hickman by his first name, his reaction is to assume the person is referring to his father or sister, both of whom have that name. Those who know the Ohio State safety call him by his nickname, Rocket.
He’s had that nickname as far back as he can remember growing up in New Jersey, and it has nothing to do with his speed.
When Ronnie Hickman Sr. would lift his son as a baby, Ronnie’s legs would churn in the air.
“It was like he was running already, so I said, ‘He acts like a rocket. He just wants to take off,’ ” Hickman Sr. said. “I’d always come in the house and be like, ‘How’s Rocket doing?’ He would just smile and then it just stuck with him. He wanted to run before he could walk, so we would call him Rocket.”
Injuries at the end of his high school and start of his college career slowed his progress, but Hickman’s 2021 season has resembled his nickname. He really has taken off.
The redshirt sophomore leads the Buckeyes in both solo tackles (20) and total tackles (33), and he returned an interception for a touchdown last week against Akron. On Saturday, he will play at his home-state school, Rutgers.
“It’s going to feel good to be back home,” Hickman said. “I’m going to have a lot more family members than I ever have watch me live. It just feels good to be back on that home turf that I grew up playing on.”
Hickman is the youngest of Ronnie Hickman and Hanifah Crawley’s six children. Though the family was in New Jersey and had no ties to Ohio or Ohio State, Rocket grew up a Buckeye fan. He credits his brother, Khalif.
“My older brother was a die-hard Buckeye fan,” Hickman said. “It was just kind of that little brother-big brother thing. I just followed in his steps when it came to watching football, so I grew up being an Ohio State fan.”
Hickman Sr. said his son loved sports from an early age. He remembered Rocket at age 2 or 3 being so enraptured that he would watch entire games on TV.
When he began playing sports, he gravitated toward two of them — football and lacrosse. He became a high school All-american lacrosse player as well as star receiver and safety at Depaul Catholic High School in Wayne.
Hickman was recruited in both sports, which in Ohio State’s case meant it was a choice between Meyer and Myers — football coach Urban Meyer and OSU lacrosse coach Nick Myers.
“Once I realized that I could take it to the next level as far as football and looked at the pro situation in lacrosse and compared to the football, it was kind of a no-brainer to go with football,” Hickman said.
He committed to Ohio State in April 2018. Four games into his senior year, Hickman tore an ACL. That led to worry that Ohio State’s interest might cool.
“We got a call the next day, before we called them, that they heard about what happened,” Hickman Sr. said. “We were a little nervous, like, will they pull the scholarship now?”
Ohio State immediately reassured the Hickmans that the offer stood.
“They said, ‘That’s taken care of. Don’t worry about that. Let’s get Rocket healthy,’ ” Hickman Sr. said.
Rocket was still rehabbing his knee when he enrolled in January 2019. He had barely settled in when defensive coordinator Greg Schiano, who had been Hickman’s primary recruiter, left Ohio State. Schiano is now Rutgers’ head coach.
Ryan Day had already replaced
Meyer, so the top coaches Hickman thought he’d be playing for were gone. “It was tough,” he said.
But he didn’t waver in his desire to stay.
“This was my dream school,” Hickman said. “I didn’t commit here just because of coach Meyer. The school has a lot more to offer. I’m not a guy to go against my word, so my loyalty was pretty strong with this university.”
Hickman would experience more bumps in the road. After he was medically cleared from the ACL injury, he suffered what he termed a minor tear of the medial collateral ligament. His 2020 season ended after five games because of a back injury.
“I call them character-builders, little setbacks along the way,” he said.
Hickman was finally fully healthy entering 2021, but no one considered him a sure starter. He battled with Craig Young and Kourt Williams before winning the job at the bullet position as a hybrid safety/linebacker.
“They’re two really, really talented guys,” Hickman said. “When I got the news I was starting, I just knew I had to play well.”
He has done that. On a Buckeye defense that has had its share of struggles, Hickman has been a bright spot.
The pick-6 against Akron is an obvious highlight. The Akron receiver bobbled the ball, and Hickman snatched it and ran 46 yards for the touchdown.
“It was amazing,” he said. “It happened so fast on the field. But after, you think back to those times when you were in middle school or high school just watching guys making plays for sort of Buckeyes in that ‘Shoe. Just being able to say that, you know, I’ve done that, it means a lot because I grew up dreaming of doing it, and it was really a dream come true.”
After the game, Day praised Hickman as an example of a player making the growth the Buckeyes need to see in others.
“He makes that interception, and he’s starting to build a little bit of a reputation for being the guy who’s playing really good football right now,” Day said. “Many people didn’t really know who Ronnie was about four weeks ago. Now he’s really doing it.” brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch