Former NFL RB, Indiana Hoosiers star Tevin Coleman previews Ohio State game, talks donating blood

Former NFL running back Tevin Coleman is ready for the Indiana Hoosiers to make history on Saturday when they take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. In an interview with On3, Coleman, an All-American running back at Indiana, shared his thoughts on how he thinks one of the biggest college football games of the year will play out.

“Man, it’s going to be an exciting game,” Coleman told On3. “It’s going to be a great game, man. It’s definitely going to be a good game to watch. And I’m pulling for IU, so I hope IU can go in there and upset them. I know everybody got Ohio State, they rooting for Ohio State and they got Ohio State to beat us, but I’m going with IU, and I hope they can shock the world and show them that they are a real team.”

Indiana is 10-0 and No. 5 in the College Football Playoff Rankings. If the Hoosiers beat a Ohio State team that is ranked No. 2, they will put themselves in a position to clinch a spot in the 12-team playoff and have a chance to win the first national title in school history.

When Coleman played for Indiana (2012-2014), the team was not competing for national championships. However, Coleman’s 2014 season was memorable as he rushed for 2,036 yards. This led to him being named a unanimous All-American and finishing seventh in the Heisman Trophy voting. In 2015, Coleman was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the draft. He played in the league for eight seasons and played in two Super Bowls for the Falcons and San Francisco 49ers.

Tevin Coleman explains how blood donations are helping his daughter

Along with getting ready for the Indiana-Ohio State game, Coleman has partnered with Abbott who has partnered with the Big Ten Conference to launch the We Give the Blood Drive. It’s a competition between all the Big Ten Schools to see who can donate the most blood. Whoever donates the most will win $1 million to advance student or community health.

Donating blood is personal for Coleman since his daughter lives with sickle cell disease and recently received blood transfusions as part of her care. “I didn’t know how important it was until my daughter was born,” Coleman stated when talking about the importance of blood donations. “Having sickle cell is just real hard and things like that for my daughter. So just seeing her go through pain and go through those different complications, that what really got me to doing this.”