FREMONT — A new tradition has emerged at Fremont Ross.

As Little Giant football players make their way to the field before a game, they take the time to touch the helmet of Charles Woodson, part of the new life-size statue of the most famous Fremont Ross football alum.

As Woodson entered the national spotlight again when he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, those in the Fremont Ross community wanted to do something special for the man who began his path to football greatness in a Little Giants jersey.

Led by the efforts of Fremont mayor Danny Sanchez and former Fremont Ross athletic director Art Bucci, a plan was in place to commemorate Woodson with a statue.

“My motto was to 'bring Charles home',” Bucci said. “And I wanted to do that with a statue. So we got some private donations from the Fremont Area Foundation, which I'm the president of, to raise the money. The big goal was to have something here permanently where he resided and was born and raised so our kids could see that even in a small town, anything is possible.”

Once the idea was hatched back in February, it was time to find an artist and through a mutual friend, Bucci reached out to Jason Johnston, who grew up in Perrysburg and attended St. John's Jesuit.

Johnston, who currently works out of Columbus, was skittish at first when he heard the time frame for completing the project which was about six months. Normally, Johnston said the process would take about a year. But Johnston told Bucci he would do it in the span they were looking for.

“I told him I could do it and he actually believed me which was kind of scary,” Johnston said. “I was like, ‘OK, I'm going to have to actually pull this off,’ but it turned out OK. Looking back on it, all the chips fell where they needed to and Murphy's Law stayed away, which was unbelievable.”

Johnston had to create a detailed schedule in order to stay on top of things in the time he had to create the sculpture.

Prior to returning to Ohio about a year ago, Johnston worked out of Oregon and said this was his first big project since returning to his home state.

“To have this project being for a guy who grew up in Ohio and then took off and seized his dreams and did wonderful things and had this amazing career and was a local hero, I couldn't have asked for a better project,” Johnston said. “To be able to sculpt a local hero right when I come back to Ohio to celebrate small-town Ohio where I'm from and create a piece that is going to be so loved, that alone makes me so proud.”

Bucci said he was blown away by Johnston's process and his natural talent as an artist.

“Jason is a magician as a sculptor,” Bucci said. “There were times we disagreed on things. I would say, 'That doesn't look like him. His nose is wrong or his ears aren't right or this isn't right or that isn't right'. But he delivered. He's just a tremendous talent. Charles and his family were completely blown away when they saw the statue...On a scale of 1-10, it's a 12. I was telling someone that the Hall of Fame gives you a bust, but Fremont gives you a statue.”

Bucci said a lot of thought went into the placement of the statue, including giving players a chance to interact with the statue and create their new pregame tradition.

“You don't just put something somewhere,” Bucci said. “We had a couple of meetings and we wanted it to face the field so when the kids do come out, they can touch the helmet as they walk out to the field to warm up and then play the game. He's now watching the field at all times.”

In a process with a lot of fine details, Johnston said one of the biggest challenges in perfecting the portrait of Woodson's face was his eyebrows, which he said early in the evolution of the sculpture made Woodson look angry.

“Those furrowed eyebrows went from being anger to determination,” Johnston said. “That look of determination to me makes the sculpture not only about Charles Woodson but about everything he represents, which is having the support of your family in a small town and having the drive and determination to screw up and get up and go at it again and succeed. In the end, what I took away from Fremont when I was leaving town was a soaring sense of humility and pride at the same time. To see what this guy has done, made me feel like I need to get out and do more.”

First Published September 25, 2021, 9:34 p.m.