Ohio's Tate says Heisman photo is not a baby announcement

It started with a hashtag and a math problem nobody bothered to solve. Here's the post that set off the congratulations texts.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

3 Heismans in one photo! #GoBucks

Read cold, "3 Heismans in one photo" posted by a guy in the middle of wedding planning sounds like a soft launch of a third person. Plenty of people read it exactly that way. Tate's first cleanup tweet, 5 minutes later, said it was engagement photos part 2 and a first meeting with the priest who will marry them, and that he was now locked in at Roosters for the Guardians game before an overnight drive back to Chicago. It ended with "No baby (pretty sure)." That "pretty sure" did not help his case.

So 2 minutes after that he showed his work, and the math is pure Columbus.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

Oh fuck. You guys thought “3 Heismans in this photo” meant a baby??? Archie has 2!!! And she is 1! That’s the 3! This is just a fun photo!! NO BABY (pretty sure)

Ohio’s Tate@OhioTate

3 Heismans in one photo! #GoBucks

Archie is Archie Griffin, the Ohio State running back who won the Heisman in 1974 and 1975 and is still the only player ever to win it twice. That's 2. The third is "she" — the woman Tate is marrying, whom he calls the Heisman. Getting a Buckeyes legend into your engagement shoot is a flex for anybody, and for a guy whose entire brand is Ohio State, it might be the best day of the year that doesn't involve beating Michigan.

The correction didn't land. More than half an hour later the texts were still coming in, including one from inside the family, and Tate went straight to the top of the Barstool Chicago chain of command for help.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

NOT A BABY ANNOUNCEMENT! Please tell @BarstoolBigCat this is NOT a baby announcement! Everyone is texting me congratulations. The Heisman’s cousin texted her not as a joke! Archie has 2 Heismans!!! #NoBaby

Ohio’s Tate@OhioTate

3 Heismans in one photo! #GoBucks t.co/KCmgI7f5Yy

Wanting Big Cat to hear it before the Yak does makes sense. On that show, a rumor spends about 10 seconds as a rumor before it becomes a segment, and "Tate is having a baby" is a much easier segment to run than "Tate took pictures with a guy who won 2 Heismans in the 70s." The Heisman's own cousin sending a sincere congratulations shows how far it had spread in about half an hour.

Some of Tate's followers still put the blame on everyone else.

Cons

@CaptainCons

@OhioTate Too many people are devoid of cfb history

That's fair, but only partly. Anybody who knows college football should know the only 2-time winner on sight. Then again, Tate did keep adding "pretty sure" to every denial. For now, the official word is engagement photos, a priest, a Guardians game at Roosters and the drive back to Chicago. If the Yak brings it up anyway, he can't say he didn't warn them.