DALLAS – The Ohio State Buckeyes took a break from their preparations for the 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic on Wednesday morning to visit patients and their families at Children's Medical Center in Dallas.

The visit began with a welcoming from Children's Medical Chief Operating Officer, Dane Peterson, who emphasized the importance that positive interactions have on the patients.

"Coach Day mentioned the idea of you win with people, I think we all know that," Peterson said. "I think that's as important in healthcare as it is in football, so thank you all for being a part of our team and taking care of these kids today."

Cotton Bowl Athletic Association Chair-Elect Kelvin Walker was up next to the podium and expressed his gratitude to the Buckeyes.

"To the Ohio State Buckeyes, welcome," Walker said. "Welcome and a huge thanks to Ryan Day for taking time out of his schedule today from practice to come see the children. Our kids look up to our athletes and great football players like all of you. Your presence alone puts a smile on their faces."

Ohio State's head coach Ryan Day was thankful for the opportunity and shared his appreciation for all in attendance including the Children's Medical patients, doctors and families.

"Days like today we recognize that we have health and we're blessed with a lot of things," Day said. "Your sons and daughters are inspirations to us. Being a part of this today means a lot to us and we thank you guys for all your work."

Day then presented honorary captain and Children's patient Ryder with a custom 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic Ohio State jersey. Following the presentation, Ryder was able to participate in fun activities with Day and members of his team that were all recorded in Children's Seacrest Studios established by the Ryan Seacrest Foundation.

The players also spent some time with patients, playing an assortment of games, while coloring and signing autographs. The whole team expressed the gratitude they felt for being able to brand out from football and meet some of the patients.

Ohio State LB Steele Chambers enjoyed spending time with the patients and loved that the team was able to provide some positive energy.

"It means a lot to see these kids laugh whenever you walk by," Chambers said. "You see some of their parents and how happy they all seem seeing us come in. It's huge to be able to impact this entire community."

Buckeye Senior LB Cody Simon matched Day's message. "I think they're the purest form of happiness," Simon said. "They're just living life and we can only be thankful to be in a position where we can help these kids out and make them have a great day and end of the year. We're so thankful to be here and to help these kids."

Each patient and staff member received a Cotton Bowl Classic goodie bag filled with items representing the big game which included gifts, such as a poster and an official 88th Classic t-shirt, provided by Goodyear and Dr. Pepper.

The 88th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic is Friday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN and ESPN Radio. Kickoff is slated for 7:10 p.m.
 
This year's Classic is a part of the ESPN bowl lineup for the 10th straight year. Dave Pasch and Dusty Dvoracek are set to call the action from the booth with Tom Luginbill reporting from the sidelines. ESPN Radio returns as the Classic's national radio partner for the tenth consecutive year with Brad Sham and Kirk Morrison in the booth and Taylor McGregor on the sidelines to describe all the action from AT&T Stadium.

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