From right to left: Andy Nero, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft on stage for The Joel Klatt Show Thursday night. Credit: Caroline Hebert | Sports Senior Writer
Just ahead of the Ohio State vs. Texas showdown on Saturday, Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt and Fox College Football sideline reporter Jenny Taft brought the hype to Columbus on Thursday night.
On a special live edition of The Joel Klatt Show podcast produced at the Browning Amphitheatre on OSU’s campus, the commentator hired a professional tattoo artist to etch a permanent tribute onto the upper back of Ohio State superfan Andy Nero, a 24-year-old from Delaware, Ohio.
“Earlier before the show,” Klatt said. “I asked Andy if he was ready, and Andy goes ‘I was made for this,’”
On Aug. 18, Klatt put out a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that he was looking for a Buckeye fan who was willing to get an Ohio State tattoo live on stage during the show.
“DM the @JoelKlattShow telling us why you’re interested!” The post read.
This was the first time Klatt has ever done this at one of his live shows.
“I was sending him a paragraph a day, actually multiple paragraphs a day,” Nero said. “I was leaving lengthy messages to him about growing up an Ohio State fan from 2001 all the way to now. It’s just how I’ve always lived.”
Nero’s direct messages gained enough attention from Klatt and his team to get him on stage.
“When they were asking me why I should be suggested for getting the tattoo,” Nero said. “I was like ‘Getting this wouldn’t be just an honor, but I’m fulfilling a calling.’”
When Nero’s body art was complete it was revealed to the audience at the show.. While he received the tattoo,the Buckeye superfan told Klatt and Taft, “it feels great, it feels like I’m winning.”
The tattoo was revealed to be the famous red Block O logo surrounded by the words “2025 National Champs,”
Nero’s Buckeye-themed body art earned the approval of his father, Brian Nero, who has been an Ohio State superfan ever since going to his first game in the 1970s with his dad.
“Andy didn’t ask for permission,” Brian Nero said. “He just told us.”
As the Buckeyes begin their 2025 season, Andy Nero said he would have to add to the Ohio State tattoo if the Buckeyes bring home another CFB championship.
“I’d have to,” Nero said. “But this time with my dad at the national championship.”
