Overheard On Twitter: John Urschel Wants To Be On ‘The Big Bang Theory’
At the tender age of 23, John Urschel already boasts a résumé that would make even the most daring overachievers blush. In addition to being a starting offensive lineman and team captain for Penn State, Urschel taught math classes to undergrads three days a week while working toward two math degrees, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. He won the “Academic Heisman” his senior year, was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth-round of the NFL Draft, and earned a spot in the starting lineup for the play0ff-bound Ravens midway through his rookie year. And, oh by the way, Urschel got his latest paper, “A Cascadic Multigrid Algorithm for Computing the Fiedler Vector of Graph Laplacians,“ published in the Journal of Computational Mathematics earlier this month.
In what little spare time he has, he practices his love for math, writing an advanced stats column for The Players’ Tribune. In his most recent article, “Why I Still Play Football,” Urschel explained his love for the game, despite the obvious risks for head injury that forced San Francisco 49ers linebacker Chris Borland to retire from the NFL at the age of 24.
Really, the guy has achieved everything he’s put his mind to thus far. Now, he has his sights set on a new achievement; earning a cameo on his favorite television show, “The Big Bang Theory.”
So, @BillPrady , when is my @BigBang_CBS cameo going down? The team needs a mathlete! #ready pic.twitter.com/CjiHsmkIV1
— John Urschel (@MathMeetsFball) March 24, 2015
His argument is valid. The Big Bang Theory, the most popular show on network television by a wide margin, has never had an athlete on the show. There have been cameos by famous scientists like Stephen Hawking and Neil DeGrasse Tyson, actors Leonard Nimoy and George Takei, and comic book legend Stan Lee, but never a professional athlete. Given Urschel’s knowledge of mathematics, he’d fit right in with the main cast while shattering the “dumb jock” stereotype. It would appear Bill Prady, the show’s executive producer and co-creator, agrees.
@MathMeetsFball @BigBang_CBS Ha! Request noted for the record!!
— Bill Prady (@billprady) March 24, 2015
Here’s hoping there’s a Sheldon Cooper vs. John Urschel math battle in our future.
Photo: The Players’ Tribune
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