On June 29, 2026, Michael Roen McCullough, 26, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in connection with the Aug. 28, 2025, incident.
On Aug. 27, 2026, Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Kimberly Cocroft sentenced McCullough to 60 days in a work release program and five years of community control. She also ordered him to pay a $500 fine and have no contact with businesses or people associated with Ethos Hospitality Group.
This story first published on Sept. 2, 2025.
Judge issues protection order against former OSU player accused of strangling girlfriend
A former walk-on long snapper for the Ohio State University football team appeared in court for the first time since his arrest amid allegations that he strangled his girlfriend.
Michael McCullough, 25, appeared on Sept. 2 in Franklin County Municipal Court. Columbus police arrested him
Aug. 29 and charged him with strangulation, a second-degree felony, according to court records.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Eileen Paley set McCullough's bond at $50,000 and granted a request for a protection order that requires McCullough to stay away from the woman who levied the allegations against him.
Officers arrested McCullough around 9 p.m. Aug. 29 after his girlfriend reported getting into a physical altercation with McCullough the day before.
Court records say the woman told police she and McCullough had been driving home around 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 28 and got into an argument in the vehicle. She told police McCullough punched her in the face several times, broke her cell phone and grabbed her by the throat with one hand while pushing her against a window, according to court records.
Police said the woman had a black eye and a swollen lower lip, court records say, as well as a bruise on the front of the throat that she said was the result of McCullough grabbing her. The woman told police she had no memory of the remainder of the drive to their home and regained consciousness after arriving back at the home, according to court records.
McCullough was a walk-on long snapper for Ohio State between 2018 and 2020 after graduating from Worthington Kilbourne High School.
Reporter Bethany Bruner can be reached at bbruner@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Former Ohio State football walk-on sentenced for assault on girlfriend
