Michael Roen McCullough, a former Ohio State walk-on long snapper, once had a pretty different kind of headline attached to his name. A Columbus kid who played football at Worthington Kilbourne, he walked on at Ohio State and spent three seasons with the program from 2018 to 2020. While he never appeared in a game for the Buckeyes, he thrived academically. But now, he’s in the headlines for an unwanted reason. 

According to NBC4i.com, Michael McCullough is now facing a sentence after pleading guilty to an assault charge tied to an August 2025 incident in West Columbus that led to a domestic violence investigation. Nearly 11 months after the alleged incident, the former Ohio State lineman agreed to plead guilty to the assault charge on June 29, 2026. 

Per the report, the punishment handed down Thursday was not a straight jail sentence. Judge Kimberly Cocroft issued him a 120-day suspended sentence and ordered him to spend 60 days in the Alvis Work Release Program, which allows him to continue working while serving the sanction. The joint sentencing agreement, approved by the victim, also calls for five years of community control.

Michael McCullough was previously ordered to follow a protection order and stay away from the victim. The case traces back to Aug. 29, 2025, when Columbus police responded to a domestic violence call around 9 p.m. A woman, identified as McCullough’s girlfriend, later walked into Columbus Police headquarters and reported the alleged assault. She told officers about an argument that happened earlier that morning while they were driving home.

Court records say the argument escalated inside the vehicle around 9:30 a.m. The woman told police that Michael McCullough broke her cellphone, punched her in the face several times, grabbed her by the throat, and pushed her head against the car window. She said she briefly could not breathe, panicked, and eventually lost consciousness. She woke up as they reached their Central Hilltop residence.

Police, at the time, documented visible injuries, including a black eye, a swollen lower lip, and bruising around her neck. Michael McCullough was initially charged with assault and strangulation, the latter a third-degree felony. The case continued through the courts while a protection order was put in place. The strangulation charge was dropped as part of the latest resolution.

That assault wasn’t a first. During a September 2025 court hearing, the woman told the court she did not feel safe around Michael McCullough. She also said the incident was one of “many” prior domestic violence situations. That statement added weight to a case that was already serious. All these developments are a stark contrast to what he used to be at Ohio State. 

Michael McCullough’s story took a drastic turn

There was a time when Michael McCullough’s Ohio State story was about academics, perseverance, and being a local kid who earned his way into the program. He was a walk-on who never got the Saturday moment most players chase, but he still built a respectable college resume away from the field.

Michael McCullough majored in finance at the Fisher College of Business and earned three OSU Scholar-Athlete honors. He was twice named Academic All-Big Ten and picked up Big Ten Distinguished Scholar recognition in 2020, according to Men’s Journal. The legal record now paints a totally different picture.

The sentence closes one chapter of the case, but the allegations and the victim’s account are the reason Michael McCullough is in the headlines today. Not because he wore an Ohio State jersey or studied finance or was a star student. The court case has now replaced that resume with a much darker chapter.