An Ohio State Buckeye helmet is seen on the sidelines prior to the start of the All State Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Jan. 1, 2015 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Streeter Lecka, Getty Images)

‘Are those pot leaves on Ohio State’s helmets?’ Yes, others thought so, too

Published: • Updated:

By , The Cannabist Staff

Let’s be real: During the All State Sugar Bowl on Thursday there was a moment when you found yourself wondering if those decals on the back of Ohio State’s football helmets were marijuana leaves.

No judgement. You weren’t alone. Others asked themselves the same question as they watched the Ohio State Buckeyes beat the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide 42-35 in New Orleans.

Best of 2014: Pot critic Jake Browne’s ‘Top 10 strains I smoked this year’

Here are 30 others who recently pondered the buckeye stickers — and scroll past the tweets to read the story of a Tennessee police officer who pulled a 65-year-old woman over to question her about the Buckeyes sticker on her back bumper.

“It’s just amazing they would be that dumb,” the woman said at the time.

For now, back to the 30 others who thought the Ohio State players might have been making a political statement this season.

And now back to Bonnie Jonas-Boggioni, who was pulled over in Tennessee in 2013 on her drive from Ohio to Texas — all because of a Buckeye sticker on her car.

One of the officers asked her, “What are you doing with a marijuana sticker on your bumper?” From The Columbus Dispatch’s original report from February 2013:

Neither the Tennessee Highway Patrol nor the Shelby County sheriff’s office in Memphis had information about the traffic stop. A marijuana sticker would not be a sufficient reason to stop a car, said a spokeswoman for the West Tennessee Drug Task Force.

Even if it were, Jonas-Boggioni said, police hunting drugs should know that a Buckeye leaf — which has five leaflets — doesn’t look much like a marijuana leaf, which typically has seven leaflets and a narrower shape.

Before they let her go on her way, the officers advised Jonas-Boggioni to remove the decal from her car.

“I said, ‘You mean in Tennessee?’ and he said, ‘No, permanently.’

“I didn’t take it off. . . . This little old lady is no drug dealer.”

Still have questions about the familiar buckeye? Feel free to address Ohio State’s Brand Guidelines.