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The Grit of a Walk-on at Ohio State Football

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kippy1040

kippy1040

Hall of Fame
I have always wondered about this type of football player. With all the attention being directed to the highly touted incoming freshman who are
offered scholarships right from the get go, compared to the Walk-on who wants to play fottball for Ohio State, knowing full well that he does not have a chance in playing a down for this team. He does not have a good chance at going to Training Table and other luxuries awarded to the well skilled athletes of his peers. If they were not recruited then what mind set are they in, to think that they can walk on to a football field and excell in thier field.

I could understand the Idea 40 or 50 years ago but todays athletes are much quicker and stronger now. The game moves quicker than the blink
of an eye. Yet we have walk ons that think they can contribute in some way. To me it takes a lot of intestinal fortitude to be one of these players and I give them all the credit in the world to try it. I get excited when i hear of a walk-on becoming 1st stringer, knowing that he had to come up thru the ranks to make it to the top. And i wonder how the other players feel when they see this happen. Is it an inspiration to them to see a walk-on take thier place? Does it make them want to try harder to get thier position back?

I just wonder what Jim Tressel sees in a Walk-on at Ohio State. I have heard that he has awared scholys to these guys. We just don't hear to many stories about walk-on players and what they had to go through to be a real part of Ohio State football. Thought maybe some of you could add to this thread on any interesting stories on the subject and maybe add your own feelings.
 
Kippy,

There are only so many walk-ons a school can have (20 or 24 seem to come to mind, but I don't recall the exact number) on their roster at any given time... The coaches don't just take any walk-ons, they too have talent... I think some of the walk-ons even have offers from MAC level schools, and really want to play with the big boys, so they walk on to OSU, and give it their best shot...

Coach Tressel does seem to give a couple kids each year a scholie that were walkons (usually for their final senior year)... There seems to be a couple walk-ons that manage to make the two deep/ special teams each year... these guys are really important in the 85 scholie limit... we need a couple of them to not only be practice bodies but also contribute on the field as well...
 
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daddyphatsacs said:
I'm at a loss for the name, but wasn't our center/ guard from the 2002 team a walk on? If Im not mistaken he was our best lineman.
Click to expand...

OSU Football Awards Six Scholarships to Walk-ons


Those receiving scholarships include seniors Ben Steele and Jim Kortovich.



Sophomore linebacker Jason Bond was awarded an athletics scholarships by the Ohio State Football program.


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Sept. 18, 2001

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State football team has awarded athletics scholarships to six student-athletes. Receiving the scholarships are seniors Ben Steele (Marysville, Ohio/Marysville) and Jim Kortovich (Euclid, Ohio/Villa Angela St. Joseph's), juniors Andy Groom (Columbus, Ohio/Bishop Hartley), Michael Stafford (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) and Andrew Schabo (Worthington, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) and sophomore Jason Bond (Worthington, Ohio/Watterson).

"It's an exciting time," head coach Jim Tressel said. "The neatest thing was the response of the rest of the team. They were excited and happy for them. Everyone felt good about the announcement. These young men are just as much a part of the group as anyone else. It's an exciting day for them."
 
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kippy1040 said:
... I get excited when i hear of a walk-on becoming 1st stringer, knowing that he had to come up thru the ranks to make it to the top. And i wonder how the other players feel when they see this happen. Is it an inspiration to them to see a walk-on take thier place? Does it make them want to try harder to get thier position back?...
Click to expand...
Chad Cacchio is a name that comes to mind... walked on from Upper Arlington, earned a schollie his senior year, and then went and lead the team in recieving TDs, doubling the production of the 2nd and 3rd leading reciever Combined....

of course, without Cooper having lost SIX recruits due to academics, this lone feel-good story in an otherwise disatrous season probably never happens...
 
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I thought Mike Kne was a walk-on. Maybe not. But, in any case, WoodyW is right on. You have to credit the guts of a guy who wants so badly to be part of the team effort to walk on, especially if he had offers (schollie) to other schools. Maybe it is that they have grown up dreaming of being a Buckeye and aren't interested in another school. Perhaps there are academic or other personal reasons they make the choice.
Whatever...in one sense they are cannon fodder for the scout teams or other entities for the top line guys to practice against. It's good they have a chance to be recognized. And, perhaps, some are just prescient regarding how satisfying it will be 10,20,40 years down the road to simply be able to say.." I was part of a Buckeye team"
Go Bucks!
 
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I forgot about Chad Chaccio being a walk-on and surprised at all the others who were walk-ons and who contributed so much to the sucess of Buckeye football in the past years. Is Mike Kne going to be awarded another year to
play. I thought he was a 5th year senion. It would be nice to have him back
to add some leadership along with the rest.
 
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The few walk-ons that I have come into contact with have said that the reason they walked on to a major university is because they wanted to coach at the D-1 level. This makes sense because being on an OSU team looks alot better than being on a Toledo or BG Team.
 
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As some of you may or may not know, two of my buddies are walk-ons at OSU right now (one for football). I admire the hell out of them. They go through everything the scholarship athletes go through without the luxuries like training table, $800/month stipend, books, etc. One thing you know for sure when it comes to walk-ons is that they're die-hard Buckeyes. You'd have to be, otherwise you wouldn't go through all that with very little hope of seeing the field. Most of them turned down scholarship offers from MAC or other lower-tier schools to come to OSU.

Coach Tressel has done an awesome job for the most part of getting quality walk-ons. Coop basically ignored them. Tress has given scholarships to a few every year and actually puts them in the game in key situations if they prove they can handle it. One of our gunners on punt coverage for most of the past two seasons was a walk-on and did better than most of the scholarship guys in that role. Another walk-on was in on the blocked punt in the Fiesta Bowl. Not to mention the job they do preparing the starters every week on the scout team.

Ask any of them why they do what they do, and they'll tell you that the run out of the tunnel in the Horseshoe makes it all worthwhile.
 
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