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Walk On Scholllies

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Saw that Harley and Winner got them in the JT Presser/D'Andrea thread earlier.

Didn't know about Conroy, though. More good news, thanks.
 
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You gotta love these guys earning their way to a free ride. Another thing that makes college football so great... they don't even have to play, getting that schollie means the world to them a lot of the time.
 
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rivals.com (free)

9/2/05

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD colSpan=2>Three walk-ons earn OSU scholarships <HR width="100%" noShade SIZE=1></TD></TR><TR><TD>Chris Nida
BuckeyeSports.com Staff Writer </TD><TD noWrap align=right> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The scholarships awarded to now former walk-ons John Conroy, Rob Harley and Steve Winner don't just mean money for school and books and housing, not to mention the prestige that comes with being a scholarship player at Ohio State.

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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=right>Chris Nida/BuckeyeSports.com</TD></TR><TR><TD height=3>
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</TD></TR><TR><TD align=middle>John Conroy (middle) will be on scholarship for the 2005 season.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- End Roundtable Schlegel, conroy, Sims Image-->It also means they can finally eat with their teammates at training table after practice.

"Four years of cooking your own meals after practice isn't fun," Conroy said.

But make no mistake about it -- eating might be nice, but having all of their efforts pay off in tangible form is reward enough for this trio of seniors.

"I think it's hard work and proving that you belong here and that you can compete with these guys and play here," Harley said. "Obviously, we've shown that and I've shown it the last three years -- I'm going to be a three-year letterman. Just sticking it out and giving your best, you get rewarded."

Conroy and Winner are offensive linemen, Conroy having prepped at Cleveland St. Ignatius and Winner doing so at Dublin Coffman in suburban Columbus. Harley is an Elmhurst, Ill., native, but the safety has had a long-standing connection with the university because he is the great-great-nephew of Buckeye legend Chic Harley.

In that sense, Harley and Conroy are alike. Conroy's father, Jim, walked on at the university in the late 1960s and was a member of the 1968 national championship squad. His experiences while at OSU led his son to turn down opportunities to play in the MAC and instead follow in his father's footsteps.

"I've seen how much it's helped him in his life, how much he's learned, how much he enjoyed the game here and what type of tradition it brings," Conroy said. "You go to any other school and there's nothing anywhere near the tradition and the following that Ohio State has. Guys from 30 years ago are coming back to tailgate and go to the games and enjoy themselves. The Ohio State football team gives you an incredible amount of pride in your university, and I see that in my dad's eyes."

Winner turned down a scholarship offer from Ball State to walk on at OSU.

"My family's from Ohio," he said. "We were always huge Buckeye fans. They never put the pressure on me to follow the money or anything. It was really just up to me what I wanted to do -- whether I wanted to go be a player there or try to live out a dream and play here at Ohio State."

Each of the fifth-year seniors appears on the depth chart for Saturday's season opener with Miami (Ohio). Conroy is listed as the backup at left guard, Winner at right tackle and Harley at the nickel back. Harley has been a valued member of the special teams for two seasons, and Winner saw his first game action as a Buckeye last season.

For his model, Conroy used Mike Stafford, a former walk-on who Conroy played with for two years and who started five games during OSU's 2002 national championship season.

"You work so many years and put in so many hours," Conroy said. "It's definitely satisfying to see your hard work put into action. You read a lot of quotes and stuff about handling adversity. It's a long road and finally good things pay off, and to start playing a little bit and start contributing has made it worthwhile."

Meanwhile, Harley said that while he's now a scholarship player, the attitude he brought to trying to make it without a scholarship will never leave him.

"I'll always be a walk-on, in mentality anyway," Harley said. "I'll carry that with me forever."
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This is great for those three young men, congratulations.:osu:
 
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Dug this one up - seemed like a good place for this quote:

http://the-ozone.net/football/2007/Northwestern/noteandquotebook092107.htm

Tressel also said that three walk on players would be awarded scholarships this fall. They include Daniel Dye, David Lisko and Dimitrios Makridis.
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Always makes me happy when the team is able to award some of the walk-ons. I'm sure these guys are out there working extremely hard like everyone else. Congrats!
 
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[quote='BusNative;93646;3]Always makes me happy when the team is able to award some of the walk-ons. I'm sure these guys are out there working extremely hard like everyone else. Congrats![/quote]Ditto... congrats to the new schollie recipients!
 
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