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Anthony Olivieri
DURING A 92-DEGREE October afternoon in College Station, Texas, a cadet outfitted in a classic khaki uniform stood before a towering 12-foot statue outside Kyle Field, the venue for Texas A&M football.
«This,» the cadet who was conducting the campus tour noted, «is E. King Gill.»
A plaque noted that A&M football experienced numerous injuries, leaving the team with only 11 players, during a 1922 matchup against Centre College, necessitating assistance from Gill, a basketball player for the Aggies. The ex-football player emerged from the stands and awaited on the sidelines. Gill never entered the contest.
«His eagerness to back the team served as a motivator for success,» stated the plaque.
Gill also laid the groundwork for what is still referred to at A&M as the 12th Man, from which the current day walk-on athlete can trace their lineage, a situation now precarious due to a recent court settlement.
During the ride, Alan Cannon, who has been part of A&M’s athletic department for four decades, detailed how the tradition developed:
In 1982, Texas A&M coach Jackie Sherrill observed students laboring all night stacking timber for the annual Aggie Bonfire in anticipation of a game against Texas.
Motivated by those volunteers, Sherrill conceived an additional way to engage students: an all-walk-on unit to be called The 12th Man Kickoff Team. Sherrill announced a tryout in A&M’s student publication. Over 200 students attended.
The tradition thrived from 1983 until 1990, when that season’s 12th Man unit allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown against Texas Tech. Coach R.C. Slocum opted for a change. Only one walk-on would cover kicks and don a No. 12 jersey. He would represent the 12th Man.
The ride halted at the Bright-Slocum Center, the football program’s facility. Inside, Nana Boadi-Owusu, a walk-on defensive end, awaited in a room on the upper level. He set down his backpack and grinned. He expressed eagerness to face the Gators.
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Boadi-Owusu began his journey on campus in 2022, 100 years after Gill waited on standby.
Two years later, on August 5, 2024, the then redshirt-sophomore entered a meeting with the feeling that something significant was about to unfold.
Upon the meeting’s conclusion, he rose to his feet. «One more thing,» Texas A&M coach Mike Elko remarked, leisurely turning around a maroon jersey. Boadi-Owusu was designated as the 12th Man.
«It was an unreal sensation,» Boadi-Owusu shares.
Following the 2024 season, Boadi-Owusu found himself anxious about the status of his walk-on position. An impending settlement in the House vs. NCAA lawsuit, which promised to transform college sports, could jeopardize walk-on spots. Information was limited, and the settlement was not yet conclusive. Elko prepared his walk-ons for the worst-case scenario. Texas A&M’s system for assessing the futures of walk-ons featured a green light if a player was likely to remain on the roster and a red light if he was likely to be released.
Baker Mayfield or two national championships like former Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett or, similar to J.J. Watt, transition from a lean tight end at Central Michigan to a towering three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year awardee.
Perhaps it’s an idealized perspective of what some desire college sports to embody, despite its status as a multi-billion-dollar enterprise.
«Is it romanticized?» posed William Goldberg, a walk-on safety for five years at SMU and one year at Duke, who last played in the 2025 Gator Bowl. «I believe, often, yes.» He paused. «I don’t believe that’s necessarily a negative.»
Drew Mestemaker, a freshman walk-on last season who experienced his initial start in a bowl match, lost to Tulane in the American Conference championship showdown. Three days later, he received the 2025 Burlsworth Trophy.
As the implications of the House settlement settled in, Marty was queried about the future of the award, and whether the count of walk-ons would significantly diminish.
«The award will persist,» Marty states. «We will continue to acknowledge the underdog. Those who, essentially, few had faith in, yet they maintained their belief in themselves.»
The selection committee for the trophy comprises Pro Football Hall of Famers like Northern Iowa’s Kurt Warner, whose ascent from stock boy to Super Bowl fame is well-known, and John Randle, who, while not a walk-on, played at the Division II level.
«I was intrigued by [the walk-on narrative],» Randle disclosed to ESPN. «And it kind of resonated with me.» Randle was raised just outside of College Station, Texas, where he developed an appreciation for the 12th Man. Furthermore, during his professional career, Randle formed a friendship with defensive back Aeneas Williams, who was a walk-on in college.
Quincy Crittendon, for a one-yard loss.
It was his first career sack.
The Aggies are poised to compete against Miami in the initial round of the College Football Playoff on Dec. 20, with a chance at their first national championship since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency.
It has been a long journey to this moment for Boadi-Owusu, who does not take his opportunity to play for a championship contender lightly. However, without definitive guidance from the NCAA, the future for athletes like him remains in the hands of both conferences and institutions.
The SEC maintained its 85-scholarship cap for the 2025 season, permitting more walk-ons, but its members voted in early December to lift the cap for the subsequent season, effective Dec. 15, according to Matt Boyer, an SEC assistant commissioner. Boyer stated: «I anticipate that in the initial year or so, many will choose to remain around the 85-scholarship figure. Thus, you’ll have a few up to the 105 who will still be engaged without a scholarship.»
Boyer remarked that the 105-player limit is «more indicative of the number of individuals who have any potential for viable involvement opportunities.» He added: «Part of it is a degree of empathy for the shift in opportunities and experiences. Yet simultaneously, it was also about transitioning to a new model.»
The Big Ten, Big 12, and ACC did not promptly respond to inquiries concerning their plans. When approached about the school’s future strategies for walk-ons, a Texas A&M representative indicated, «we do not have a comment on this at this moment.»
Within the roster constraints post-settlement, schools can organize rosters in individual sports — and allocate funds — as they see appropriate. «[Hypothetically] a school could choose to approach things differently based on their situations compared to another institution,» Boyer suggests. «And I think that’s part of what this new framework entails, is that less regulation could lead to varying outcomes and decision-making across programs.»
Kessler, the attorney for the plaintiffs, asserted that the settlement would enable walk-ons to compete at places that align with them best — whether that be with a scholarship they may not have otherwise secured or at a lower level, where they would stand a better chance of playing. «We believe that the roster caps are sufficiently high, and the NCAA established the roster caps such that athletes should be able to find a place,» he states.
Kessler later commented: «That 140th football player may encounter greater difficulty.»
«HELLO, IT’S RUDY,» responds a man on the other end of the call. «What can I do for you?»
The voice belongs to Daniel Ruettiger, the genuine inspiration for the film about a football walk-on at Notre Dame who participated in three plays. He is 77 years old and resides outside of Las Vegas. He is divorced and has two children. One works as a police officer, and the other is an actress. He’s collaborating with a cheese company in Wisconsin.
Primarily, he is Rudy — delivering speeches, signing memorabilia, and promoting collectibles, banking on one play from 1975 when he made a sack and the movie from 1993 that brought him fame. He is the perfect person to ask whether the walk-on is significant.
Ruettiger remarks on the transformation of college sports. While he supports players receiving compensation, he fears that the sport that transformed him from Daniel to Rudy has vanished.
«So, the developments in college football resemble a disaster,» he states.
He shares a story he’s recounted before involving Kobe Bryant, perspiring after a pregame warmup, at a game in Sacramento. Ruettiger was present to observe his daughter perform the national anthem. «Hey, are you the real Rudy?» Bryant enquired. «Rudy Ruettiger?» Overcome with emotion, Bryant declared that Rudy was his idol before he resumed his pregame activities.
«I must tell you, I had no way of anticipating that these individuals would even view a film like ‘Rudy,'» he states now. «Yet they watch it for motivation.» Thus, when contracted as a speaker, he addresses union workers, carpenters, and corrections personnel, often speaking to thousands at once.
«[The speeches] were not solely about sports,» he notes. «They centered on mindset, on showing up for work and doing the right things, maintaining a positive attitude, conveying the correct message, and embodying perseverance and resilience.»
Ruettiger has represented amateurism in college athletics. However, his narrative was never about possessing a scholarship or not; it was inherently about being the underdog.
To emphasize his point, Ruettiger recalls an interaction at a bank near his residence. He required assistance with a complicated trust. «I spoke to a young woman yesterday,» he shares. «And she was truly exceptional at her job. I remarked, ‘Wow, you’re quite intelligent.’ She responded, ‘No, no. I wasn’t successful in school.’
The woman recounted her journey to her current role. «She was a walk-on in the banking field,» Ruettiger explains. «And she developed that. She worked hard to achieve that position. That embodies a walk-on.»
