Column: The life of a walk-on

**ChrisMWilliams** · 09-20-2010, 08:43 PM

Here's a piece that I put together today after interviewing Matt Morton and Jeff Woody. Both are great kids who you all should be proud of. CPR has awarded 12 walk-ons scholarships since he got to Ames.

Iowa State Football: The life of a walk-on | Cyclone Fanatic

**CtownCyclone** · 09-20-2010, 08:52 PM

Now I know why Woody is a stud - have you seen the weight room at SEP?

Kidding aside, being a walk-on has to be tough. Kudos to these guys for putting up with being an unknown for the chance to shine. These guys have desire that can't be questioned.

**shagcarpetjesus** · 09-20-2010, 08:54 PM

Chris, I’ve been curious about Morton and how he ended up in Ames. You mentioned in your article that he felt like he was supposed to be here when he visited, but considering he’s from Texas how did Iowa State get on his radar in the first place?

**dualthreat** · 09-20-2010, 09:00 PM

those guys are great. they've earned everything they've gotten. i know i could step on a lot of toes here... but not every college football player- or NFL player has to work as hard as some of those guys do.

guys like ricky williams can take a year and a half and do jack ****... and come back and start in the NFL. i don't hold guys like that to as high of respect as guys who bust there *** everyday and eventually all their hard work pays off. those guys are why we should be proud to be cyclones-

**kkise** · 09-20-2010, 09:17 PM

Great article Chris. You always pull for these guys.

**sdcyfan** · 09-20-2010, 10:01 PM

Originally Posted by kkise

Great article Chris. You always pull for these guys.

I Love the fact that CPR is doing this. Not only does this reward the kids that have worked their tails off to be on this team, it also encourages future walk ons to come here. Some of the latest Cyclone greats have been walk ons. Carstens, Danielson, Whitver, etc.

Congrats to all these guys and keep working hard.

Here's to Woody getting more carries against UNI!

**BBHMagic** · 09-20-2010, 10:37 PM

Jack Whitver made a good point on cyclone reaction. He said that walk-ons can be very important in providing depth and Jean didn't believe in walk-ons when he was at ISU. Those two years of not bringing in a good amount of walk-ons is probably the reason for our lack of depth in a few positions.

**cyclonepop** · 09-20-2010, 11:45 PM

Originally Posted by shagcarpetjesus

Chris, I’ve been curious about Morton and how he ended up in Ames. You mentioned in your article that he felt like he was supposed to be here when he visited, but considering he’s from Texas how did Iowa State get on his radar in the first place?

shag....in order to answer the question you posed, you would have to understand and go through at LEAST TWO years of the recruiting process that the boys have to go through. what with all the mail, emails, promises, courting, and ultimatly the offer or not the offers you were/are looking for, and then comes the dis-appointments and decisions that have to be made.
Your question can not be answered in a simple answer. Perhaps its non of your business how Iowa State got on his radar to begin with, but the fact that it just did. Why is it important for you to know the how of it? can you change it? Were you a part of his decision making process? I think not to both of those, and we should just celebrate the fact that the young man made a decision to come here and fight for a position and place that HE wanted, dispite all the things he must have to go through to accomplish it.

**wxman1** · 09-20-2010, 11:47 PM

Originally Posted by cyclonepop

shag....in order to answer the question you posed, you would have to understand and go through at LEAST TWO years of the recruiting process that the boys have to go through. what with all the mail, emails, promises, courting, and ultimatly the offer or not the offers you were/are looking for, and then comes the dis-appointments and decisions that have to be made.
Your question can not be answered in a simple answer. Perhaps its non of your business how Iowa State got on his radar to begin with, but the fact that it just did. Why is it important for you to know the how of it? can you change it? Were you a part of his decision making process? I think not to both of those, and we should just celebrate the fact that the young man made a decision to come here and fight for a position and place that HE wanted, dispite all the things he must have to go through to accomplish it.

first post...you his dad? If so thanks for sending him up here we are glad to have him!

**cyfan15** · 09-21-2010, 12:17 AM

Much respect to the hard-working kids that earned their scholarships. They represent everything that is right with college athletics.

That said, the fact that nine former walk-ons are on scholarship shows some of the depth problems that Rhoads has had to work against due to two coaching changes since 2006. Only eleven players from the 2006 and 2007 recruiting classes are still in the program. Those are our fourth and fifth year guys that are supposed to be our leaders and the majority of our starters.

That's not to take anything at all away from these guys who busted their butts all these years to earn scholarships. Most of them are redshirt seniors who have stuck with it through three coaching staffs, and we would be much worse off without them.

**Steve** · 09-21-2010, 12:17 AM

Originally Posted by cyclonepop

shag....in order to answer the question you posed, you would have to understand and go through at LEAST TWO years of the recruiting process that the boys have to go through. what with all the mail, emails, promises, courting, and ultimatly the offer or not the offers you were/are looking for, and then comes the dis-appointments and decisions that have to be made.
Your question can not be answered in a simple answer. Perhaps its non of your business how Iowa State got on his radar to begin with, but the fact that it just did. Why is it important for you to know the how of it? can you change it? Were you a part of his decision making process? I think not to both of those, and we should just celebrate the fact that the young man made a decision to come here and fight for a position and place that HE wanted, dispite all the things he must have to go through to accomplish it.

It appears that you have had some first hand experience with the recruiting process. Many people have no idea how much frustration and disappointment can be involved with it. I know one family whose son was involved with about 3 Big 12 schools and was constantly being told stories along the line of "we are taking 3 guys at your position and we currently have you ranked as #4"

They ended up laying down some ground rules for one of the schools coming in for a home visit after not having good experiences with several others. Basically that it would be great if you are coming in to offer a scholarship. It would also be fine if you come in and be honest about why it probably won't work out. Just don't come in, rave about the kid, get his hopes up, and then kick him to the curb the next week. He ended up getting an offer from the school.

**CrossCyed** · 09-21-2010, 12:57 AM

Originally Posted by BBHMagic

Jack Whitver made a good point on cyclone reaction. He said that walk-ons can be very important in providing depth and Jean didn't believe in walk-ons when he was at ISU. Those two years of not bringing in a good amount of walk-ons is probably the reason for our lack of depth in a few positions.

No, that really has nothing to do with it. It's because of the failures of recruiting and scholarship athletes.