Watch walk-on senior @CraigJones_30 and his teammates react when @CoachDavidShaw announces that he’s on scholarship. https://t.co/qXO1Dymy3W
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) August 28, 2015
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With college football season just a week away from kicking off, ’tis the season for head coaches to pull some surprises on their teams.
While some involve hilarious pranks, the ones that are really cool are the stories of players getting rewarded for all of their hard work with a scholarship.
As we’ve seen at Notre Dame, Western Michigan and NC State, among others, this summer, when a walk-on gets told he has a roster spot, the entire team will celebrate.
The most recent instant came yesterday, when Stanford Cardinal head coach David Shaw announced that walk-on senior linebacker Craig Jones was getting a scholarship.
Playing football and paying his tuition for three years at Stanford, Jones’ perseverance and resolve paid-off, with the school giving him his final season on their dime.
After delivering the message to Jones with a smile, Shaw said to go call his parents to break the news—which I’m sure brought some tears to their eyes.
Never thought I’d see the day — Craig Jones (@CraigJones_30) August 26, 2015
Good stuff, guys.