Bill Little commentary: ‘S’ has more than one meaning

Bill Little, Texas Media Relations

So let’s take these one at a time.

Important: Bill Little’s article is about walk-ons Cade McCrary and Nate Boyer. So each can be celebrated individually, TLSN shares their separate stores, but in the comments below, there are still some overlapping comments about Cade and Nate.

CADE MCCRARY

When the Longhorns convened for their first team meeting this week, the coaches and staff announced to the team that two junior walk-on players had been awarded one year scholarships. Under NCAA rules, universities are allowed to maintain in a single year no more than 85 scholarship players. Traditionally, when through attrition Texas has been under that ceiling, the coaches and staff have at times deemed particularly deserving walk-on players eligible for a one-year scholarship.

And Sunday night, they dipped right into their theme of sacrifice to grant full scholarship to two players whose backgrounds are as different and diverse as one could ever imagine — holder/receiver Cade McCrary and deep snapper Nate Boyer.

That night, even through their humility, both had every right to walk proudly with a little swagger.

Cade McCrary was a little boy in the first grade when his dad joined the coaching staff of Mack Brown at Texas in 1998. He grew up dreaming of being a Longhorn, and even after his dad, Hardee, left the staff and moved over to the Longhorn Foundation, that dream never wavered. In high school, he was a leading receiver and one of the top players during Lake Travis’ run of state championship success over the past five years.

When it came time to attend college, he had several offers at other places, but made it clear to his folks that he wanted to be a Longhorn. So three seasons ago, he made the team as a walk-on wide receiver. He also had a special skill that would turn out to serve the team well – he was a holder for extra points and field goals. When the Horns were looking for a holder two years ago after Jordan Shipley left, Cade McCrary stepped up and won the job.

The tradition of, “Justin Tucker….out of the hold of Cade McCrary” became a common announcement for the Longhorn kicking game. In fact, as Justin was lining up for the winning field goal in College Station last Thanksgiving against Texas A&M, all I could think about was, “Tucker, out of the hold of McCrary.” The rest, of course, is history. You never hear much about a deep snapper or a holder unless they screw something up, and in one of the grandest moments in Texas Longhorn football history, Cade McCrary became a hugely important footnote to legend.