Todd Smith 1987-1990 Nathan Kaspar says of football players like Todd Smith, “ It is important to know that an athlete who chooses to accept being a walk-on does so because he wants to play at Texas.” Todd Smith had scholarship offers to Arkansas and Mississippi, but he declined both offers because he wanted to…
Team Captain and Marine Sargeant Ahmard Hall was a walk-on When the 2005 team visited the White House, President Bush praised Ahmard Hall, a Marine who served in Afghanistan and Kosovo before playing for Texas. Ahmard Hall always held on to his dream of playing college football. When Ahmard left active duty in 2003, he…
Billy, I am sure you do not remember me, but I walked on in 1970, made the team, and Lettered at fullback my Freshman year behind Gaspard. I roomed with McEnvale (Not the Mattress Mac) but ended up rooming with Julius for a few months. I remember you and Julius coming to the room and…
The Walk-on Social validation is tied to being part of a college team for men and women. Walk-ons embody the purity of the activity playing for principles and personal motives. Walk-ons are the closest to the ideal of a pure amateur college athlete. The student asked their coach to try out and play without financial…
TOP GUN; NATHAN KASPAR by Larry Carlson ( lc13@txstate.edu ) There’s certainly no shortage of “Top Gun” mania across the nation this summer. A breath of fresh air for many Americans. At least one former Longhorn football player isn’t shy about the fact that he was inspired as a kid by the 1986 Tom Cruise…
Our 1977 – 78 team was the 1st team to play in the Special Events Center, and we did go undefeated at home. John’s right about the sellouts. After our inaugural season at the Drum, it was reported that we’d averaged the 3rd largest home attendance in the nation. I think that the average attendance…
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 there are still some overlapping comments about Cade and Nate in the comments below. Nate Boyer When the Longhorns convened for their first team meeting this week, the coaches and staff…
Nathan Kaspar WALKING ON TAKES AN INDIVIDUAL WITH SPECIAL CHARACTER, CONFIDENCE, AND INNER STRENGTH. ATTRIBUTES also NEEDED WHEN WALKING-ON in THE GAME OF LIFE. A longhorn home football game in 2005 was dedicated to the victims of a hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast region. During the start of the game, senior Karim Meijer, a…
Don Markette- The 1963 team Thank you for your inclusion on the TSLN e-mail network. It is with pride that I celebrate 57 years of friendship with Ted Liljedahl. Our bond has never been broken. In 1962 at 17 1/2 years of age, I chose to walk on and try out for the freshman (short…