ASU football awards five walk-ons with scholarships
- ASU selects season captains
- 5 walk-ons earn scholarships
Two things of significance happened at Arizona State's Wednesday night practice.
First, coach Todd Graham said the Sun Devils have decided on their season captains. They are: senior quarterback Taylor Kelly, senior tackle Jamil Douglas, senior safety Damarious Randall and senior tight end/linebacker De'Marieya Nelson. Graham said ASU could name game captains as well.
Second, Graham awarded scholarships to five walk-on players. They are: junior safety Jordan Simone, sophomore receiver Frederick Gammage, senior lineman Chip Sarafin, red-shirt freshman linebacker Brandon Mathews and junior linebacker Jason Franklin.
Some background: Simone and Gammage are fighting for starting positions. Mathews and Franklin likely will contribute on special teams and Sarafin last week made national headlines as college football's first active openly gay player.
Graham said he always has believed in rewarding walk-ons for their hard work, but this seemed different. "The reaction of the team is what really, really was special," he said.
Here's how it went down:
Gammage: We had a compliance meeting, but that only lasted for about five minutes.
Simone: It was a regular meeting, but there were cameras around, so I was confused.
Franklin: It started off with the Scholar Baller Awards, and then Coach Graham came in with a folder.
Gammage: I was like, 'What's the red folder for?'
Mathews: I had no idea what was going on.
Gammage: In my head, I had been thinking, 'Man, when did they give the walk-ons scholarships last year?' I thought it was the Wednesday practice before the first game, so that's when I was kind of expecting it, but I wasn't sure.
Simone: Coach Graham looked at me and said, 'Jordan Simone, you're getting a scholarship today.' And I just got overwhelmed with emotion.
Gammage: He called Jordan first and I thought he was done. I was like "Oh, my God, this is not happening.' Then he named me second.
Franklin: After he said Jordan Simone and Fred Gammage, I looked at Brandon and then I heard his name called. And I was like, 'Really? This is it.'
Simone: Everything went blank. I felt a bunch of guys around me. The team was so excited. It was awesome.
Sarafin: There are a lot of deserving walk-ons. I felt very honored and blessed.
Franklin: There are no words that I can explain. All the work we have put in. All the hours. Some of these guys, they get their school paid for. We did it voluntarily because we love this game. To be a walk-on on this team for as long as we have, you got to look at it as a game and you got to love this game or else you won't survive. And we've seen many people fall through the cracks.
Sarafin: You go from being a starter (in high school), playing under the lights every Friday night. Then you get to the college level and you choose a Div. I school and you're not quite good enough so you end up on the sideline.
Mathews: It's almost unreal right now. I haven't even told my parents yet. They pay for my schooling, and I try to work on the side (cleaning swimming pools) a little bit, so to have this is such a blessing.
Simone: I did some things (for one year at Washington State) that I'm proud of, but this is definitely one of the greatest days of my life.
Franklin: It's not a cliche. This is a brotherhood. Getting hugs from all the guys, it meant the world.
Simone: There's a video coming out of it I'm pretty sure, so everyone will see me being a softy.
PRACTICE
-Junior defensive tackle Jaxon Hood didn't practice because he had an appointment. ... Freshman running back Kalen Ballage wore a green "no-contact" jersey in ASU's morning practice, but he didn't have it Wednesday night. Of course, ASU didn't go full contact, so that could be why.
UP NEXT
ASU is off Thursday for the first day of school. The Sun Devils return to the practice field Friday at 8:40 a.m.
