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Minnesota reveals awesome video of walk-on LB receiving scholarship
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In a video shared by head coach P.J. Fleck Wednesday afternoon, Minnesota walk-on linebacker Derik LeCaptain is a walk-on no longer, as he received his scholarship in a unique way at a team meeting Tuesday night.
Videos like this are not uncommon around college football, but even so, the Golden Gophers’ production stands out as one of the best in recent memory.
It starts with Fleck explaining he is going to call up individual players to grab an oar – one of the coach’s trademarks dating to his days with the Western Michigan Broncos – with a phrase on the back and said player is going to describe what that phrase means to him and the program.
A few players were featured describing phrases such as “boat,” “dirty water,” and “oar,” but, as the last student-athlete featured in the two-minute-and-twenty-second video, LeCaptain was given a new oar.
When he flipped it over to view the phrase to describe, it simply said, “You’re on scholarship.”
Before it even seemed to sink in, he was mobbed by his teammates, who all rushed up to the front of the room.
The video also featured snippets of LeCaptain’s phone call with his mother, delivering her the good news.
https://twitter.com/Coach_Fleck/status/1428059062726537222?s=20
Following a standout prep career at Southern Door High School in Brussels, Wisconsin that saw him rush for 5,199 yards and record 400 tackles and 10 interceptions, LeCaptain was not heavily recruited and joined Minnesota as a walk-on in the 2019 class.
Earning the program’s Special Teams Scout Player of the Year in 2019, he has continued to earn playing time and impress the coaching staff, taking home 2021 Spring Game Most Valuable Player honors.
With the cost of his tuition now covered, LeCaptain and the rest of his Golden Gopher teammates will return their attention to their season-opener, a Thursday, September 2 home date with No. 4 Ohio State.
The clash with the Buckeyes will kick at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
A graduate of Bowling Green State University, Rydquist has been contributing to Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition since 2019. He can be found on Twitter @TeddyRydquist.