Jordan Kovacs + Greatest walk-on college football players

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March 25th, 2012 at 5:48 PM
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Jordan Kovacs + Greatest walk-on college football players

Jordan Kovacs is on my mind after reading a previous thread and some other U of M football news.  It got me thinking about where he may rank in terms of the all time great walk-on college football players.  It seems to me like walk-ons are the epitomy of what makes college football great, and why for me at least, it is so much better than it's professional counterpart.  Walk-ons have to pay their way through (at least part of) school, didn't join the team with money on their minds, and really do everything for the love of the game, epitomizing that cliche. 

I came across this very interesting article while researching other great walk-ons.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/1011/cfb.famous.walk-ons/content.1.html

Kovacs does not have the same pro potential as many of those players (he is just not athletic enough, sadly), but depending on how well he performs this year, I think his college career could put him on that level.  What do you guys think?

Do you know of any other walk-ons who had major success on the collegiate and/or professional levels not mentioned in that article?   /Discuss.

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March 25th, 2012 at 5:56 PM | Brian Griese (Score:4 Normal)
lunchboxthegoat
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Duh?

successfully achieved 1 year self-imposed posting ban 4/10/13

March 25th, 2012 at 6:00 PM | I was 7 years opld when he (Score:2 Normal)
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I was 7 years old when he graduated, thus why I had no idea he was a walk-on.  That is cool though, definitely one of the best.

March 25th, 2012 at 6:46 PM | Perhaps you should refrain (Score:-1 Flamebait)
March 25th, 2012 at 6:53 PM | Was Griese a walk-on because (Score:5 Normal)
joeyb
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Was Griese a walk-on because he had no offers or because his dad could afford to pay his way through school?

March 25th, 2012 at 7:12 PM | I've always heard the latter. (Score:2 Normal)
justingoblue
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Griese never dressed in Michigan Stadium as a walkon, he was given a scholarship during fall camp his freshman year.

Also, Gameboy, how would someone who has been All-Big Ten Honorable Mention for 2/3 years that he's played not be a top-100 walkon? He's going to be on all the preseason lists for All-Big Ten SS, and three teams in four years is damn impressive. There's also a reason the OP said "college football players"; by your logic Denard is a mediocre college player because he's likely to be taken in the middle rounds if he enters as a QB. That's insane.

Go Blue!

March 25th, 2012 at 7:22 PM | There are 120 Div 1 football (Score:-1 Flamebait)
March 25th, 2012 at 7:27 PM | Walk-Ons (Score:5 Normal)
EGD
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5-10?  I doubt you could find 5 walk-ons who accomplished more at UM than Kovacs, let alone 10.  And Kovacs still hasn't even played his senior season yet.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:37 PM | I took 2 seconds to do a (Score:-1 Normal)
March 25th, 2012 at 7:41 PM | Nebraska (Score:4 Normal)
EGD
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Okay.  But Nebraska is famous for its walk-ons.  That's kind of like saying that because McDonald's has sold 99 billion hamburgers, all the other fast food chains must have sold that many too.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:52 PM | Fine, say other schools (Score:-1 Flamebait)
March 25th, 2012 at 8:02 PM | totally unrealistic (Score:5 Normal)
Mr Miggle
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Nebraska had a long running walk-on program unlike any others. It makes absolutely no sense to use them as an example, let alone your only example.

Eating is murder.

March 25th, 2012 at 8:05 PM | Kovacs (Score:4 Normal)
EGD
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Nobody said Kovacs was "the greatest."  We all know Muhammad Ali is the greatest, so obviously Kovacs isn't.

Kovacs might be among the 100 greatest though, whether or not he makes all-american.  

Note: are you including academic all-americans in your argument?  If so, then I don't necessarily agree that being named all-american "trumps" being all-conference if what we are discussing is football ability.  

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:27 PM | So... (Score:3 Normal)
justingoblue
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Western Kentucky, FIU, Kent State, Idaho and UTEP all have had walkons more accomplished in college than Jordan Kovacs? 120 is a meaningless number, 67 is much more applicable here (B1G, BXII, Pac, SEC, BE, ACC). 

Out of those schools, I like Kovacs chances against a big majority of their players, absolutely.

Go Blue!

March 25th, 2012 at 7:30 PM | So, let stick with the big (Score:-1 Trolling)
March 25th, 2012 at 7:34 PM | Why can't you spell his name correctly? (Score:2 Normal)
justingoblue
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Are you doing it on purpose, now? It's pretty funny coming from a guy who basically told another user to shut up before he learned every detail of every walkon in NCAA history.

Let's whittle it down further. If Kovacs is first or second team All-Big Ten next season (a reasonable goal, I think), how many other former walkons can claim three Big Ten conference honors in four years? I highly doubt the Big Ten has produced ten.

Go Blue!

March 25th, 2012 at 7:39 PM | How about 6 All Americans (Score:-1 Flamebait)
March 25th, 2012 at 8:16 PM | Yep. Nebraska is famous... (Score:2 Normal)
justingoblue
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because they're the only school that has that walkon tradition. Now name another three time All-Big Ten walkon. They don't grow on trees.

Go Blue!

March 25th, 2012 at 7:33 PM | Walk-Ons (Score:3 Normal)
EGD
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Probably not.  There are a few schools known for churning out walk-ons who play and contribute regularly, such as Nebraska.  But at most programs--including Michigan--it is rare that a walk-on even sees the field, let alone starts, let alone gets named to an all-conference team.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:21 PM | Griese (Score:3 Normal)
EGD
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Griese was technically a preferred walk-on, but it's not like he was an unknown guy who had to make the team through student-body tryouts like Kovacs.  

What happened is that Michigan had already accepted a full recruiting class by the time Griese (who at the time had re-written the Florida high school passing record books and had an obvious NFL pedigree) decided he wanted to play for Michigan.  So, the coaches told Griese he should come to UM as a walk-on and said something to the effect of "a scholarship is likely to become available by the fall."  Sure enough, Griese received a scholarship due to attrition before his first season started.  

 

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 8:07 PM | You're partly right (Score:4 Normal)
Mr Miggle
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That was Griese's situation, but that's not what "preferred walk-on" means. It means the player doesn't have to try out for the team. He's promised a spot on the roster. By contrasf, Kovacs earned his place on the team during student body tryouts, on his second attempt.

Eating is murder.

March 25th, 2012 at 8:18 PM | timely post (Score:2)
rockydude
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You just saved me the trouble of asking the difference between "walkon" and "preferred walkon". Our walkons that we have picked up had me wondering what technicalities were involved. Muchas Gracias.

Also, to finish up - would a greyshirt be when the player comes as a walkon and pays his tuition with the understanding that when a scholarship becomes available he will get it ?

"Underwear Wearing Basement Dweller"

March 25th, 2012 at 8:38 PM | A greyshirt is promised (Score:1)
CalifExile
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A greyshirt is promised before enrollment that he will receive a scholarship in January of the next year.

"After all was said and done, there was nothing left to do."

March 25th, 2012 at 8:20 PM | Griese (Score:3 Normal)
EGD
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Yeah, thanks for clearing that up--I didn't word my comment very well.  The point I was basically trying to make is that Griese was a player who probably would have had a scholarship from the get-go, had it not been for the timing and whatnot unique to his situation.  I was trying to differentiate him from the classic walk-on situation, where the coaches initially do not consider the player worthy of a scholarship.

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:03 PM | Lighten up, Francis (Score:5 Normal)
rockydude
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The guy made a thread in the hope of encouraging discussion, and possibly learning something. No need to jump down his throat.

The fact that you do not think highly of Kovacs' NFL prospects does not in any way lessen his collegiate career. There is no reason to think that he will not compare favorably with other safeties to play at Michigan when all is said and done.

Perhaps you should refrain from flaming about "all time great" stuff until you are capable of reading the topic and responding in a more mature and respectful manner to what would appear to be a sincere attempt at intelligent discourse. Or at least until you can successfully copy the name of the player in question. I am sure Mr. "Kovac" would appreciate that as much as I would.

EDIT: above was to Gameboy, not Joeyb, who posted right as I was.

To Joeyb, I have wondered the same thing, not just about Griese, but some other financially prosperous students as well. Might be possible. But Griese did have offers, some of them good. Purdue, I believe was an offer. He just preferred Michigan and could afford to pay.

"Underwear Wearing Basement Dweller"

March 25th, 2012 at 7:08 PM | He didn't even know that the (Score:-1 Flamebait)
March 25th, 2012 at 8:14 PM | Griese was actually a (Score:5 Normal)
Mr Miggle
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Griese was actually a greyshirt, although he's been commonly referred to as a walk-on.

Not sure why your're being such a jerk. As was pointed out, the OP was just trying to start a conversation. He wasn't claiming to be an expert.

Eating is murder.

March 26th, 2012 at 12:04 AM | It's a discussion not a blue (Score:2 Funny)
mgoblue0970
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It's a discussion not a blue book.  STFU Gaeboy.

March 25th, 2012 at 7:16 PM | If I could afford a check for (Score:1 Normal)
justingoblue
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If I could afford a check for my kids tuition (and the kid was fine with it, of course) I would absolutely send them to the school they chose as a walkon, since it gives the coach one more of their most valuable resources.

Think how amazing it would be if one of our 2012 class had come from a wealthy family willing to pay tuition and we could have taken another needed player. You can't put a price on that.

Go Blue!

March 25th, 2012 at 7:02 PM | And perhaps you should read (Score:5 Normal)
mGrowOld
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And perhaps you should read the post more carefully before admonishing the OP for not being informed enough to post.

"depending on how well he performs this year, I think his college career could put him on that level.  What do you guys think?"

He never said Kovacs is one of the greatest walk-on's of all time.  He speculated on what a strong Senior year would mean to Kovacs legacy and asked for our opinion.

Post on OP....post on.

Edit: Great Minds thinking alike and all that whatnot.

 

 

March 25th, 2012 at 9:06 PM | Indeed.  Assuming a solid (Score:1)
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Indeed.  Assuming a solid senior year he would have earned Big Ten honors all four years of his career, and been one of the leaders of a historic defensive overhaul under Mattison.  As I stated in my post, he clearly is not on the level of Darren Woodson, Santana Moss, or Clay Mathews, but I would argue that he has meant just as much if not more to this Michigan football team than those guys did to their own. 

March 25th, 2012 at 7:27 PM | Thank you for posting a thread about successful walk-ons, (Score:2 Normal)
rob f
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since I don't have enough points yet to do so; I posted a similiar question yesterday in the comment section of Brian's article from 3/23 regarding the presser/ interviews of DRob, Roundtree and Kovac.  It more or less got buried in the thread, but not surprisingly since it was a day-and-a-half after the thread opened.

http://mgoblog.com/content/spring-practice-presser-transcript-3-22-12-pl...

 

 

March 25th, 2012 at 6:10 PM | Darren Woodson, Santana Moss, (Score:3 Normal)
jrt336
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Darren Woodson, Santana Moss, Colt Brennan, Logan Mankins, Jordy Nelson, and Clay Matthews were walk ons.

March 25th, 2012 at 7:08 PM | Mathews only walked on as a (Score:3 Normal)
Danwillhor
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Mathews only walked on as a favor to USC to save a scholarship. Announcers always mention it like he was not recruited by anyone or something. USC wanted him, he wanted USC and their staff talked the pretty wealthy Mathews family into paying their way to save a scholarship. So, you are right but its different.

March 25th, 2012 at 8:50 PM | According to the article (Score:1)
CalifExile
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According to the article linked in the OP

"Thought to be too small and too slow to play at the collegiate level, Matthews walked on at USC in 2004 largely because of who his father was. Matthews didn't earn a scholarship until 2006 and didn't start until his senior year, but he showed enough to warrant a first-round pick from the Green Bay Packers. The definition of a late bloomer, Matthews has 22.0 career sacks in just two NFL seasons."

"After all was said and done, there was nothing left to do."

March 26th, 2012 at 12:37 AM | they may have thought (Score:2)
Danwillhor
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they may have thought whatever they thought but no way would any school turn down a Mathews who was willing to pay his way their as opposed to taking the offers he did have. from clays own mouth he plays down the walkon thing. usc wanted him and he wanted usc. why usc wanted him can be debated but the kid wasnt ignored in recruiting due to his name alone.

March 25th, 2012 at 9:06 PM | All but Brennan were in the (Score:1)
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All but Brennan were in the link in my post.  Those are definitely the cream of the crop in terms of NFL production though.

March 26th, 2012 at 12:42 PM | actually (Score:1)
oriental andrew
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Colt Brennan IS in the link you posted, at #10. 

For my privacy, my new username is "non-Oriental non-Andrew"
 

March 25th, 2012 at 6:13 PM | Sucky internet-double post. (Score:1)
jrt336
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Sucky internet-double post.

March 25th, 2012 at 8:58 PM | double post all you want (Score:3 Normal)
bluewings
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You can double post in every thread

March 25th, 2012 at 6:24 PM | Kovacs and Jim Leonhard (Score:1)
maizeandblue21
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Kovacs and Jim Leonhard play pretty similar and Leonhard was also a walk-on while at Wisconsin.

But sir, but sir, BUT NOTHING

March 25th, 2012 at 6:32 PM | not really (Score:2 Normal)
allezbleu
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kovacs is great in run support. leonhard was great in coverage and more of an all-round safety, though nowhere near kovacs in playing the run.

"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." -Evelyn Beatrice Hall

March 25th, 2012 at 6:41 PM | I love Kovacs but at this (Score:2 Normal)
landry2102
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I love Kovacs but at this point he doesn't come close to Leonard. I do hope he made the steps of being a great cover guy! Would love him to be in the NFL... what a story that would be!!

Michigan FB, Michigan BB, Michigan HKY, 49ers, SF Giants, Sac Kings, Red Wings

March 25th, 2012 at 7:21 PM | I could see Jordan Kovacs (Score:2 Normal)
althegreat23
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I could see Jordan Kovacs making a career in the NFL as a special teams players. He reminds me of John Wendling from the Lions.

"A Michigan Man will coach a Michigan Team"

March 25th, 2012 at 8:56 PM | I was about to make that (Score:1)
Rather be on BA
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I was about to make that exact same comparison.  I could see Kovacs being a great special teams player.

March 25th, 2012 at 6:30 PM | Oklahoma's Dominique Whaley (Score:4 Normal)
UMgradMSUdad
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Oklahoma's Dominique Whaley is quite an impressive walk-on:

The oldest of six kids in a military family, Whaley rushed for 627 yards, the most ever by an OU walk-on. Essentially in seven games. He ran for nine touchdowns. His season high was a 165-yard game against Kansas two weeks before the injury.



Read more: http://newsok.com/ou-football-dominique-whaley-working-his-way-back/article/3657469#ixzz1qAX31Bm6

March 25th, 2012 at 6:40 PM | Eric Mayes.. (Score:4 Normal)
JTGoBlue
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comes to mind...I beleive he was also a captain.  Didn't become a multi-year starter, and was injured his senior year, but inspired the team..

March 26th, 2012 at 11:30 AM | Captain (Score:1)
M-Wolverine
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of the greatest team of all time.  ;-)

"I love him, he's a great coach, he's a great mentor, he's a great friend. He's every single thing you want a college coach to be, and he does it flawlessly." -David Molk

March 25th, 2012 at 6:56 PM | Henry Hill (Score:4 Normal)
Rocking Chair
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Played for Bo 1968-70.  As defensive middle guard he had 13 tackles against Ohio in that great 1969 game.  He was chosen as co-captain and Most Valuable Player in 1970 and a first-team All-American that same year. 

Henry was 5'10" and weighed 200 pounds.  At Detroit's Martin Luther King High School he played tight end.

“When your team is winning, be ready to be tough, because winning can make you soft. On the other hand, when your team is losing, stick by them. Keep believing” 

--Bo Schembechler

March 25th, 2012 at 7:25 PM | Freddy Hunter (Score:3 Normal)
EGD
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I don't know it it really happened this way, but the TV announcers used to say that Steve Fischer found him watching pick-up games at the IM building.  

"You will suffer humiliation when the team from my area defeats the team from your area." -- The Onion

March 25th, 2012 at 7:30 PM | at least kind of (Score:2)
rockydude
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That story is right from when I was in school, and it is at least partly correct. He did play for an IM team called "Freddy and the Seven Dwarves" before he joined the UM team. As far as Steve Fisher just finding him, I don't know. That was a popular story, but I always figured he just came to a campus tryout type of thing. Good story either way.

"Underwear Wearing Basement Dweller"

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