Oregon State Long Snapper and Cancer Survivor Dylan Black Will Transfer
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Today, Dylan Black's inspiring story added a new chapter. This morning on social media, the Beavers' redshirt-senior long snapper informed fans of his entry in the transfer portal.
After redshirting his true freshman season in 2019, Black accepted one of college football's most under-appreciated roles: long snapper. As a redshirt frehsman in 2020, he played all 7 games. The Beavers counted on the Reno native for all 13 games in 2021, 13 more in 2022, and another baker's dozen in 2023. Soon, the Beavers' perennially dependable long snapper would experience an earth-shattering struggle for survival.
That offseason, doctors found signs of cancer, and later confirmed he had stage 3 testicular cancer. Recovery efforts sidelined Black for the entirety of the 2024 season, during which time his battle became public knowledge, and he was nominated for the Jason Witten Man of the Year award. In his stead, the Beavers turned to backup long snapper Jackson Robertson, a walk-on redshirt freshman from Medford.
MORE: State of the Beavs: The Transfer Portal is Open For Oregon State Football
Heading into 2025, Black was back and ready for a career resurgence. Unfortunately, an injury altered his fate: during the season opener versus California on August 30th, Black broke his snapping hand on a special teams play. From then on, the Beavers assembled a motley crue of replacement snappers: the aforementioned Robertson was yanked halfway through the next week's game against Fresno State, then came backup to the backup Will Haverland, and Oregon State eventually experimented with starting center Van Wells trying his luck on fourth downs.
Black has one additional year of eligibility - likely granted due to the medical hardships he has experienced over the past two seasons - and could fill a position of need at many programs across major college football. The transfer portal opened today, and will remain open until Friday January 16th.
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Each week, veteran sports broadcaster and writer Matt Bagley examines the news and storylines at play for Oregon State University Athletics. Occasionally joined by contributors for On SI's coverage of the Beavers, as well as the occasional guest spot from Beavers past, present, and future. Get caught up with the playlist below. New episodes are typically released on Tuesday mornings.
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Matt fell in love with radio during his college days at Oregon Tech, and pursued a nine year career in sports broadcasting with Klamath Falls' and Medford's highest-rated sports radio stations. He currently lives in McMinnville wine country and is excited to talk about the Beavers again.