Impact Statement: UW Walk-Ons Hit Hard by Football Postponement
Walk-ons bet on themselves to earn scholarships. They take on a considerable financial burden to see if they prove themselves worthy of University of Washington football support. Linebacker Edefuan Ulofoshio, kicker Peyton Henry and defensive back Myles Bryant have done this, chasing a dream.
Incoming players such as Bothell High School's Christian Galvan and Kasen Kinchen and Logan Bruce both from Lake Stevens High all had scholarship offers elsewhere.
Since PeeWee football, Kinchen has wanted to wear a Husky uniform and play for the home team. He's been devoted to that goal for as long as he can remember.
“I like working hard and grinding,” Kinchen said.
Bruce, a two-time All-State defensive back, shared this quest with Kinchen throughout their days together at Lake Stevens.
"At the end of the day, we both wanted to be Dawgs,” Bruce said. "It always was my dream to play at the UW."
Jaden Sheffey played his high school football north of Seattle at Woodinville High. He played small-college football and is already a college graduate from George Fox University in Oregon.
Sheffey expected to walk on and join an unsettled quarterback battle. He had hopes of competing with the others leading up to the Washington-Michigan game scheduled for Sept. 5. When that game got cancelled, he turned his attention to Stanford the new opener on Sept. 26.
With the postponement of all Pac-12 athletic competitions, his dream has been suspended indefinitely.
Walk-ons typically don't redshirt. They want to take their best shot at earning a scholarship as early as they can to lessen the financial commitment.
They pay their own way while maintaining the same UW schedule as scholarship athletes. With workouts and class schedules, they find it difficult to pay their way with limited hours to work.
Now, with the UW football season pushed to 2021, there's no way for this walk-on contingent to crack the lineup and do what Henry, Ulofoshio, Bryant and others have done.
Theses Husky walk-ons must love the game enough to pile up more student loans with no practices or games in sight.
