Walk on the Wild Side: Non-Scholarship Linemen Step Up for UW

Aidan Anderson, Roice Cleeland and Parker Cross fill in the holes on the line.

Walk-ons for the University of Washington football team, also known as non-scholarship players, once were required to dress in a different locker room than their scholarship teammates because there was a caste system in place. Looking down on them, some of the haughtier paid-for Huskies used to address these guys by number, never by name, which was most disrespectful.

However, when it comes to Aidan Anderson, Roice Cleeland and Parker Cross -- all guys who show up for practice every day while paying their own way through school -- they should be awarded medals once spring ball concludes.

Or at least given an extra dessert on top of the free meals they get as one of their few benefits as UW football players.

They're all walk-on redshirt freshmen helping hold together a gutted position group while Jedd Fisch and his new coaching staff try and unearth a big handful of rent-a-players from the transfer portal over the next several days to come in and help carry this team into the Big Ten Conference.

Walk-ons typically take a back seat during practice, showing up on the third or fourth units and drawing limited reps and game time only when games turn into blowouts.

This spring, Anderson, Cleeland and Cross have been first- or second-teamers because there is no one else on campus to man these roles, with the available manpower dipping to just eight scholarship and walk-on linemen combined on Tuesday.

"These guys have been playing their tails off, man," said Brennan Carroll, Husky offensive coordinator and line coach, referring to all of his guys. "It is a bit of a challenge. These guys have been thrust into roles."

Parker Cross and Roice Cleeland go one on one as walk-on offensive linemen.

Skylar Lin Visuals

The 6-foot-2, 277-pound Cross, who played his high school ball at nearby Seattle Prep, located just a few miles south of the UW, found himself as the No. 1 center throughout Tuesday's practice. He was an All-Metro selection as a snapper.

The 6-foot-4, 313-pound Anderson and the 6-foot-2, 297-pound Cleeland showed up on the second unit at right and left guard, with Anderson, a state championship wrestler from Olympia, Washington, who needed to take a practice minute to get stretched out by a trainer midway through the workout.

Cleeland, who goes 6-foot-2 and weighs 297, grew up in Vancouver, Washington, and played at Jesuit High in Portland across the river. Similar to scholarship linebacker Carson Bruener, he carries the added stigma of being the son of a former Husky player. His father Cam Cleeland was a one-time UW and NFL tight end and now a game-day broadcaster.

While these guys have no guarantees they'll maintain their lofty playing status into the fall or even draw their first UW game snaps this coming season, they'll be remembered for stepping up in practice when needed the most, when the OL landscape was exceedingly barren.

And, unlike the past, their Husky teammates with financial aid and name, image and likeness packages will dress next to them and know these guys by name from here on.

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