When you think of the most notable walk-ons in the history of college football, a number of names probably come to mind. Guys like Brandon Weeden, Ziggy Ansah, Santana Moss, Clay Matthews, Jordy Nelson, Adam Archuleta, Colt Brennan...the list goes on an on.
But perhaps the greatest walk-on in the history of college football is an offensive lineman whose name you may not recognize, but should. That man's name is Brandon Burlsworth.
Burlsworth walked on at Arkansas in 1994 and after countless hours of training and dedication, he eventually worked his way into becoming a 3-year starter and was named an All-American following the 1998 season.
He went on to become the 68th pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, where he was selected by the Indianapolis Colts. Tragically, he died in a car accident 11 days later, well before he had the opportunity to protect Peyton Manning from oncoming rushers, and open holes for Edgerrin James.
Dating back to 2010, the Burlsworth trophy has been given annually to the most outstanding FBS college football player who began his career as a walk-on. Last year, Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield won the award.
To honor Burlsworth's inspirational life, a movie has been made in his honor with some high profile actors playing key roles, including Neal McDonough (who has appeared in Justified, Minority Report, and Marvel films). It's an inspirational story about perseverance, dedication, perspective, and tragedy that we can all learn something from.
This looks like something you should bring your entire team to see, and since Burlsworth was a Razorback, Bret Bielema took the entire team to take it in
(From the looks of the trailer, you may want to bring some extra tissues)
The movie Greater will hit theaters August 26th. Check out video for the trailer.
https://youtu.be/gfmygLVJETU