The Wake

When high school football ends for seniors, only a select few are lucky enough to play at the college level. Like all schools, the University of Minnesota actively recruits prospects and hands out scholarships to deserving players. This process takes place over many months and ends with a group of excited players fighting for a spot on the roster.

Players hoping to make the team are preferred walk-on players –- those who do not receive a scholarship but are asked to join the team –- and regular walk-on players, who try to make the team without being recruited. Dan DeJaeger was lucky enough to be a preferred walk-on coming into the 2003 football season.

Throughout high school, DeJaeger was a top place kicker for a conference-winning football team, thus making him a prospect for many collegiate programs. His strong leg, field goal accuracy and deep kickoff capabilities were his defining characteristics. After visiting with scouts and coaches multiple times, DeJaeger’s best offer came when the University of Northern Illinois offered him a full scholarship. DeJaeger remembered a visit to Northern Illinois.

“The whole place smelled like cow manure,” he said. Thus, after a disappointing visit, DeJaeger decided to pass on the scholarship and come to the university to play football. His struggles and problems started upon arrival for preseason workouts.

The workouts started in August and hours of devotion and dedication were necessary from the athletes. While being a preferred a walk-on had its perks, there were no guarantees to the starting kicker position.

The biggest benefit to being a preferred walk-on was missing the week of hell that regular walk-ons endure. This week consists of intense running workouts, which drain the players’ bodies and test their mental toughness.

Though spared from these workouts, DeJaeger remembers a coach repeatedly telling the walk-on athletes, “I’m a run the shit out your ass.” This phrase, coupled with the aching bodies of many poor souls during this seemingly dreadful week, shows the utter despair faced when trying to earn a spot on the team.

The preseason regimen was very demanding on DeJaeger and lasted nearly a month. His daily routine started at 9 a.m. and consisted of practice, workouts, running and eventually, rehabilitation for a pulled quadricep muscle.

“I got to know the training staff better than the coaches,” DeJaeger said of his injury. Each day lasted until around 11:30 p.m. during his fight for the kicking position at the university.

His injury made his fight even tougher, considering there were about 10 kickers battling for the starting position. DeJaeger and the other kickers trained throughout the preseason, with a scholarship as the reward. Eventually, Rhys Lloyd became the kicker for the Gophers. This news did not come easily to DeJaeger, especially since he had passed on scholarship offers from other programs.

For DeJaeger, being second best was not easy. During his high school career, he broke the records for longest field goals (52 and 50 yards), which were previously held by the current St. Louis Rams punter Kevin Stemke. The transition from star to backup was a difficult one.

Once the season started, the schedule did not get easier because DeJaeger was juggling school work and practice. During the week, he had classes until noon and practice from 1:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. The team met six times a week, with Mondays off. The time spent with the team included meetings, practice, weightlifting and rehabilitation. The hard work culminated with playing time.

For many athletes, game day isn’t a fairy tale experience. For DeJaeger and many others who weren’t on the traveling squad, game day meant additional hours of abdominal, strength and stretching workouts. Finally, this group of players would run for an hour and a half. Following the workout, the entire team would meet for a meal before game time. Then the team would dress and take the field.

For this sidelined group of people games meant, “four hours of standing, getting yelled at, and trying to sneak face time in from the nearby cameras” DeJaeger said. “After the game the opposing teams would shake hands but when your not a starter, no one knows who you are, so you just shake a couple of random people’s hands and leave.”

This lack of exposure and recognition was a major change for the one-time star. DeJaeger said he remembers feeling that if you weren’t a starting player, the coaches made it seem like the reason was because you hadn’t tried hard enough. The feelings of underachievement and the lack of opportunities started piling up and eventually led to a major decision in this young man’s life.

For the first time in DeJaeger’s sports career, he wasn’t enjoying the game and the duties that came with it. He wasn’t having fun. Also, his grades were not at the level the he wanted them to be. So after spending seven games on the Gophers 2003 squad, he decided to leave the team. The final factor for DeJaeger was that the only legitimate chance to kick for the Gophers would come in his third year, following the departure of Lloyd. But that opportunity was not guaranteed since the team could bring in a group of new kickers to battle for the starting spot each year.

These factors made the decision quite easy for the freshman. He regrets not taking scholarship offers from other programs, but he has learned to adjust to life after football at the “U.”