David Stluka/UW Athletics
J.J. Watt is perhaps the best-known product of Wisconsin’s walk-on program. He became a first-round NFL draft pick and has been named to four Pro Bowls.
Aaron Maternowski has been out in the sun for hours, pouring sweat. The redshirt freshman fullback for the Badgers is putting the hurt on guys and having the hurt put on him. After this, it’s off to class, then studying, then back at it tomorrow. The other players out here have the same routine, but at least they’re getting a free education out of the deal. Not Maternowski.
Maternowski is a walk-on.
Walk-ons are players who aren’t awarded scholarships. Maternowski is paying for school like most other students and accumulating debt. NCAA rules allow 85 football scholarships, but the team can have as many as 120 players at training camp. Those extra bodies have to come from somewhere — and that’s where walk-ons come in.
At top-tier programs like Wisconsin, these guys are not scrappy Rudys. These are high school All-State selections with multiple varsity letters, guys who have been standouts at every level. The talent pool at the Division I level is deep, and a lot of guys who dominated in high school don’t get a chance at the next level.
Wisconsin is different.
The program has a long tradition of welcoming walk-ons. Barry Alvarez started focusing on walk-ons when he came on as head coach in 1990. He called the walk-ons “erasers,” able to fix any mistakes in recruiting. Since then, 18 Wisconsin walk-ons have gone on to play in the NFL. Ninety have gone on to earn scholarships. Nineteen have become team captains.
Bryce Richter/UW Athletics
Jared Abbrederis became a fifth-round draft pick.
There are some big names on that list, too. Mark Tauscher? Walked on in 1995, ended up playing 10 years with the Packers. Now he co-owns Isthmus. The biggest name is probably J.J. Watt, who gave up a scholarship at Central Michigan to walk on at Wisconsin. He was a first-round draft pick in the NFL and he’s been Defensive Player of the Year four times.
For the walk-ons, it’s important to see that in practice. “Knowing the past history of walk-ons gave me confidence,” says Zander Neuville, a redshirt junior tight end who came here as a walk-on in 2013. He gave up some Division II scholarship offers to gamble on walking on for the Badgers.
“I wasn’t going to be happy just to be on the team. My goal was definitely to earn a scholarship and put myself in a position where I could be a big contributor,” he says. That path from walk-on to starter doesn’t exist at many other top-tier programs. Here, it’s common enough that there’s a wall in the belly of Camp Randall honoring Wisconsin’s standout walk-ons.
Jim Leonhard is featured prominently on that wall. He’s worked his way up the ladder more than once. He walked on at Wisconsin and didn’t earn a scholarship until his senior season, despite being named All-Big Ten twice. Then he wasn’t drafted, but ended up playing 10 seasons in the pros. Now he’s back at UW as defensive coordinator.
“Looking across the field and seeing him definitely eases the mind,” Maternowski says. It also helps that Maternowski’s dad came here as a walk-on and ended up playing four years. “That was big, he urged me to do it. He knows how the walk-on program works here, so I had that backing me up.”
David Stluka/UW Athletics
Jack Cichy walked on and earned a scholarship and starting spot.
One of the most important parts of this equation is that walk-ons are treated no differently than the heavily recruited scholarship athletes they play alongside. They have the same access to trainers, nutritionists and academic support. And they compete for playing time just like scholarship players.
“My freshman year I had numerous guys I could look up to, guys who were seniors and had earned scholarships. You know when they tell you they want you to walk on they’re not blowing smoke,” says Jack Cichy. Cichy started as a walk-on and was named a team captain this year, before an ACL tear put off his senior season. “At some schools, walk-ons are kind of an afterthought, but here, the mentality is if you can contribute, you’re going to contribute. It doesn’t matter where you came from or how you got here, if you’re good enough, you’re gonna play. That’s something we’re all proud of.”
Coming into his senior season, Cichy is now on scholarship. He earned one in 2015, after two years on the team.
MICHELLE STOCKER/The Capital Times Archive
Jim Leonhard played a decade in the NFL and starts as defensive coordinator this season.
“After I was awarded my scholarship, the kid I’d had a locker next to for two years told me he didn’t even realize I wasn’t on one already. So there’s no difference in attitude.”
That’s not just important for the walk-ons; it changes the character of the whole football program. Jake Kocorowski covers the Badgers for Bucky’s 5th Quarter, and also co-wrote Walk-On This Way: The Ongoing Legacy of the Wisconsin Football Walk-On Tradition.
“Certain programs have other advantages — like Florida, Texas, California, those states turn out a lot of skill-position players” like quarterbacks and wide receivers, Kocorowski says. ”But Wisconsin, there’s an edge with those walk-on players. They’re hard working, they’re going to make the most of the opportunities they get, and they’re going to do what it takes to get it done on the field. The whole team has taken on that identity as a result. It permeates through the entire program.”
Alvarez saw walk-ons as a way to reduce the pressure of recruiting, hedging bets recruiters make in predicting how an 18-year-old kid will develop and fit into a program. But they can also fill unexpected holes from injury or other unforeseen circumstances.
“Look at Jared Abbrederis,” Kocorowski says. Abbrederis walked on as a scout team quarterback in 2009. “He comes in and performs. He becomes a backup wide receiver. There was a talented recruit right around that time by the name of Kraig Appleton — four-star kid, everyone was really high on him, next thing you know, he’s kicked off the team.” The roots of Appleton’s suspension and later removal from the team were never disclosed. Losing a top recruit like that can deal a devastating blow to a program.
But Abbrederis seized the opportunity, moving up in the depth chart and becoming a star. He finished his college career tied for the Badgers’ all-time receptions record.
“And you see that progression over and over again,” Kokorowski says, from walk-on to star player. “That’s a special, unique quality for Wisconsin.”
Cichy, for his part, says he’d be out here scholarship or otherwise.
“I get to play the game I love, at a university I love, in the state I grew up in. For me, I couldn’t dream of anything better."
