Minnesota Gophers Walk-On Surprised With Scholarship

If you're looking for one of those sappy college football videos where a walk-on is surprised with a scholarship, you've come to the right place. After all, who doesn't like to see a little hard work rewarded? In fact, inject that into my veins! The latest deserving athlete comes from the Big Ten: Minnesota's Derik LeCaptain.

In what appeared to be a standard team meeting, LeCaptain was amongst a group of Gophers who were handed an oar at the front of the meeting room. The oars are a nod to head coach PJ Fleck's famous "row the boat" motto. Each oar had a word or message on the back of it and the players were expected to tell the team what the word/message meant to them.

When LeCaptain was given his oar, he turned it over to reveal "you're on scholarship". Upon reading it aloud, the team went crazy and immediately swarmed the redshirt sophomore. Overcome with joy and tears, LeCaptain wasted little time calling his family to share the good news: "I'm on scholarship...for real."

LeCaptain is a linebacker who's made a big impact on the Gophers' special teams. In 2019, he was named the team's special teams scout team player of the year. And this offseason he earned MVP honors for his performance in Minnesota's spring game.

After being awarded a scholarship, LeCaptain expressed his gratitude: “Appreciate you giving me a shot. Not a lot of schools took a chance on me. You did. Thank you for that.”