College football has been undergoing rapid changes as of late with the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) to the league, which allows players to get compensated through brand deals and other avenues. This, along with changes to the transfer portal, have radically changed the landscape of the league. Now, there is talk of eliminating the walk-on system.
Players who do not receive scholarships have been able to walk-on to college teams for a tryout and earn their way onto teams. The vast majority of these players don’t end up making the team or spend their collegiate careers buried on the depth chart, but there are plenty of examples of walk-on players that have risen through the ranks of college football and found their way into the NFL. With smaller roster limits and no walk-ons, college teams will be losing some of the fibers that make up the fabric of the sport.
According to Seth Emerson of The Athletic, these possible changes stem from the House v. NCAA court case. It isn’t about the money, but about avoiding future lawsuits as amateurism in college sports continues to come to an end.
In light of the possible changes to the walk-on system, I wanted to highlight some (not all) notable Pittsburgh Steelers, current and former, whose careers may have been over before they started if walk-ons were not allowed.
Alex Highsmith
Highsmith did not receive a single scholarship offer out of high school and walked on at UNC Charlotte. After signing his contract extension in 2023, he talked about his walk-on mentality that drives him. The Steelers drafted him in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He is playing on a four-year, $68 million extension, made possible by originally walking on.
Calvin Austin III
Another current Steeler on the list, Austin originally walked on at Memphis. He worked his way from a rotational player to a core member of the team by his third season and had back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons that eventually made him a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He cited his walk-on mentality in a recent interview when asked about the crowded WR room in Pittsburgh at the moment.
Antonio Brown
Brown is among the best former college walk-on players of all time. Off-field issues aside, he is Hall of Fame-worthy and has a good shot to eventually get in with one of the best six-year stretches that a wide receiver has ever had. He spent one year at North Carolina Tech prep school and then walked on at Central Michigan, where he earned a scholarship one week later. He ended up as a sixth-round draft pick in the 2010 NFL Draft and pretty quickly became one of the best players in the league.
James Harrison
Harrison had academic issues that prevented him from receiving a scholarship, so he ended up walking on at Kent State University. Until very recently, he had the most sacks in franchise history for the Steelers. He had to scratch and claw his way into stardom as he went from a walk-on to an undrafted free agent after the 2002 NFL Draft. He was cut from NFL rosters four different times before finally sticking with the Steelers and being a key part of the 2008 season Super Bowl victory. He was the Defensive Player of the Year that season. His career is borderline Hall of Fame material, and it all started as a walk-on.
Ike Taylor
Taylor walked on as a running back to Louisiana at Lafayette after playing intramural flag football. He was academically ineligible for two years before he joined the team and subsequently earned a scholarship. He was one of the most underappreciated corners of his era in the NFL, but he was a lockdown corner on one of the best defenses in league history. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft and played 12 seasons for the Steelers. He has stayed involved with the team, providing scouting services during draft season.
Kevin Greene
The only current Hall of Famer on this list, Kevin Greene began his football career as a walk-on at Auburn. He went from playing intramural football to being the leading sack artist of the 1984 college season in the SEC conference. He was only on the Steelers for three seasons from 1993 to 1995, but helped lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance after a long drought from the championship game. He was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in fifth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He was immortalized in the Hall of Fame in 2016 before passing away in 2020 at just 58 years old.
Sam Davis
He isn’t the most well-known member of the 1970s Steelers teams, but Davis was a four-time Super Bowl-winning guard. His football journey started as a walk-on player at Allen College in the Southwest Intercollegiate Conference. He went undrafted in 1967, but received his first start in his rookie season. It wasn’t until 1970 that he became a full-time starter, but he went on to start 114 games from 1967 to 1979. He blocked for the likes of Franco Harris, Rocky Bleier and Terry Bradshaw.
Jeff Reed, Greg Warren, Daniel Sepulveda
I lumped these three together because they are all specialist players. Compiling this list made me realize that the NFL could find themselves in a tough spot with kickers, punters and long snappers if the walk-on system is removed from college football.
J.J. Watt
Watt never played for the Steelers, but both of his brothers (Derek, T.J.) have. Had J.J. Watt not blazed the trail for the family, who knows if they would’ve had the same drive to fuel them to the NFL. Watt technically received a scholarship offer to Central Michigan, but he ended up leaving to Wisconsin where he walked on as a defensive end. He became a first-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and was one of the best defensive players of all time.
