Five walk-ons earn scholarships

AUSTIN, Texas -- Five University of Texas walk-on football players - sophomore safety Marcus Griffin, senior fullback Ahmard Hall, senior defensive back Karim Meijer, senior place-kicker David Pino, and senior deep snapper Nick Schroeder - have been awarded scholarships, Longhorn Head Coach Mack Brown announced on Thursday. All have performed well on the field and in the classroom and have been active members of UT's community service programs.

"These five young guys, all of whom should be instrumental in our kicking game, have been awarded with scholarships," Brown said. "The kicking game is very important to us, and that was a message to our team."

Griffin enters 2005 as the top backup at free safety after ranking third on the team in special teams tackles with seven in 2004. He recorded a total of 10 tackles last season while seeing action in all 12 games.

"It means a lot to me," Griffin said. "I've worked hard, and coach Brown and the staff are acknowledging that. It's something I really appreciate and I'm very thankful to them."

Hall opens the season as the team's starting fullback after serving as a backup at that position and a key special teams member in 2004. He played in 11 games last season, scoring one TD and tallying the second-most tackles on special teams with 10.

"It's definitely a great present for me to get a scholarship," Hall said. "It's been a long road to get where I am now and I'm so thankful that coach Brown and the staff thought enough of me to award me a scholarship and allow me to take a greater role as a member of the team. It puts you on that next level. I thank them for it and I want to do my best this year to show them I deserve it."

Meijer played in all 12 games on defense and special teams in 2004, recording five tackles. He was also named first-team Academic All-Big 12 in 2004, achieving a 4.0 GPA as a finance major.

"It's a dream come true. I never would have thought years ago coming out of high school that I'd get a scholarship from UT," Meijer said."It's not just me. You have to give credit to coach Brown for just giving me the chance, Cleve (Bryant) for running the walk-on program, coach Madden and the whole strength staff, Brian Davis and Jean (Bryant) for helping me with academics.

"Without coach (Duane) Akina teaching me to be a DB, I never would have gotten it. And I want to thank all the DBs. I've been looking up to (Michael) Huff and Ced(ric Griffin) since I was a freshman. I'm still in shock. We were just sitting in a meeting and my name gets called. So many people went into it, and I just thank them."

Pino is a fifth-year kicker who enters 2005 competing for the starting place-kicking job. In 2004, he was 2-of-2 on extra point attempts and missed his only field-goal attempt from 50 yards. In 2003, he saw extended time following an injury to starter Dusty Mangum. He finished 3-of-3 on FGs and 13-of-14 on PATs. He has a career-long FG of 39 yards and has also seen time on kickoffs.

"It means the coaches have really put what they have into me and have seen what I've put out to be part of the team," Pino said. "You come in and get hurt and work for four years as a backup and are still sort of injured, and then get put on scholarship, it shows they've seen what I've done. I enjoy it and I love the coaches and I thank them."

Schroeder took over as the starting deep snapper last season, appearing in all 12 games and recording six tackles. He is a two-time first-team Academic All-Big 12 selection and graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in corporate communications.

"It's mainly being around this program for so long and being around these guys, and seeing how hard everyone works and how much you've contributed to be a part of this team," Schroeder said. "Being awarded a scholarship is just the ultimate you could wish for being a walk-on and coming here as a freshman into this program."

The University of Texas at Austin Athletics