Will Walk-On at Nebraska...
The list of 5-foot-7, 170-pound high school seniors a Nebraska football coach would sit down with for 90 minutes two weeks before national signing day probably is short.
But then again, Ty Kildow learned last summer at NU's football camp that the Husker coaches don't just judge a player by what the scale reads.
"I knew Coach (Bo) Pelini was a guy that just cared how you play the game of football more than size and weight," Kildow said.
And if some other numbers were needed to balance out his small stature, Kildow gave them to Husker coaches last June when he ran 40 yards in 4.39 seconds.
No one else was that fast at the Husker camps.
That helped Kildow earn a walk-on offer, one he accepted after meeting with offensive line coach Barney Cotton for 1½ hours Tuesday.
Not bad for someone who didn't see a snap last fall.
The Millard South split end was forced to the sideline last season after tearing an ACL in a 7-on-7 drill at the Nebraska camp, an injury that happened just days after he posted his speedy 40 time.
And so it was a tough fall for Kildow, who could only look on as the Patriots made it to the Class A state championship game.
"I just tried to stay positive through the whole thing, just stay motivated," he said.
Despite the injury, he kept receiving handwritten letters from Cotton, and Kildow went to four Husker games.
He had scholarship offers from North Dakota and South Dakota State, but his heart was pulling him to Lincoln, where he could be a receiver/return man.
"After hearing what Coach Cotton had to say, being a Nebraska kid, it was just a challenge I had to take on," Kildow said.
Kildow is now recovered from his injury, and is set to play baseball for Millard South this spring. He has earned Super-State honors both on the football field and as an outfielder.
"It is a possibility," Kildow said of playing baseball at NU. "I'm still open for that."
College football's national letter of intent signing day is Feb. 4. With 21 commitments in the class, Nebraska figures to have room for two or three more players.
