They also serve who stand and wait, and Charlie Hoag plans to serve until he runs out of NCAA eligibility.
Hoag is a classic college football walk-on. He's undersized, yet undeterred. The 5-foot-10, 175-pound wide receiver, now a third-year sophomore, mostly stands and waits on a cloud of optimism.
"Someday I'll get a chance," said Hoag, a Shawnee Mission West product. "I'll get my turn " you never know."
Maybe today at Kansas State. With the KU receiving corps battling injuries, Hoag could log some playing time at KSU Stadium. It would be his fourth college appearance.
Hoag logged a couple of plays last week against SMU and he has played against NCAA Div. I-AA foes Illinois State and Cal State Northridge in mop-up roles over the last two seasons.
After catching 35 passes during his senior season at SM West in 1996, Hoag earned All-Sunflower League and All-KC Metro honors. However, his lack of size made him a prime candidate for the small-college football market.
Hoag was not interested in a small school, though. He was committed to Kansas University, in large part because his grandfather and namesake was a two-time all-league running back for the Jayhawks in the early '50s. Moreover, his uncle Chuck was an outside linebacker for KU in the early '80s.
That legacy, Hoag said with a smile, "pretty much got me, plus I knew I'd be comfortable at a bigger school because I went to a big high school."
Hoag certainly hasn't had any difficulty with big-school academics. A civil engineering major, he compiled a 3.93 grade point average during the 1998-99 school year. In the spring semester, Hoag clocked a perfect 4.0.
So high are his grades that Hoag feels no urgency to secure an athletics scholarship.
"I really don't care whether I get a scholarship or not," Hoag said. "I have an academic scholarship that pays tuition and books, and that really helps me out. More or less, I just want to play."
Curiously, unlike most walk-ons, Hoag says he can't recall a time when he considered quitting.
"I remember my first two-a-days were tough," he said. "You were away from home and you had football from morning until night. But I made it through that, and haven't really thought about it since."
In truth, the most difficult aspect of Hoag's presence on Mount Oread has been his name. Hoag has learned how aggravating it is to have the same name as a KU professor.
Charles Hoag, no relation, is a professor of music and dance. In fact, Professor Hoag pronounces his name Hoe-ag.
"I was getting e-mail for him and I didn't even know who he was," Hoag said, smiling. "They were calling me doctor. I didn't know what was going on."
-- Chuck Woodling's phone message number is 832-7147. His e-mail address is cwoodling@ljworld.com.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.