Blind USC player Jake Olson snaps for extra point in Trojans win
USC long snapper Jake Olson made it into a game in Week 1.
After the Trojans scored to go up three touchdowns late in the fourth quarter against Western Michigan, USC coach Clay Helton called timeout to get Olson, who is blind, into the game.
Olson, with the help of the umpire and his teammates, got lined up and delivered a perfect snap for a 49-31 advantage and final score.
Olson lost the sight in both of his eyes as a child because of retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. He was granted a waiver to practice with USC in the fall of 2015 and snapped for two kicks in the 2016 spring game.
His teammates were thrilled he finally got to snap in a regular season game.
The waiver was necessary because the NCAA determined the scholarship he was given to attend USC was an athletic one. Olson is on a scholarship from the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship fund, which was somehow deemed to be an athletic scholarship. Thankfully the NCAA had the good sense to give him a waiver to be a part of the team.
“I just loved being out there,” Olson said after the game. “It was an awesome feeling, something that I’ll remember forever. Getting to snap at USC as a football player … I’m trying to say as much as I can, because I can’t quite believe it yet.”
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
