Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83706
pay for you to go to school. That's it. So I don't agree with the term walk- on. I don't feel comfortable calling anybody a walk-on, and I've never done that nor treated anyone differ- ently because he's a walk-on or a scholarship player. When you get here, you still have to earn the right to play, in my opinion. Walk-on, run-on, scholarship player – that stuff doesn't matter to me at all." The phraseology itself may not matter, but the sentiment behind those words does matter. That's why the Dirty Show has been such a hit. The name repre- sents a new approach to scout-team duty – an approach that players say builds morale and creates competition in practice. "Nobody really likes to be called the DIVE PLAY Lehman scored a touchdown in Penn State's opener against Ohio. "He's a guy who has really improved and is going to continue to improve," O'Brien said. John Beale football, but that's just our term for them." The new terminology suits former nonscholarship player Matt McGloin just fine. McGloin is now a three-year starter, but he started out as an un- known on the scout team, practicing alongside fellow nonscholarship quar- terback Shane McGregor. McGloin's underdog story has been recounted many times since he took over as Rob Bolden's replacement in a game at Minnesota in 2010. Those ac- counts have never failed to mention that he's a former walk-on, and McGloin has made it clear the past few years that he's never been comfortable with the connotation behind those words, the stigma that attaches to them, defin- ing "walk-on" as "not quite good enough." "Walk-on is a stupid term to begin with," he said. "I don't agree with it, and I don't agree with the meaning behind it. If you're a Penn State football player, you do the same exact things that everybody with a scholarship does. Unfortunately, they just don't foreign team or the scout team or a walk-on, because it seems like they just came, like nobody wanted them here," fullback Michael Zordich said. "That's hardly the truth. They're here because they got recruited; they just didn't get a scholarship. The guys on the scout team and foreign team, they work just as hard, they play just as important a role as anybody on the field on Saturday, because they're get- ting you ready all week. So Coach's little twist on that helps. It makes it more fun for those guys and gives them something to be proud of. Instead of being called the scout team, you're a part of the Dirty Show. You go out and work hard and get the job done. "Instead of getting yelled at if they make a play against our offense, they celebrate. The coaches congratulate them. It's fun. It gives you a game at- mosphere, a little bit of attitude in practice. It pumps up the intensity a little bit and gets everybody else work- ing." The nonscholarship program has played more than just a quiet, behind- the-scenes role this season. Former walk-ons have also been prominent on game day. In the Virginia game, there were eight listed on the Nittany Lions' two-deep depth chart: Day, Mc- Gloin, fullback Pat Zerbe, tight end Brian Irvin, receiver Evan Lewis, cor- nerback Jesse Della Valle, free safety Ryan Keiser and strong safety Jake