Work pays off for 2 UVa walk-ons
By Doug Doughty
981-3229
Walk-ons Tyrus Gardner and Mike Robertson are awarded scholarships.
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Now might be a good time for fellow walk-ons to get Tyrus Gardner and Mike Robertson to spring for dinner.
Gardner and Robertson, roommates from Southwestern Virginia, have been placed on football scholarship by Virginia head coach Al Groh. Both are third-year sophomores.
"My general criteria for walk-ons is to wait till their third year," Groh said. "Sometimes, your grant-in-aid numbers are such that you aren't able to do it, but we had some spots this year."
Gardner, from George Wythe High School, earned a letter in 2004 as the UVa snapper for punts. Robertson, from Blacksburg High School, played in two games as a wide receiver last year and frequently traveled with the Cavaliers as a back-up wide receiver.
"He's [Robertson] who you want him to be every day -- in school and on the football field," Groh said. "He's got toughness, he's got dedication, he's got work ethic. He's all for the team."
"It was only right that, before Mike Robertson left here, he was on grant-in-aid, whether it was his third year, fourth year, both years."
Robertson has lived in Blacksburg since the sixth grade. An older sister, Heather, graduated from Virginia Tech. His parents, Jack and Vicky, are Hokies' football season ticket-holders.
"I used to go to Tech games," said Robertson, whose former Blacksburg teammates Cory Price and Sam Wheeler are on the Hokies' roster."When we went to Tech last year, as soon as I got off the bus, I ran into my old middle school coach and all sorts of people I knew."
Gardner was awarded a grant one week before Robertson, who wasn't expecting a scholarship at this point.
"I was surprised," he said. "My parents were elated."
There was a similar reaction in the Gardner household, which shares the Robertsons' Tech ties.
Gardner's mother was on the drill team at Tech and a younger brother, Jacob, was a walk-on with deep-snapping aspirations last year at Tech.
Tyrus Gardner was an All-Group A linebacker and also played fullback at George Wythe. He worked at fullback last year but now does all of the snapping. Starting center Zac Yarbrough snapped for field goals and extra points last year.
"I wish I still could be playing fullback and linebacker and hitting people," Gardner said Thursday, "but Coach Groh doesn't want me to have any contact, for fear that I might jam my wrist or hurt myself some other way
"They were always worried about Zac hurting himself last year."
Gardner picked up snapping from his father, Joseph, and has also received tips from Yarbrough and Ryan Childress, a walk-on from Shawsville who was the Cavaliers' deep snapper from 2000-03.
During a three-year period, four walk-ons from "Timesland" have been awarded scholarships at UVa, including Childress and defensive back David Hale from Pulaski County.
Gardner's only regret is that his mother, Kathy, didn't live to see him go on scholarship. After a long bout with cancer, she died last December.
"This is something she really wanted for me and I thought about her when I got it," he said. "It was a very tragic situation, but I know she's still here watching my games and she's still here in spirit."
(C)2005 The Roanoke Times