Sports

Blind Football Player Walks On To USC

Neal Earley Contributor
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Jake Olson can’t see, but that won’t stop the University of Southern California freshman from achieving his dream of playing major college football.

Olson, who is blind, announced on Twitter Monday night that he is joining the Trojans as a long-snapper. He joined the team for the first time Tuesday for practice after being recently cleared to play by the NCAA.

  ESPN reported that Olson had to wait to join USC, as the NCAA cleared up some of the bureaucratic issues with Olson’s eligibility status. The NCAA USC did not have an athletic scholarship left to give Olson. Instead he is attending USC on a Swim With Mike Scholarship for physically challenged athletes.

It’s a dream come true for Olson, a born and raised USC fan that was diagnosed with retinoblastoma a rare form of eye cancer that manly affects kids. Olson under went surgery for his cancer that made him permanently blind in 2009. Nonetheless, he still made his high school football team as the starting long-snapper.

USC coach, Steve Sarkisian told the Los Angeles Times in April, that he eventually plans on playing Olson.

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