KNOXVILLE - James Wolf jokes that if he had the rights to print apparel branded with the University of Tennessee logo at the sporting goods store he owns in Minster, Ohio, he probably could be a millionaire.
Nearly 350 miles away from Knoxville in the heart of Big Ten country, the Tennessee tight end duo of brothers Ethan and Eli Wolf give most people in the rural town of 2,800 a reason to wear orange and pull for the Volunteers.
"We've only had a few Division I athletes in football over the 75 years they've had football," James said Wednesday. "So to have two on the same team that happen to be from the same household is pretty special. Obviously, being their dad is pretty special to me."
Now both of those former Minster High School stars from the same household have full athletic scholarships.
Tennessee coach Butch Jones surprised Eli Wolf, a redshirt sophomore, by awarding him a scholarship in the middle of a drill early in Tuesday's practice.
Eli turned down scholarships at smaller D-I schools to walk on at Tennessee and follow Ethan, who is a year older. He knew there were no guarantees of playing and no guarantees a scholarship would ever come.
"I ultimately decided I loved the coaching staff here," Eli said Tuesday. "The players made me feel at home. Being a walk-on, you think they may not be super inviting, but everyone was really inviting. And having an older brother here that said, 'Hey, this is the place to be' was huge. I ultimately said, 'I'm going to shoot for the stars and go big.'"
It has paid off.
Eli has packed pounds on his wide receiver's frame to become a candidate for regular playing time at tight end behind his brother. Coaches said Eli brings a different skill set than Ethan, who boasts a prototypical tight end's body.
Brothers Ethan Wolf (82) and Eli Wolf (80) play offense. The annual Spring Orange and White Football game was held at Neyland Stadium on April 22, 2017.Eli is a speedier tight end and natural receiver. Back in Minster, he holds every school receiving record for a career, season and game.
"First of all, coming in we challenged him to put the weight on necessary to play tight end in this conference," Jones said. "He's been able to do it. He's been a solid special teams performer. He creates some matchups for us on the offensive side of the football. And he has never said two words. He just works every single day and has displayed great consistency."
Jones plotted the moment he awarded the scholarship well in advance.
Tennessee frequently does its "Circle of Life" drill early in practice. Jones calls out two players of similar sizes, pitting them in a competition to see who can topple the other or push the other back while the rest of the team is circled around them.
Tuesday, he summoned the Wolf brothers.
Right after blowing the whistle to commence their attacks on each other, Jones blew the whistle again to stop the drill. He handed Eli his scholarship papers. The rest of the team went crazy congratulating the former walk-on, jumping up and down while chanting his name.
Eli went from "thinking about putting Ethan on his butt" to having a feeling he said was hard to explain.
"Every walk-on's dream is eventually to mean enough to the team to the point where they do put you on scholarship," he said. "For the first five periods of practice, I was wandering around up in the stars. It was a surreal moment."
Their father found out about the scholarship after a family member alerted him to Twitter post about the moment.
"Eli, when he called us later that evening when he had a chance, I tried to act dumb that I didn't know, but he could read through it pretty quick," James said.
Dad could not hide his excitement very well.
"I thought that was perfect," he said. "I couldn't have thought of a better way to do it. I knew if it ever came, with Ethan there I was hoping he would be involved in some fashion. It certainly gave me goosebumps when they were all jumping and celebrating and chanting his name.
"It was really special and special for all of us over here in Minster."
Contact David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com.