LINCOLN, Neb. — Derek Wacker is living the dream of many boys who grew up in small-town Nebraska, and he’s holding on to it as long as he can.
Wacker is a walk-on football player for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He has no scholarship, no NIL deals and no idea if he’ll still be on the team in the fall.
The undersized linebacker was in on a few tackles in a scrimmage among third- and fourth-string players at Memorial Stadium on Saturday. A few thousand fans showed up to watch, so the day just might end up being his career highlight.
“I feel I’ve made a lot of jumps this offseason, and I’m ready to attack it again come summer,” he said. “Status with the team? Keep working and we’ll find out in the end. I don’t think anyone knows at this point.”
The days of walk-ons in football and other collegiate sports are numbered because terms of the looming $2.8 billion House v. NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement requires Football Bowl Subdivision teams to pare their rosters to 105 players. The average FBS roster was 128 players in 2024.