A Hint Doesn't Ruin the Scholarship Moment

Even with an inkling the time may be coming, the moment was still unexpected.

Incredible, as well.

Putting a player on scholarship is never taken lightly, especially if he entered the football program as a walk-on, as Thomas Pannunzio did three years ago. Steve Addazio was not the head coach then, but he is now and he'd seen enough to call Director of Athletics Joe Parker to inform him it was time to reward a young man.

Addazio had witnessed a player who was tough. Did what he was asked. He was accountable. In short, someone he wants on his team. That work also made him somebody Addazio wanted to help out with a scholarship at his disposal.

"I think it's great to feel the joy of the kid, and he's so deserving, and the team respects him so much they love it," Addazio said. "I'm not a guy that wants to go out and contrive a big thing, it's real. He's a guy who's going to play for us, we need him, he's highly accountable and dependable and he's going to be on the field and he earned it and deserved it. The greatest thing was his peers responded to it, unscripted.

"That's a great feeling that you can reward somebody for their great effort and their commitment to Colorado State."

It happened on a Tuesday, at the end of practice, and Addazio slid it in as part of his post-practice speech. No build up, just delivery.

The response from the team just added to the emotion of the moment for Pannunzio.

"He talked to me when the season first started back in June," Pannunzio said. "He said, 'you know we're really trying to get you on scholarship, you've got to keep working.' He said once season was official, they'd try to get me on.

"He told me after practice he was going to put me on scholarship, and brought the whole team up. It's crazy. You dream about that day for so long, and then it finally happens. It's just an exciting feeling. It catches you off guard. You can't really explain it."

Pannunzio, a junior out of Pueblo South, played as a true freshman on special team and made a few offensive appearances. He spent his first two seasons as a slot receiver, but Addazio's staff has moved him nickel and corner on defense. In Saturday's scrimmage, he saw extended action, again impressing his new room.

Then again, they already knew enough about him as a special teams performer (he has five tackles in that role) to understand he'd be a quick study and a welcome addition. Pannunzio admits it has been an adjustment, but not one which is completely foreign having played on that side of the ball as a prep.

Now a part of their clan, the defensive backs were genuinely excited when the announcement was made.

"It's great for us, because we're like a family. We feel like he deserved it, and Coach Addazio gave it to him and we're all happy for him," Marshaun Cameron said. "When we brought him to the right side and got him situated with the corners, he's actually been doing really well. We actually just moved him to outside corner today, and he showed up. We had a couple of dudes out hurt (with injury), and he showed up. That's why he got a scholarship, for stuff like that."

The easy part was standing in front of his team to say thanks. It was their support and encouragement which made the moment possible. And so special.

"It really means a lot, because every day they come up to me and say, 'keep pushing bro, you're so close.' You keep working and working and it finally happens," Pannunzio said. "It finally happens, and you can finally tell them thank you."

What he showed on Saturday – a willingness to jump into the fray early in his tenure in the secondary – was further proof. He's not afraid to make mistakes, because he's always going to give effort. He will learn on the fly, but do so at full speed.

Getting the scholarship was a relief. It is not, however, a time to rest. That's not the mantra of a walk-on, even if the tag is past tense.

"That's the hard part. You get your scholarship and you kind of relax for a bit, but you have to remind yourself how you got here," he said.

The memory of standing in front of his teammates will always be that reminder from him. From his position, he could see the respect he earned, as well as recalling the path he took to be in present in the moment.

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