Here's one good reason why Florida football is playing Charlotte | Whitley

Florida football plays a game Saturday against Charlotte, and you might be wondering why.

The 49ers have been in the football business for only 10 years. They play in a 17,000-seat stadium. A few UF players probably make more in NIL money than Charlotte coach Biff Poggi makes in salary.

So why bother?

The game was scheduled for a few reasons. One of them being guys like Javion Toombs, Nick Flynn and Alex Gonzalez?

It’s understandable if you don’t recognize their names. They are among the many walk-ons at UF. Players who aren’t on scholarship, but they show up every day and grind like Trevor Etienne or Ricky Pearsall.

One in a million walk-ons will become a star, like Stetson Bennett IV or Baker Mayfield. But most are thrilled if they get a much smaller payoff.

“All you want to do as a walk-on is earn the respect of your teammates,” Brady Ackerman said. “You earn that respect, that’s when they cheer for you because you work hard every day. You did what you’re supposed to do, and you are humble.”

A lot of Gator fans will recognize Ackerman’s name. He was UF’s sideline radio reporter a dozen years ago, and is now a sales manager with Spectrum in Austin, Tex.

Ackerman had a lot of sideline experience before picking up a microphone. He spent years there as a player, just hoping to get in a game. A game like the one Florida will play this weekend.

“We were the guys who got them ready to play,” he said of his teammates. “When they executed at a high level, we’d get a chance to get in.”

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That usually requires a blowout, and Florida didn’t have many of those when Ackerman arrived in 1988. He was a receiver from Jacksonville’s Fletcher High who’d gotten feelers from smaller schools. He had bigger aspirations, so he walked on at UF.

Actually, Ackerman had to try out before even being allowed to walk on. Him and 49 other dreamers.

“Less than five of you are going to make it,” strength coach Rich Tuten told them.

“He may have been the toughest strength coach to ever walk the face of the earth,” Ackerman said.

Scholarship players had to drag sleds across the fields. The wannabe walk-ons had to drag them up the ramps of the football stadium.

There were other drills, all involving a lot of gasping, and cussing and vomiting. In the end, only two of the 50 made the cut. Ackerman’s reward was to get moved to running back, where the Gators were pretty well set with Emmitt Smith.

He was scout team cannon fodder with few football perks. No room, no board, used cleats. Ackerman turned in his equipment bag one time to equipment manager Bud Fernandez.

“Hey, Bud,” he said, “I lost my jockstrap.”

“Well, you’d better go buy you another one,” Fernandez said.

Ackerman finally needed one in a real game in 1990. The Gators were starting to roll under Steve Spurrier and were up 27-3 late against Furman. Spurrier called Ackerman over an gave him the play call:

“Right Over 14 Pass Ralph Extra.”

Ackerman sprinted onto the field. When he got the huddle, there was a problem.

“What’s the play?” quarterback Brian Fox asked.

“I can’t remember,” Ackerman said.

His career highlight came against Akron. The Gators were up 52-0, and Ackerman caught a 12-yard TD pass from Fox. He raised his arms in celebration near the stands, where a woman who looked about 35 years old was cheering.

The next day on Spurrier’s TV show, the coach recapped the play and added, “That might be Brady’s girlfriend right there.”

That led to untold grief from his teammates, but it was worth it.

“I caught a touchdown to cover the spread against Akron,” Ackerman said.

His teammates cheered louder than any fan after the play. It was the ultimate validation for a walk-on.

Ackerman never got a scholarship or sniffed the end zone again. He might not have even gotten a new jockstrap, but Ackerman has no walk-on regrets.

“I got a lot of other stuff that I’ve carried with me the rest of my life,” he said. “The memories, the friends I made.”

Thirty years later, walk-ons still want those things. That’s why Florida is playing Charlotte this weekend.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: One good reason Florida is playing Charlotte