O’Brien fulfills a D-I dream
Rams put the hardworking center on scholarship just in time for his senior season to begin
fort collins» At an Aug. 20 team meeting, Colorado State coach Mike Bobo showed a clip of center Kevin O’Brien at work and praised his work on the play. Then offensive coordinator Will Friend, who coaches the offensive linemen, also complimented O’Brien. It was a setup. Next, Bobo broke the news to the Rams and to O’Brien that once CSU’s fall semester began, the senior center — previously a nonscholarship player for three years despite starting the Rams’ final 10 games in 2014 — would be on scholarship.
His teammates cheered. And O’Brien? “I about broke down in tears,” he recalled Tuesday.
O’Brien, from Katy, Texas, in the Houston area, transferred to CSU after one semester at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, and sold the Jim McElwain staff on allowing him to participate as a walk-on.
O’Brien redshirted in 2012 and played one game in 2013 before taking over as the starter at center a year ago after Jake Bennett suffered a season-ending knee injury.
O’Brien is listed as the No. 1 center heading into the Rams’ Saturday opener against Savannah State. Bennett has slid over to left guard.
That has come after O’Brien went through spring drills without a scholarship and Bobo told him he needed to prove himself to the new staff. And that he did. “Kevin O’Brien really won us, not just me, but the whole staff, with the way he approaches every day and how hard he works,” Bobo said. “He didn’t come back in the office after spring practice, in the summer, and say, ‘Coach, is there a chance?’ He just went out and worked. He earned it on the field. He’s playing well.”
Said the 6-foot-3, 295-pound O’Brien: “I had to show this staff that I’m more athletic than I look. I’m not an athletic guy. I’m told that all the time. It was tough, but it was learning the offense, making sure I know where I’m going as the center, making sure I get everybody on the same page. That’s what I think really helped me out.”
The economic impact of a football scholarship for an out-ofstate student is immense.
“My dad (Tim) was more happy that he didn’t have to pay anymore,” O’Brien said, smiling. “And my mom (Jean) just broke down in tears, she was so proud of me for finally reaching my dream. It was my dream to be a D-I scholarship athlete. … I’m blessed that I come from a good family and come from a good home and my dad was able to help me out and pay some for me. But I was always thinking: ‘Hey, what if I can’t pay next semester? Where am I going to go?’ ” But he persevered. Nick Stevens, the redshirt sophomore who has succeeded Garrett Grayson as the Rams’ No. 1 quarterback, also has been won over. He said O’Brien “is one of the smartest guys on the field and knows exactly where the ‘mike’ (middle linebacker) point is every time and what specific blocks they have.” He added of O’Brien getting a scholarship: “We were all super-excited for him. Me personally, I know that he deserved it for a long time, so I was happy to see that happen.”