USC Trojans

Famed blind long snapper suiting up, taking field with USC on Tuesday

Published Sep. 15, 2015 2:00 a.m. ET

Bruce Feldman

One of the more amazing stories connected to college football appears set for a new chapter.

Jake Olson, a blind long snapper who had become part of the Trojan family a half-dozen years ago as a 12-year-old after then-coach Pete Carroll had heard about how Olson wanted to see his favorite team play one more game before a surgery that would cost him his eyesight, has officially been added to the USC roster. The 6-4, 195-pound 18-year-old will wear No. 61.

"It was a surreal feeling being out there at practice," said Olson on his first day after suiting up for the Trojans at practice Tuesday morning. "I can't thank enough everyone who helped make this possible, all the coaches, staff and players at USC, the compliance and medical staffs here, the Swim With Mike program and the NCAA. I'm excited to help this team in any way I can and be a great teammate. I love this team and I always have, and now it feels great to be a part of it. Fight On!"

That Olson could suit up and put on the famed USC helmet is truly remarkable.

When Olson was 10 months old, he lost his left eye to cancer. After 11 years of battling the disease while going through radiation treatment and chemotherapy, he lost his right eye in 2009 at age 12. Shortly before the surgery to remove the eye, Carroll invited Olson and his family to meet the team; the bond shared by Olson, Carroll and Trojans players made national news back then.

Since those days, Carroll, of course, moved on to the NFL. Olson sprouted to 6-4 and he tried out and made the Orange Lutheran High team as a snapper. Days before Carroll’s team made it to the Super Bowl two years ago, I spoke with Olson, who the coach hosted on the Seahawks sidelines. Olson would've been at CenturyLink for the NFC Title game, but instead he had to travel to New York to appear on FOX News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” to share his inspiring story and talk about the motivational book he had just written titled, "Open Your Eyes.”

Last April, the LA Times reported that Olson planned on joining the Trojans team; however the NCAA said USC needed a waiver because he accepted a Swim With Mike scholarship to attend USC, which is given to athletes with physical challenges, meaning he’d count toward one of the available 85 scholarship spots on the roster. And USC was already at its 25-person limit of initial scholarship counters for this season.

USC sought and received a waiver from the NCAA so that he did not count against the Trojans’ NCAA-mandated 85-scholarship roster limit.

Tomorrow I walk out onto Howard Jones field not as a fan or honorary member, but as a player for the USC Trojans! #fighton
— Jake Olson (@jakethesnakeo) September 15, 2015