Cornerback Shelby Osborne, 5’6 140 pounds, has committed to play football at the University of Campbellsville, an NAIA school.
Osborne played soccer as a freshman at Jeffersonville High School, tennis as a sophomore, then ran cross country and track as a junior. All along, however, she’d wanted to play football but never figured it was allowed.
After an off-season of training, Osborne joined the junior varsity team in 2013. She also played in five varsity games, although all of her playing time came at the end of lop-sided victories.
“I’d wake up for 4 a.m. runs and stay at school until 8 p.m. working with the coaches,” she said. “I worked throughout the whole year, fell in love with the game and didn’t want to give it up. When the season ended, I was desperate to find anyone who would take me and continue on the thing that captured my heart.”
When she asked her high school coach, Lonnie Oldham, about it, he wasn’t very enthusiastic about the idea. “It’ll be tough to have anyone (even) look at you,” Oldham replied.
Osborne kept working, however, and attended an open tryout in Campbellsville. She won’t have a full-ride scholarship, but she earned herself a school to play football for.
At 5’6″ tall and weighing just 140 pounds, she is very undersized and has never even played meaningful minutes in a varsity game, nevermind started. The fact that she even got an invite onto a college football team is amazing.
Campbellsville’s coach said Osborne will have a separate dressing area in the locker room, otherwise will be treated like any other player.
“She’s got to come in an earn her keep,” he said. He hopes that she will be accepted as a teammate.
Exactly how talented Osborne can be is questionable as she does not have highlight tapes of any sort. A lot of attention will be given to her, but for now she has to focus on making the roster.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOSSamKweon. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
For more on sports injuries, check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert.
Football fans…check out our two partnered NFL podcasts – Thursday Night Tailgate Radio and Overtime Ireland. Both shows bring you interesting commentary, critical analysis and fantastic guests including former and current NFL players, coaches and personalities.