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HUDSON - Of all the qualities Walter Truzack brought to Hudson in four years as a lineman, only one finally landed him a chance to play college football:
Persistence.
Truzack, whose senior season was in 2002, has been bugging the coaches at Webber for more than a year to look at any of the 15 game tapes he sent. That persistence paid off recently, when those coaches saw his tapes and offered a partial athletic scholarship to play for the NAIA Warriors.
"I knew if they just looked at me, the way I played, they would want me on their team," said Truzack, 19. "It was just the extra step I needed to take to make them look at my films. I had to keep telling them, and several times, they said, "We'll look at it. We'll look at it.'
"They finally looked at one of them, and they called me up right away and said they wanted someone like me for the football team."
The 6-foot, 275-pounder was elevated to the varsity his freshman season and started the next three years under former coach Terry Voyles, playing a variety of line positions.
The two-way starter spent most of his time at offensive and defensive tackle but also played guard, center and linebacker. He was an all-Sunshine Athletic Conference lineman and wrestler.
Voyles said it's rare for an NAIA school to offer any player money, which shows how much the Babson Park school wanted Truzack. "He's a bright kid, really gung ho," Voyles said. "And sitting out a year has made him hungry.
"I think he's going to do really well there. It's something Walter's wanted really bad, and if you want something really bad enough, you'll do it."
Truzack once dreamed of playing for Florida State and stayed out of school after graduation to keep his eligibility intact. But Voyles said Truzack grew more realistic about walking-on with the Seminoles after playing in the All-Star Classic game at the University of South Florida early this year.
"At FSU, he would just be a walk-on," Voyles said. "I'm not saying he's not good enough to earn a spot at FSU, but there's no way he's going to play right away. Maybe he can break in his junior or senior year, but that's a different level, a different nature."
Truzack said he appreciates the advantages a much smaller school offers a player.
"I kind of decided to be a big fish in a small pond," he said, "than be a small fish in the ocean."