THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Johnny Hekker had every intention of walking on at Oregon State as a quarterback in 2008. But there were six quarterbacks on the depth chart already, and none at punter.
"I realized that if I want to earn a scholarship," Hekker said, "I have to be really serious about punting."
Hekker spent that summer with a kicking coach in Alabama to learn the fine art of punting a football, a task he took on while attending high school in the state of Washington. He went on to finish third in Beavers history in average yards per punt (41.