ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Christopher Smalls came to the University of New Mexico in 2012, hoping to earn a football scholarship.
He never got the scholarship, which is not the same as saying he hadn’t earned it.
What he did get, and did earn, was the satisfaction of having made important contributions to the UNM football program as it fought to recover from the three consecutive 1-11 seasons that preceded his arrival.
“My philosophy was just to help in any way I can,” Smalls, a senior walk-on defensive lineman, said in an interview this week. “And I do that even now.