CORVALLIS — Noah Togiai felt the skeptical stares as he and Elu Aydon walked onto the stage in front of a packed auditorium for Oregon State athletics' "Other Side" talent show this past spring.
Togiai, the Beavers tight end, began strumming on his guitar. And then Aydon, the 327-pound defensive tackle, opened his mouth.
"To the top of the clouds, we're floating away," Aydon smoothly sang, the crowd bursting into cheers as his notes kept rising while extending the last word of the line in John Legend's tune, "So High."
That's Aydon, the redshirt freshman starter who possesses physical power while manning the trenches on the football field and silky vocals off of it.