Vernon Stewart fills in for Wiggins.
Pretty cool.
Vernon Stewart forcing the issue as walk-on safety for Western Michigan football
By Jayson Bussa | Kalamazoo Gazette
October 02, 2009, 10:40PM
KALAMAZOO — Bill Cubit caught up last weekend with the proud parents of Vernon Stewart, shortly after the walk-on safety made his first career start in a win over Hofstra.
For Stewart, it was one of those sentimental moments that makes the struggle worth it.
“He came up to my parents and told them that I’ve been doing a good job and how my work effort reflects how they brought me up,” said Stewart, a redshirt sophomore on Western Michigan Univerisity’s football team, starting in place of the suspended Doug Wiggins. “ ... My mom was happy; she’s more emotional than my dad. But, I know my dad was proud, too.”
Cubit crashed the feel-good mood a few days later at the weekly special teams meeting.
“I was kidding him a little bit when I saw (him get double-teamed on) one of his kickoffs and I said, ‘Tell your parents I take back all those things I said to them about you’, and I kind of laughed at him,” Cubit said, flashing a grin.
So maybe Stewart hasn’t been doing everything perfectly, but he’s definitely done enough to build himself into a staple of the special teams units and push his way into a starting gig on defense, even if it might only be temporary. This, after playing in just one game last season and spending the year as a member of the defensive scout team.
Stewart is slated for his second start in today’s game at Northern Illinois and will battle a now-healthy Josh Price for the position until Wiggins returns, which Cubit said could happen any time.
Stewart popped up on the radar last fall with his work on the scout team, where he said he purposely tried to defend WMU receptions leader Jamarko Simmons — also No. 27 — as much as possible.
Along with his talent and work ethic were the ideal variables for Stewart to creep up the depth chart — the Broncos lost nearly every starter in the defensive secondary. After a standout performance in the Broncos’ spring game, when Stewart led the defense with 11 tackles, Cubit was already saying the less-heralded No. 27 would see extended special teams reps this season and probably a few on defense.
“In spring ball, things really came together for him,” WMU defensive secondary coach Tim Daoust said. “He was confident in what he was doing. He understood the defense. He’s a smart football player and his work ethic is second to none.”
Coming out of Plymouth High School in Canton, Stewart considered going to Division II schools Saginaw Valley State or Northwood, but decided to fulfill his Division I dream instead.
He’s become a testament to Cubit’s claim that the best players see the field in WMU’s program. The word ‘walk-on’ is not part of his teammates’ vocabularies when talking about him.
“I’m starting to get on the field now and I don’t look at myself as a walk-on,” Stewart said. “I look at myself as a football player, period.”
For teammates like junior safety Mario Armstrong, who’ll start next to Stewart, Stewart’s trek to the top of the depth chart hasn’t been surprising.
“I knew he could do this,” Armstrong said. “We’ve seen him do this in spring ball and it rolled over in to camp. Now, it’s showing what he can do on the field.”
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