Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck sure knows how to create a good surprise. In April, he sent the entire team on a giant Easter Egg hunt all to reveal that a walk-on linebacker had earned a scholarship. This time, Fleck addressed the team with a T-shirt cannon and a young man named Kyle Tanner, a local hospital patient. Tanner said his favorite player was senior walk-on kicker Justin Juenemann, so Fleck let Tanner shoot the cannon at him.
Little did Juenemann know, the T-shirt inside had a special message.
The “Row The Boat” Culture is all about serving & giving!! Congrats to @JustinJuenemann on EARNING his scholarship!! https://t.co/fguiiyt5tY
— P.J. Fleck (@Coach_Fleck) August 9, 2017
Juenemann may be a kicker, but that wasn’t a bad reception.
You can see the scholarship came so out-of-the-blue that he double-taked when first looking at the shirt, which read, “Justin, congrats on earning a scholarship!” Then his teammates erupted in cheers.
After the celebration, Fleck lauded Juenemann in front of the team:
“I’ve never seen anybody serve and give more than that guy, who is not a star player, who hasn’t played, where his face is recognizable. He could easily just not do it and nobody would ever say anything. And all he does is continue to keep his oar in his water, live that holistic life academically, athletically, socially and spiritually.”
These surprise-a-walk-on-with-a-scholarship videos are always heartwarming, but they’ve gotten a little stale from over-saturation. So kudos to Fleck for finding a way to spice up the genre. And, of course, congrats to Justin.
