Football is always about more than the sport, especially at the collegiate level, when the athletes are also earning an education and growing up alongside competing at the highest level.
A lot of the time, those athletes aren't even earning scholarship money for playing. College football is a huge source of walk-on athletes, where a player tries out for the simple chance of getting to play the game they love.
That is, until the team's head coach gets the opportunity to make the athlete's dream come true and grant them a scholarship to play the sport, which is exactly what Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze did for Cam'Ron King this week.
King, a sophomore walk-on wide receiver, was surprised during a team meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 5, when Freeze called him up to the front and asked him what it's like being a walk-on at Auburn:
"It's a blessing, but at the same time, its' hard," King said.
King went on to say that his teammates had never treated him differently for being a walk-on athlete compared to a scholarship player, even going as far as to say that the team brought everyone in "as one," a "brotherhood," as Freeze put it.
As King walked back to his seat, Freeze called him back and said, "One more thing, you're no longer a walk-on, you're on scholarship!"
The entire team rushed forward and embraced their teammate to celebrate his massive accomplishment and congratulate him on what he had achieved.
The emotion, love, and respect in the room were palpable, even in a little video that was less than two and a half minutes long. The Auburn football program kept it simple when the social media team posted the clip:
"Earned, not given."
YOU'RE ON SCHOLARSHIP‼️
— Auburn Football (@AuburnFootball) August 6, 2025
Earned, not given. Congratulations, Cam'Ron King! pic.twitter.com/CbQxLOzsF3
King, the rest of the scholarship players, and every single walk-on will kick off their 2025 season at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Aug. 29, with a road game against the Baylor Bears. The SEC-Big 12 matchup will be aired on FOX.