Bryce Boettcher, From Walk-On to Oregon Ducks Star, MLB Draft

Transcript

00:00Betch, you've walked on to Oregon for not only football, but for baseball as well.

00:15And I just got to read y'all his stats real quick, y'all, because this is crazy.

00:19You came in Oregon, like I said, walked on for both football and baseball, and we still

00:23got a lot of stuff to get done, but just off of the regular season, in that time, you were

00:2713th round draft pick for the Houston Astros, second team, Big Ten, all-conference selection.

00:32And then just, what was that, Monday, you just won the 2024 Brandon Burlesworth Trophy.

00:38What has that journey been like for you personally?

00:40What would you tell other walk-ons who have big aspirations of like, okay, if Bryce could

00:45do it, I could do it?

00:46And honestly, what would you tell your younger self, because I don't know what younger Bryce

00:51Betch was thinking growing up, but I'm pretty sure this is more than one could imagine.

00:56So what's that journey been like for you?

00:58Yeah, I mean, this past year has been crazy, to say the least.

01:03You know, if I would have told younger Bryce Betch, right, I've done all that in a year,

01:06I probably would have thought he was crazy.

01:08Obviously, I wanted to play for the Ducks, do sports, was obviously a little far-fetched

01:12when I was younger, but obviously, I'm doing it now.

01:16You know, it's just been a lot of hard work, like advice to walk-ons and my younger self

01:20is just never give up.

01:22Like, the grass is not always greener on the other side, there's going to be a lot more

01:25days as a walk-on that are tougher, and stuff's not going your way, and it's more frustrating

01:30than it would be, than those good days, obviously.

01:34So I mean, obviously, I'm getting rewarded this past year with a lot of recognition,

01:39which is pretty cool, but it was definitely like three or four years of knowing-knowing

01:43who I was, a lot of work in the dark, so it's definitely cool to see it pay off, but like

01:48I said, you know, we're just living in the moment, we got a Rose Bowl to win, so just

01:52trying to enjoy it with the boys, and make this ride a good one.