LINCOLN, Neb. -- Finally, Brad Simpson can call himself a scholarship player at a big-time football school. Its taken him four years, and hes run up student-loan debt into the tens of thousands of dollars. With one season to play, he says his walk-on experience at Nebraska has been worth every penny.Derek Foster also walked on at Nebraska. He never earned a scholarship. In fact, he never played a down in his five years. He says he, too, got his moneys worth.With the start of classes across the country, freshman walk-on players are hitting practice fields to round out rosters and chase dreams. A lot of them turned down scholarships from lower-division schools and are challenging themselves to see if they can hack it in Division I. Their hopes are to become significant contributors and get a scholarship.The reality is that most will transfer or quit. In fact, 15 of the 20 walk-ons who entered Nebraska with Foster in 2010 did just that. Foster never considered it.Im a small-town kid who grew up in Nebraska. There was one team I watched, and one team only, and that was the Huskers, said Foster, whos from Elm Creek, population 934, and graduated in 2014. To have the opportunity to walk through the tunnel and step on the field was a win in itself there. People always ask if I regret it that I didnt play a single down when I could have gone to a D-II school, had a scholarship and started right way. The answer: I dont have a single regret.Walk-ons always have been part of college football. Nebraska was among the first programs to make a point of seeking out prospects who might not be talented enough to merit a scholarship but could help the team.Nebraskas rosters regularly numbered 175-200 into the early 2000s. Stricter enforcement of Title IX, which requires equitable opportunities for male and female athletes, has led to a reduction in squad sizes. The Huskers now cap their roster at about 140, with 85 of them being scholarship players. That means Nebraska must be more selective when it comes to walk-ons.Except for having to pay for tuition, room and board, walk-ons are treated the same as scholarship players. Theyre given the cost-of-attendance stipend, a laptop and Adidas gear, and they have access to the academic support and life skills programs.Still, from 2008 to 2015, 80 of the 153 walk-ons (53 percent) left before completing their eligibility. But 2012 brought one of the best walk-on classes in program history, with 10 of the 22 earning scholarships, and at least three will be starters this season.Director of high school relations Kenny Wilhite estimated 85 percent of Nebraska walk-ons had scholarship offers from lower-division programs. Walk-ons from in-state will pay about $20,000 this year for tuition, room and board; for out-of-state walk-ons its about $35,000.This is a great institution. You have that Nebraska degree, and it goes a long way, Wilhite said, but its still tough to sell when kids have scholarship offers.Simpson, from the Omaha suburb of Ralston, said he had to think long and hard about saying no to offers of partial scholarships from Division II Nebraska-Kearney and Northwest Missouri State and saying yes to the walk-on opportunity presented by the former Nebraska staff.The son of an office worker and retired electrician, Simpson estimated his student-loan debt at $80,000 to $90,000.Every time the email comes, I dont look at it, Simpson said of his loan statements. Its all an investment. If I ever think about the money, I just say put in your time, put in your money and it will all pay off -- the education, the experience, the connections.Simpson, part of that stellar 2012 walk-on class, worked 40 hours a week at an Omaha supermarket the summer following his senior year of high school. Meanwhile, the incoming scholarship players spent that summer on campus training with the returning players and adjusting to campus.Simpson said it was intimidating being around the scholarship players at first, but he never felt looked-down upon. A linebacker, he spent his first year playing on the scout team and has become a key member of special teams the last three years.Coach Mike Riley told Simpson a little over a week ago that he had done enough to earn a scholarship this season.It meant the world, he said. Ever since I got here, that was the biggest accomplishment I could have. For me to reach my goal like that, its not overwhelming but a big feeling of accomplishment, that I proved to myself I could do this.Simpson is on track to graduate with a communications degree in December and begin a career selling medical equipment.Im not leaving this place having regrets, he said.Foster certainly had none. Nebraska-Kearney put together an attractive scholarship offer and was persistent, but Foster couldnt turn down the Huskers when he picked up the phone on Jan. 27, 2010 -- his birthday -- and assistant coach Barney Cotton was on the line asking him to walk on.Foster had no academic scholarship to offset costs. His parents, who own the grocery store in Elm Creek, were able to pay his way.Those long days of conditioning, weightlifting and serving as practice meat never paid off with playing time. The closest he got was in a 2012 blowout of Idaho State. He was set to go in late in the game on the kickoff unit. Unfortunately, the Huskers never scored again, so it didnt happen. Now hes a financial planner in Lincoln.I did everything I could while I was there, Foster said. I would have loved to have gotten in and contributed on game day rather than just practice. That wasnt my calling. People say, `How in the heck did you stick it out for five years and never play a down? You hear that and ask yourself if youre wasting your time.That whole time, it was a life lesson, too. Just going through it and having the perseverance to keep going and keep working hard and saying, `Yeah, if I get in, great; if not, I know Im making the guy to my left and right better. Thats the mentality I took.---AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org Martellus Bennett Jersey . As he recorded his 23rd and 24th points of the evening, a segment of the sellout Air Canada Centre crowd expressed their appreciation for the Raptors point guard with a smattering of MVP chants. Aaron Rodgers Jersey . He says so-called TRT is only one problem and he wants to go even further than the ban. "Its about time," St-Pierre told reporters at a promotional event in Montreal on Friday. "I think its a good thing. http://www.authenticfootballshoppackers.com/Black-Friday-Lance-Kendricks-Jersey/ . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. 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WEMBLEY, London -- The British government wants it, Tottenham are building their new stadium to accommodate it, but do NFL fans in the UK actually want a franchise based on these shores?The NFLs International Series is now into its 10th year, with the Jacksonville Jaguars narrow victory over the Indianapolis Colts providing the first of three rounds of entertainment for football fans in London.A huge attendance of 83,764 and queues of over an hour for the merchandise tent on Sunday suggest the Wembley faithful is hungry for the NFL, and figures within the league are understood to be keen one day to place a first overseas franchise in Britain.The Jaguars have been mooted as the team most likely to relocate across the pond, but fans outside Wembley who spoke to ESPN cautioned they would not simply swallow any franchise thrust upon them.The Jaguars are sort of Londons adopted team, so Im in a Jags shirt, but if it was the Cowboys playing Id be supporting them, Tom Bentley, from Staffordshire, told ESPN. Youve got to show some Jaguar love when theyre over here though.Basing a franchise here is a lovely idea, but the problem is longevity. You have to have players coming from the home country to support a team. The college system would potentially need to be set up over here, or else well just have loads of Americans coming over here to play for an English side.Those were sentiments echoed by Toms friend Steve Baldwin, a 27-year-old who divides his time between following the Miami Dolphins and non-league soccer side Hednesford Town.It would be difficult [to support a London team], Steve said. Ive supported the Dolphins for eight years, to just abandon that and support a new London franchise would be hard to change allegiances. If the Dolphins were to move it would be easier, but Id be happy to come a see a game or two.Regardless of whether or not the Jaguars would be Londoners team of choice should the franchise move across the Atlantic, quarterback Blake Bortles insisted he felt the passion from the British fans as he guided his side to their first victory of the season.The 24-year-old even celebrated his second-quarter touchdown by punting the ball into the crowd -- a move he said signaled his enthusiasm for the game at Wembley.It does [sound like a home game], Bortles told a media conference. When you run out here and see all the flags waving, all the jerseys, its exciting. I really enjoy playing here, the atmospheres unbelievable and its a super-cool stadium.I heard [the punt] didnt even make it to the stands, but I was trying to give a fan from London an American football.ddddddddddddTheyve probably never seen one or held one, so I wanted to give someone the experience.As Bortles noted, one of the quirks of the NFLs International Series in London is the sheer variety of fans that turn up to each game. The journey across London to Wembley is made amid a sea of different jerseys, with the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers featuring just as prominently on Sunday as the Jaguars and Colts.Portsmouth resident Adam Charlton told ESPN he would follow a London franchise if one were to arrive, but admitted they would be unlikely to replace the Patriots as his team of choice.Im a big Patriots fan, he said. Have been since the Eagles Super Bowl [in 2005]. Id have a London team as my second team, but Id probably still support the Pats even if there was a franchise over here.I support [soccer club] Charlton Athletic for my sins, and Im a big London Irish [rugby union club] fan. All my teams lose apart from the Pats.Wembley for the NFL is more of an event than anything else. The tickets come out in January, weve been planning this as a yearly event. Its always something to look forward to. Weve been coming for five years, but Ive done about eight or nine games.This year the NFL will branch out of the home of soccer at Wembley to English rugbys HQ at Twickenham. Wembley has committed to hosting games until at least 2020, while Tottenhams new home will stage two matches a season between 2018 and 2027.Fans in the official tailgate zone outside Wembley were clearly hungry for more football, and ESPN spoke to groups from Germany and Switzerland who had flown over to London just to see the Jaguars take on the Colts.There is more nuance to the issue than to say simply that British, or even European fans, will be happy with whatever fare is thrown their way. But there was a growing sense that the spectacle of the NFL is something more special than anything traditional British sports -- such as soccer and rugby -- can offer up.For this game to work, for people to play it in schools, you need to have more English players in the league, Tom Bentley added. That needs to be addressed first.I support [soccer side] Aston Villa. As a day out, the NFL is much more enjoyable than soccer. 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