Blind Long Snapper Jake Olson Seeking Clearance from NCAA to Play at USC

The story of blind long snapper Jake Olson has made its rounds to all corners of the sporting world after he graduated high school and prepared for his freshman year at USC this fall. But he is still waiting to be cleared to hit the field, as NCAA rules are keeping him from the Trojans, according to Kayla Lombardo of SI.com.Olson accepted a Swim With Mike scholarship, which is given to physically challenged athletes, to attend USC and announced his intentions to join the Trojans for the 2015 season, per Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times.In fact, USC head coach Steve Sarkisian told Klein his intentions with Olson."Someday, he's going to snap in a game for us," Sarkisian said. "When' I don't know. But it will happen. When that day comes, it will be awesome."But because Olson accepted the scholarship, NCAA rules count it toward USC's 85 scholarship spots. Lombardo explains:Per NCAA rules, FBS schools have annual caps of 25 initial counters, which are incoming freshmen and transfers, in conjunction with 85 total scholarships. Because USC has already reached its limit of initial counters for this season, Olson is currently unable to officially join the team. USC is still awaiting a waiver from the NCAA in order for Olson to be cleared.Suffering from retinoblastoma since birth, which took vision away from his left eye at 10 months old, Olson has been a motivational presence for USC since 2009, when as a 12-year-old, he spent time with the program before surgery on his right eye completely took away his sight.He developed a relationship with former USC head coach Pete Carroll while maintaining his fanaticism for the Trojans and found a way to get on the field to play his favorite game, becoming a long snapper at Orange Lutheran High School in his junior year.No timetable has been set on when the waiver from the NCAA will be released or when Olsen will find out his football-playing fate. But on the field or off, one can make a safe assumption that he is going to be a prominent figure around the program for years to come.
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