When he was a senior in high school, Armanii Glaspie decided that he wanted to play college football at TCU. There was just one problem: he hadn’t played the sport in two years.
Before his junior year at Mansfield High School, the 6-foot-1, 180-pound wide receiver decided that he was too small to play football. So he turned his attention to the hardwood, playing basketball during his junior and senior seasons at the school.
But in his senior year of high school, Glaspie decided that he wanted to give it another shot. He thought he was good enough to compete on the gridiron, and he wanted to prove it to everyone else too. So Glaspie set out to make that dream a reality. He set out to make the football team at one of the Big 12’s elite programs.
“I’ve always been very good,” Glaspie said. “I knew I could play D-1 football, so why not work my butt off and come up to TCU and walk on to the team?”
The following months were spent in the weight room of the Lifetime Fitness by his house. Each morning, he’d go to the gym before school. In the evenings he’d return. Sometimes he would lift weights to put on the bulk that he needed in order to absorb hits from some of the nation’s elite defensive backs. Other times he would run, trying to get into what he called “division-one shape.” In between the two work outs, Glaspie would make a point to run routes, with a friend throwing passes to him. He did this nearly every day, from January until he arrived on campus in the fall.
Around 45 players showed up to try out for TCU’s football team. There were only five spots open, and for Glaspie, failure wasn’t an option. He’d worked so hard to get to this point, to prove that he belonged on the field. And on the practice field, he showed every one else that he was in his element.
The tryout lasted one week, and when it was over, Glaspie was one of the five that made the team. After months of training, months of grinding in the early morning hours, lifting twice a day, and running routes under the hot Texas sun, Glaspie had achieved his goal. He was going to play division-one football.
“I was the first name that they called off,” Glaspie said. “It was a blessing. I shed a couple tears because it was always something that I wanted to do.”
With his goal of making the team behind him, Glaspie set a new one. He wanted to get on the field, to get playing time. So, just like he had when he was trying to make the team, Glaspie busted his butt. He went all out on scout team, trying to prove he belonged on the field. His efforts earned him a few awards for being the scout team player of the week, but no playing time.
“The coaches maybe didn’t want to see me in,” Glaspie said. “Maybe they had other people in mind. All I know is that they weren’t giving me an opportunity and I wanted to play.”
So he set his sights elsewhere, knowing that he would not fulfill his dreams in Fort Worth. When David Gru left to go join SMU’s new coaching staff under former TCU offensive analyst Sonny Dykes, Glaspie decided to follow, citing the education that SMU could offer as his main reason for picking the school.
“The education at SMU is parallel to TCU’s,” Glaspie said. “I didn’t want to leave TCU and go to like a UNT or something where the education wasn’t as good.”
This spring was Glaspie’s first on the Hilltop. He arrived as an unheralded transfer, a former walk-on who was undersized. But like he had so many times before, Glaspie proved he was more than just that, and worked his way into the Mustangs’ receiving rotation, turning heads in the process. Because he walked on to TCU, he will be eligible to play next season, and likely will provide a spark for the Mustangs at a position where they need it most.
With his first two goals already met, he set his sights on a new one. He wants to earn national acclaim, and make an All-American team sometime in the next two seasons. It may seem like a long shot for the former walk-on, but that’s never stopped him before.
He’s beaten the odds twice with nothing but sheer will and hard work. What’s stopping him from doing it again?
