USC Trojans long snapper Jake Olsen was born with a rare cancer of the eyes and lost his vision as a child. Amazingly, he made the team and played in the USC Trojans game on Saturday.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Olson got a standing ovation at the Coliseum after a pair of perfect snaps that led to a 32-yard Matt Boermeester field goal.
Long snapping is not an easy job, whether you can see or not. Lining up as a center on a field goal, the long snapper has to snap the ball 7–8 yards to the holder, who then quickly sets the ball upright for the kicker. A bad snap can lead to a missed field goal, a fumble, and likely a loss of downs.
Olson and the Trojans will start the season on September 3rd against the defending champion Alabama Crimson Tide at AT&T Stadium in Dallas.
The game will pit the two of the most dominant teams since the turn of the century against each other.
While Alabama has won four of the last seven national championships under Nick Saban, the Trojans went 82–7 over a seven-year period from 2002–08, when Pete Carroll was in charge. Now USC is headed up by Clay Helton—the third full-time head coach since Carroll left following the 2009 season.
