When backup Oregon tight end Ryan Bay was recruited as a walk-on by the Ducks, he was told he may never play a snap.
But last week against Cal, with starter Jacob Breeland sidelined with an injury, Bay started and made two receptions for 20 yards. They were his first receptions as a Duck.
“It was amazing,” said Bay, a Tigard, Oregon, native. “Definitely a dream come true. Something I’ve always dreamed about as a kid — coming down here and making big plays and [doing] what I can to help this team get the win.”
Bay joined Oregon as a walk-on in 2015, but now he is seeing significant playing time, especially since last week when Breeland was injured. As a high schooler, his goal was just to become a Duck, but now he has an opportunity to make an impact.
Bay only played two seasons of high school football. He played his freshman year, but he stopped to focus on basketball, and he averaged a solid 10 points and four rebounds per game during his junior season. He was getting recruited by some colleges to play basketball, but it was ultimately his desire to play football got him back in pads.
“I guess just the passion of the game,” he said. “I didn’t really have a lot of experience coming into my senior year, but I just knew I wanted to play for the Ducks one day.”
Bay transferred from Jesuit High School to Tigard High School for his senior year of football in 2014. He excelled at both defensive end and tight end, so he reached out to Oregon to see if they’d be interested in recruiting him.
He didn’t hear back for a month and a half. Finally, then-wide receiver coach Matt Lubick sent him a message on Twitter offering him a walk-on spot.
“Within a heartbeat I just knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he said.
At this point, Bay had received a full scholarship offer to play at Eastern Washington. It was a free education versus fulfilling a dream. He chose the dream, much to the challenge of the family budget.
“It was definitely a hard sit-down,” Bay said. “They knew that Oregon was something I always wanted to do. … They supported it. … It was hard for them to understand that I wanted to work hard, and I was going to prove one day that I could play here.”
He was ready. He wanted to be a Duck, and he was going to work hard to prove to himself and his teammates that he could make plays.
“I think when Breeland went down he really got excited about his opportunity and he took advantage of it,” head coach Willie Taggart said. “I thought he played well. … I really love his development.”
So after all this work, is it even surprising that he’s made it to this point?
“Oh no, it does surprise me,” he said. “Again, I can’t take anything for granted. I am pretty thankful, but it definitely is pretty incredible how everything works out like that.”
Follow Jack Butler on Twitter @Butler917