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McGrath to join Stanford as a preferred walk-on

Joe McGrath (No. 59) and his Alamo Heights teammate Will Chaney pose for a photo Saturday at the San Antonio All Star Game.
Joe McGrath (No. 59) and his Alamo Heights teammate Will Chaney pose for a photo Saturday at the San Antonio All Star Game. (Contributed)

There's a phrase that's not in circulation much anymore that at least partly describes how Joe McGrath was offered a preferred walk-on spot at Stanford: He's as stubborn as a mule.

Not always a compliment when used, it is for McGrath because he has been one his entire prep athletic career as a member of the Alamo Heights High School Mules football team. But it was more than an unwavering desire to attend Stanford, and extend his football career in the process, that made McGrath's long-held dream come true.

There was some luck involved as well.

"It's nuts," he said. "That day when we finally got the acceptance letter I sat down with my dad (John) and we just listed all the different points that things could have gone wrong. We were very persistent and tried to stay positive. Fortunately, it worked out. It's kind of awesome. It's a great story to tell, I think."

The tale starts in the fourth grade when McGrath was old enough to understand what college was and why it was important. He asked his dad, who is a professor at Trinity University in San Antonio, what was the best combination of academics and athletics.

"His immediate response was Stanford," McGrath said. "I ended up doing a project in I think the fifth grade on Leland Stanford, the founder of the school. Ever since then it's kind of been my obsession like I am sure it is for a ton of kids."

By the time he was a junior in high school McGrath said he understood the same hard truth that thousands of young people have to come to grips with every year: He was not going to be a Division I scholarship athlete. But, Joe, his dad and mom, Shannon, started working on how to get the attention of the Stanford football program.

"It always seemed like a bit of a long-shot," he said.

The breakthrough occurred because of a fortunate connection to the university.

"My dad had a student at Trinity who knew some professors at Stanford and some alumni," McGrath said. "He actually set us up with a meeting with the professors. It lined up with being invited to Cal's spring scrimmage. We weren't going to go to the scrimmage but the meeting with the professors made it worth it.

"We went up to Stanford and literally got in touch with the Stanford coaches the night before we took the plane out there. We met the coaches, sat down and talked with Mr. (Mike) Eubanks for a quite while. That was my first real exposure to it."

The next fortunate step to get a preferred walk-on offer was the result of what at first appeared to be a moment of bad luck for the young Texan. McGrath was originally going to go to Stanford's larger summer camp, where it's easier to get lost in the crowd. But McGrath suffered a hamstring injury at Yale during an early-summer tour of the Ivies, so Eubanks invited him to attend Friday Night Lights, instead.

To that point McGrath had only been in touch with defensive assistant coach Greg Mangan, and he met defensive backs coach Duane Akina and head coach David Shaw at the camp.

"It was pretty intimidating," McGrath said of the camp. "There was only about 30 kids there ... and it was over before you knew it. It was weird because the coaches weren't talking to us a ton and there was a banquet afterward when we sat with the coaches. I was sitting there with my dad and no one was really coming up to us or anything. We were a little disheartened. On our way out (my dad) said (to Mangan), 'Hey, how do you think Joe did today?' He was actually really happy with my performance and told me, 'I'll vouch for you when we talk about preferred walk-ons.' He knew about my academic profile and was happy with what he saw on the field. That was a huge boost in confidence but it was really while we were on our way out the door."

McGrath stayed in touch with Eubanks and never really pursued football options at the Ivies or the Division 3 programs that were reaching out. He accepted Stanford's preferred walk-on offer the same day he was admitted.

McGrath's final high school football event was Saturday in the Alamo Dome for San Antonio's city all-star game. It was played several hours after the Army All-American Game.

He watched as Foster Sarell chose the Cardinal and the other All-Americans headed to Stanford gathered for photos.

"I was super pumped to get to watch that in person," he said.

The best performance of the day for a future Cardinal may have been McGrath, who returned an interception for a touchdown to help lead the East side to a win. He played a safety/linebacker hybrid at Alamo Heights and he hopes to add enough weight to be a contributor on special teams at Stanford.

As excited as he is to wear a football uniform for a few more years, it's the classroom opportunities on The Farm that grab McGrath's attention the most. He attended a private school through middle school that allowed him complete algebra 1 and geometry before he entered high school.

He doubled in pre-calculus and AP statistics during his sophomore year, took calculus his junior year and is now taking calculus 3 at Trinity University. He also doubled up in science courses and is interested in pre-med with a focus on neurology.

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