Anna Moore/Collegian
Junior Andy Dion takes a timeout from his chemistry experiment. Dion majors in economics with minors in chemistry and biology. He may apply to medical school.
Playing football at Hillsdale College can be brutal not only on a player's body but also on his time.
Devoting 30 or more hours a week to the sport—without an athletic scholarship—demonstrates a real love for the game.
Six-foot-one-inch Charger defensive lineman Andrew Dion is a player with that kind of love. And this year, that love has finally paid off—literally.
A junior majoring in economics with minors in both biology and chemistry (with an eye toward medical school), Dion said he “took a risk” financially when he came to Hillsdale College three years ago as a walk-on without a football scholarship.
A football player since sixth grade, Dion decided to play anyway.
“[Football] is like no other game on earth,” he said.
“It's the most complex game. There's no other sport where if one person screws up the whole team suffers.”
According to Head Coach Keith Otterbein, there are only 36 full-tuition scholarships to divide among approximately 70 players. He said deciding how to distribute the scholarships is based on the team's position needs.
“It's not a very fair system from a standpoint of every player is an equal player,” Otterbein said.
“Unfortunately you always seem to run out of scholarship money before you run out of good football players.”
Otterbein said that was the case with Dion, who was “a little bit undersized” for his position, weighing in at 210 pounds his freshman year.
Dion, who plays defensive tackle and defensive end and is called the “utility man,” said he was confident he could earn a scholarship if he could become “bigger, heavier, [and] stronger.”
And according to Otterbein, Dion, now at 260 pounds, has done just that.
“He's gotten bigger and stronger and grown physically into the position to be able to get himself involved in a rotation on the defensive line,” Otterbein said.
“Andy's a very good representative of our football team,” he added.
“I like him, I think he's a quality person, he cares about Hillsdale College, [and] he cares about being a member of this team.”
As a result of his hard work, Dion is finally receiving an athletic scholarship.
He declined to say how much he is receiving, and he emphasized the “fraternal relationship” between players.
“The hardships we go through… Guys on the team would pretty much do anything for each other,” he said.
Dion said he could have gone to Michigan State University and stayed in his hometown of Lansing, Mich., but he chose Hillsdale for its academics.
“It was a good opportunity for me,” he said.
Describing football as an “aggressive,” “abrasive” sport, Dion said he would play it “regardless of the money.”
“It's a huge adrenaline rush knowing you can get hit, that you have to hit, and things just move so fast out there,” he said.
“When you figure each play happens in about five to 10 seconds, during that whole time things are just clicking-clicking-clicking and you have to make decisions on the fly.”
“It's going to be really hard for me to hang up the pads when I have to,” Dion said.