This Kansas native gets to play rare 7th year of college football with K-State Wildcats
When a professional football player suits up for three different teams in the span of seven years, we like to call that person a journeyman or a well-traveled veteran.
When a college football player does the exact same thing, well, we don’t know exactly how to describe him.
There are no catchy nicknames for a 24-year old linebacker like Will Honas, who has played football for Butler Community College, Nebraska and now Kansas State during his unusually long college career.
Perhaps it’s simplest to say Honas, who grew up in Wichita and helped Bishop Carroll win a state championship way back in 2014, is the type of football player who believes in storybook endings.
“It would be awesome (to go out as a winner),” Honas said. “Coming back to my home state to play for Kansas State is super-exciting, man. I’m going to do whatever I can to help the team.”
Honas took one of the most unique journeys in all of college football to this point.
After going mostly overlooked as a high school recruit he bet on himself and played two seasons of junior college football at nearby Butler. Things went so well for him there that he picked up scholarship offers from all over and settled on Iowa, K-State and Nebraska as finalists.
From there, he went on to spend four seasons with the Huskers, piling up 145 tackles when he was healthy. But he was often injured. So much so, that he was only able to play four games during his first year in Lincoln and then missed the 2021 season entirely.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Honas said. “I’ve had four surgeries now — three knees and sports hernia. It kind of detours the passion and the love I have for this game, but at the end of the day the people around me and the the work that I put in still remains. Injuries are temporary. There’s always a way to get better.”
You could say Honas viewed a fresh start at Kansas State as an opportunity to heal.
He still has one year of college football remaining thanks to a redshirt and the coronavirus pandemic freezing all eligibility in 2020. He could have finished out his playing days at Nebraska, but he wanted a change. The Wildcats provided an intriguing opportunity, even though Chris Klieman and his coaching were only willing to take him as a walk-on.
Klieman was elated when he enrolled.
“I’m excited for him,” Klieman said. “He’s coming off of an injury, so we’ll learn more about him in the spring. But I got a chance to be around him just a little bit the other day and (you can tell) he’s a first class, great kid.”
K-State has long been a football team he admired from afar. Now he gets to play for the Wildcats.
“It’s exciting to be closer to family and friends,” Honas said. “ I have a lot of close relatives and friends who have been K-State fans and they’re really excited to be able to come to some games and watch and cheer.”
Honas estimates that he is 85% healthy at the moment. If he can get back to full strength, stay healthy and prove himself during spring practices, he could move up to scholarship status rather quickly. No matter what happens, he hopes his willingness to join the roster as a walk-on proves how badly he still wants to win.
“I’ve always looked forward to making a return to the field and playing again,” Honas said. “That is kind of what got me through.”
Maybe he’s a journeyman. Perhaps he’s a well-traveled veteran. For now, though, he is the same as every other player on the K-State football roster. He’s just a little bit older.
This story was originally published February 4, 2022 at 5:00 AM.