Before Friday, Arizona State Sun Devil receiver Kevin Ozier was most known for something he probably would rather not remember. He was involved with an altercation with Vontaze Burfict, something that was considered something very serious. There was a physical confrontation, but it was nothing near what was reported by some outlets.
Ozier also contributed a little bit for the Sun Devils. He caught 11 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown. Now he is a scholarship athlete.
Head coach Todd Graham saw something in him he wanted to reward.
"In the two months that I've been here, Kevin exemplifies what we're talking about with character and class, not only on the field but also in the community," Graham said Friday. "We're kind of promoting within our own. He's a great guy for our system. We evaluated the tape and saw that he contributed last year, but we think he'll be even a bigger contributor this year."
What Graham has been preaching has been character and work ethic, among trying to find guys that fit what he and his staff want to accomplish. For Sun Devil fans who remember, there was another coach that looked not only at the talent but made sure to look closely at the players' character.
That coach was Bruce Snyder.
While Snyder's tenure at Arizona State did not end well, he built a mediocre Suns Devils team and took them to within 100 seconds of a possible national championship. He wanted great young men and football players.
This seemingly simple move of rewarding a player who has been loyal to the program with a scholarship is symbolic of what Graham wants to do at Arizona State, how ever long he ends up staying for.
In any case, for what Ozier had to deal with a year ago, this has got to be a wonderful feeling.
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