Real life ‘Rudy’: Chad Hanaoka’s journey from video intern to running back

Northwestern running back Chad Hanaoka has always been undersized and underestimated, but that didn’t stop him from achieving his dream of playing college football.

As a kid growing up in Hawaii, Chad Hanaoka’s love for football began at a young age when he watched the University of Hawaii football team take the field every Saturday.

Although he had a passion for the game, Hanaoka always knew that his path to playing college football would be difficult because height doesn’t exactly run in his family. Hanaoka himself is only 5’6″, but what he lacks in height he more than makes up for in heart, determination and perseverance.

“I pride myself in good fundamentals and playing as hard as I can,” Hanaoka said. “I think that was instilled in me at a young age by my coaches and my parents with hard work and humility.”

If he was going to live out his dreams as a college football player, Hanaoka knew that he would have to get in as a walk on. After contacting several of the top academic colleges in the country, Northwestern gave him the opportunity as a preferred walk on.

But the road wasn’t that easy.

First, Hanaoka had to be admitted to Northwestern, to which he was originally waitlisted. Despite Northwestern’s acceptance rate being nine percent, Hanaoka was eventually admitted into the school. However, that preferred walk on spot wasn’t waiting for him.

“When I reached out to the football team, because I was waitlisted, they couldn’t hold a roster spot for me because there was no guarantee that I’d get in.”

Instead of suiting up for practices, Hanaoka traded in his cleats and helmet for a video camera as a video intern for Northwestern’s football team. It wasn’t as glorious as being on the field, but Hanaoka was still able to be around the team and get to know the coaching staff and players. Plus, it was promised to him that once the season ended and roster spots opened up, he could walk on.

After battling injuries and working as a scout team player to help Northwestern’s defense prepare for games, Hanaoka finally began to see playing time in his senior year. It’s something that Hanaoka never thought would happen, but his coaches will tell you that despite that, it’s not truly surprising considering the amount of hard work Hanakoa has put in to get here.

“It’s a situation of a guy who is always prepared and ready at any moment’s notice to go into the football game,” said Northwestern running backs coach Lou Ayeni. “I trust him because I know he’s going to do what I coach him to do and I know that he’s going to do the best for our football team. When he goes out there I’m not surprised that he’s having some success.”

At the start of the season Hanaoka was awarded the No. 1 jersey, something that is given every year to the Northwestern player who best embodies what the program is about. For Hanaoka, who was overcome with emotions when he was given this honor, it was a long time coming to get to this point.

Although Hanaoka recognizes that his journey to becoming a full-time member of the Northwestern football team is a unique one, he doesn’t think all the attention he’s getting is warranted. At the end of the day, regardless of what his statistics are, as long as Northwestern football gets the win nothing else matters.

“All I’m concerned about is the W in the boxscore,” Hanaoka said. “That’s ultimately all that I want for myself and this team. We have all our goals in front of us. The Big 10 West is up for the taking and we just have to go out and get it.”