Jake Olson first imagined this moment long before he lost his vision to cancer eight years ago. The blind long snapper’s team-mates guided him onto the field. They lined him up over the ball. The referee blew the whistle. And Olson’s snap – a pass between his legs to help set up a kick – was straight and true.

“It turned out to be a beautiful moment,” Olson said.

Olson’s flawless extra-point snap was the final point in the University of Southern California’s 49-31 victory over Western Michigan on Saturday.

Although a rare form of retinal cancer took his sight as a child, Olson refused to give up on his dream of playing for his beloved Trojans. On Saturday, his snap set off a wild celebration for team-mates and fans – USC average around 70,000 fans per game. Olson is also a surfer and golfer and has played California’s famous Pebble Beach.

This is anything but a regular PAT.



Jake Olson, blind since age 12, just snapped for the first time in a live game. https://t.co/amyHcFoVue — Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 3, 2017

“I just loved being out there,” Olson said. “It was an awesome feeling, something that I’ll remember forever. Getting to snap at USC as a football player ... I’m trying to say as much as I can, because I can’t quite believe it yet.”

The 20-year-old junior has been around the USC football program since 2009 thanks to former coach Pete Carroll – now head coach of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks – who first heard about Olson’s cancer and his love for the Trojans.

Olson lost his left eye when he was 10 months old. The cancer forced doctors to remove his right eye when he was 12 — and he asked to watch the Trojans’ practice on the night before his surgery.

“To take a situation that ugly, and then to fast-forward eight years and to have that same kid be able to snap on the football field with the team that really got him through that time, is just beautiful,” Olson said. “It’s emotional. Incredible.”

Although he is completely blind, Olson managed to play two years of high school football in his native Orange County. He has worked out with the Trojans since 2015, enrolling at the school with a scholarship for physically challenged athletes and gradually persuading his USC coaches and team-mates that his dream was far more than just a stunt.

USC’s coach, Clay Helton, vowed to get Olson into a blowout game against an opponent that would agree not to do anything that might injure the long-snapper. Western Michigan had no problem after the Trojans’ final touchdown essentially put the game out of reach.

The score was close for most of a scorching afternoon at the Coliseum, so Olson’s parents, Brian and Cindy, didn’t think today would be the day — until suddenly, it was.

“I was just screaming,” Cindy Olson said. “I was jumping up and down. We had everybody around us, even people we didn’t know, just screaming. I was saying, ‘That’s my son!’ Are you kidding? This was history. This was amazing. This was Jake’s dream.”

Olson has gained 40lbs of muscle in two years since joining the team, and he is noticeably brawnier this year. The team’s kicker, Wyatt Schmidt, is his constant companion, guiding him to the proper spots on the field during practice.

“Jake has worked his butt off ever since he got here,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “It’s awesome to see him finally get a chance.”

Helton also said this moment wasn’t a one-time event: Olson will snap again for the Trojans whenever the proper situation arises in a game.

Carroll allowed Olson to lead the USC band after a game when he first became a part of the program eight years ago. Olson did it again Saturday, climbing the ladder and holding aloft the sword traditionally used to lead the band — but he did it in his game uniform.

“This has all come full circle,” Cindy Olson said. “Isn’t that cool? I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.”