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A former walk-on, redshirt junior Ayele Forde earned a scholarship in April thanks to his play on Oregon's kickoff team. His 13 kickoff tackles last season led the team, and he leads the team this season with five.

(Bruce Ely/The Oregonian)

EUGENE --It was the first day of spring football at Oregon this year - April 1 to be exact - and

thought coach Mark Helfrich was pulling a prank.

“It had to be an April Fools joke,’’ Forde remembered thinking.

He had become anxious as the inaugural team meeting extended beyond its scheduled conclusion. He had class across campus, and the chance to make it on time was dwindling with every word. Yet there was Helfrich, the first year coach, still in front of the team. Still talking.

And talking.

“He was going on and on. I was just thinking, ‘Yo. I’ve got ... to go ... to class,’’’ Forde said, breaking up the words for emphasis.

To make matters worse, Helfrich began to introduce the man who is in charge of issuing the football players their scholarship checks. Forde’s insides did the equivalent of an eye roll. He was a walk on, a second-class player in the eyes of the NCAA. He wasn’t privy to scholarship checks, meals at the team dining room, or other fringe benefits, even though he had become a staple on the Ducks’ kickoff team with his fearless pursuit of a tackle.

And then, it came. The moment he will never forget. The moment he thought Helfrich was pulling a prank.

As Helfrich was finishing his introduction of the man with the scholarship checks, the coach lowered the hammer. His introduction suddenly made sense.

“He said ‘

,’’’ Forde said. “And I was like whaaaaaat? Nahh. Had to be April Fools.’’

The team erupted in applause. “Instantaneous standing ovation,’’ Helfrich remembered.

Forde raised his hand in triumph, then hugged Helfrich. His teammates came in and offered back slaps and hand shakes.

Teammates and coaches remember Forde getting choked up, and teary eyed.

“I was a little emotional,’’ Forde said. “Not too emotional in front of everyone. But I might have shed one tear.’’

In the corner of the room, special teams coach Tom Osborne smiled.

“To see a guy who has busted his tail, earn the respect of his teammates, and get rewarded for that ... that’s what coaching is all about,’’ Osborne said.

And that class Forde was so stressed about? He made it. Practically floated there as he recalls.

“I got there,’’ Forde said. “Don’t know if I was paying attention that day. But I was in class.’’

'His heart is probably bigger than his whole body'

For the past two seasons, nobody on the Ducks has made more tackles on kickoffs than Forde.

Last year, he led the team with 13 tackles. This year, he leads the team with six in four games.

Last year, he was the man on the far right of the kickoff formation; this year, he is on the far left. His job is simple, yet crucial: Don’t let the kick returner get outside of him.

As he races down the side of the field he is part Kamikaze, part bullet, part wild dog, and he admits it can be a scary adventure. After all, Forde is not big - he’s listed at 5-foot-7, 181 pounds - but he is fast. And when that speed is combined with the momentum of a 50-yard sprint, and the potential to collide with a 250-pound blocker, well, it takes some guts.

“His heart is probably bigger than his whole body,’’ Osborne said.

It’s that heart that caught the eye of the coaching staff two years ago. Forde was on the scout team’s kickoff unit, which is the equivalent of being a punching bag for the starters. Nobody notices the punching bag.

But a curious thing happened. Practice after practice, the same guy on the scout team kept making tackles.

“He was unblockable,’’ Helfrich remembers. “So we said, let’s see how he does on real kickoff team. The rest is history.’’

Last season he moved onto the depth chart. In the first game, he played at the end of a blowout. By the fourth game, he was alternating every other kickoff. He made two solo tackles in one game. By the fifth game, at Washington State, Osborne had seen enough. Forde needed to start.

“And he just took off from there,’’ Osborne said.

Forde was a modest running back at Silverado High School in Victorville, Calif., and carrying the ball is still his passion. He has 74 career carries for 394 yards and two touchdowns - including 11 carries for 79 yards this season - but he understands his role and has studied to perfect it.

Osborne says Forde stands out because he is fast enough to get around blockers, yet physical enough to take on blockers and escape.

“Not a lot of guys have the ability to do both,’’ Osborne said. “Some guys are big enough to take on guys, but not fast enough to get around them. And some are fast enough, but they can’t take anything on.’’

Forde said Osborne has taught him many tricks of the trade. He has learned how to run down the field and “get skinny” which entails contorting your body so only a small section - like a shoulder - can be blocked. And he has learned how to complement his height with the power of leverage.

“My advantage is I’m shorter, so I can get under their pads, throw them out of the way, and make the tackle,’’ Forde said.

For Forde, kickoff coverage has become an art.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. Art is the whole reason he is at Oregon.

An artist at heart

Like many young kids, Forde was drawn to cartoons and comic books. But unlike many, he could replicate what he saw with a pencil.

“I could always look at something and draw it,’’ he said.

By high school, he started getting serious. He began to read books by

, a noted anatomy and figure teacher, and found he was influenced by the works of

and

. He was also developing an interest in animation and film making, gravitating toward Japanese film maker and animator

.

So it was school more than football that was on his mind when he chose Oregon.

“I came here because the school has a great digital arts program,’’ Forde said. “So regardless if I made the (football) team or not, I was going to be here for school.’’

He found that art and football had similarities.

“To me, it’s all like problem solving,’’ Forde said. “Art to me is like trying to figure something out. Like, how can I draw this chair? Ok, I will need three straight lines, and a horizontal line. And in football, it’s how do I get by this defender? I can either go straight through him, use my stiff arm, or maybe I should spin.’’

Football and his art also blend in his ongoing projects. He has made more than 10 short films, some of which can be seen on YouTube by entering

in the search engine. Center Hroniss Grasu is the subject of one, and there are plans for his roommate, receiver Keanon Lowe, to star in another one.

But first, there are kickoffs to be covered this weekend in Boulder, Colo., where the No. 2 Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) play Colorado (2-1, 0-1). And chances are, No. 30 for the Ducks, the man with a heart bigger than his body, will be the first down the field, making the tackle.

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