Mississippi State Bulldogs Walk-Ons Josiah Phillips and Kelan Chairs Earn Scholarships

It’s always cool whenever walk-ons earn scholarships. Their teammates are supportive, exciting announcements are made, and generally some awesome feel-good stories are shared with the fans. And this year’s crop of walk-ons earning scholarships was truly no different. Mississippi State had two walk-ons earn scholarships this year, Kelan Chairs and Josiah Phillips, both of whom are currently listed at linebacker for this year’s team.

Kelan Chairs is a junior listed at 6’0” and 218 pounds originally from Harvey, Louisiana. He’s been a presence on special teams and played in 19 games as a Bulldog in 2014 and 2015. He originally joined the football team back in 2013, but walked on late during the season and redshirted.

Josiah Phillips pretty much explained everything in the heartwarming video above, but he’s had quite the journey these past few years. The sophomore walked on to Mississippi State with his only experience with the sport being playing flag football as he was home schooled. Now he’s a scholarship linebacker in the SEC.

Congrats to both of you, Kelan and Josiah. Your hard work has paid off and the entire Mississippi State family supports you.