Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: OSU Athletics
Checking In With James Washington
April 21, 2018 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – A typical path for elite college football players upon finishing their eligibility includes intense training for the next level, several meetings with NFL personnel and numerous workouts with different individuals across the football world, to name some of their activities.
James Washington is definitely included in that group of elite college football players and has all of those things on his plate, but his workload includes another aspect that most in his position would not have taken on: finishing a degree in agribusiness with an option in farm and ranch management.
"I want to be a rancher," Washington said. "I want to start off with a few head of cattle and just expand from there."
While Washington was finishing his career as OSU's all-time leading receiver last year, he was faced with an off the field choice that most Cowboy football fans were unaware off.
With an obvious opportunity to play in the NFL on the horizon and a limited number of hours away from the degree that would help open the door to his dream of being a rancher, Washington had a few options in front of him. He could leave school to focus on the NFL Draft with the possibility to come back to finish his degree later; graduate in December with a degree in university studies and leave his major behind; or complete the heavy study load to finish the degree he wanted during his already tremendous workload of preparing for the NFL.
Washington chose the latter.
"University studies is more of a general degree," Washington said. "For me, I felt like if I was to get that, it would be kind of taking the easy way out. That's just not what I told myself I wanted. I worked hard all the way to this point. Why not work a little harder to get what I want?
"I talked to my mom … she just kept telling me, 'If you think that would be good then just think about it and pray about it.' So I did and I decided that I wanted to finish my degree."
Obviously, that decision meant a lot of work to close out his college career.
Washington completed 17 hours of coursework in the fall (a.k.a. football season) of his senior year and enrolled in nine more during this spring – all which were high-level classes at the end of his major studies.
"That was a hard time, I'll tell you that," Washington said. "But I had a bunch of people that were by my side here that helped me get through it."
Now that he's hitting the home stretch of both his academic goal and his goal of reaching the NFL, it's a decision that Washington said he has not regretted.
When he's not preparing for life on the football field, he's usually thinking about what life off of it will be like on the ranch, and he seems to be enjoying it already.
"I'll enjoy all of that," Washington said. "Fishing, hunting, waking up in the morning, driving around checking pastures, counting (animals) and all the basic things that a rancher does."
Before he gets too far down that road, OSU faithful are excited to see what else he can do on the gridiron at the next level. They'll get the their chance to see him take his next steps soon, with the 2018 NFL Draft scheduled for April 26-28 in Arlington, Texas.
James Washington is definitely included in that group of elite college football players and has all of those things on his plate, but his workload includes another aspect that most in his position would not have taken on: finishing a degree in agribusiness with an option in farm and ranch management.
"I want to be a rancher," Washington said. "I want to start off with a few head of cattle and just expand from there."
While Washington was finishing his career as OSU's all-time leading receiver last year, he was faced with an off the field choice that most Cowboy football fans were unaware off.
With an obvious opportunity to play in the NFL on the horizon and a limited number of hours away from the degree that would help open the door to his dream of being a rancher, Washington had a few options in front of him. He could leave school to focus on the NFL Draft with the possibility to come back to finish his degree later; graduate in December with a degree in university studies and leave his major behind; or complete the heavy study load to finish the degree he wanted during his already tremendous workload of preparing for the NFL.
Washington chose the latter.
"University studies is more of a general degree," Washington said. "For me, I felt like if I was to get that, it would be kind of taking the easy way out. That's just not what I told myself I wanted. I worked hard all the way to this point. Why not work a little harder to get what I want?
"I talked to my mom … she just kept telling me, 'If you think that would be good then just think about it and pray about it.' So I did and I decided that I wanted to finish my degree."
Obviously, that decision meant a lot of work to close out his college career.
Washington completed 17 hours of coursework in the fall (a.k.a. football season) of his senior year and enrolled in nine more during this spring – all which were high-level classes at the end of his major studies.
"That was a hard time, I'll tell you that," Washington said. "But I had a bunch of people that were by my side here that helped me get through it."
Now that he's hitting the home stretch of both his academic goal and his goal of reaching the NFL, it's a decision that Washington said he has not regretted.
When he's not preparing for life on the football field, he's usually thinking about what life off of it will be like on the ranch, and he seems to be enjoying it already.
"I'll enjoy all of that," Washington said. "Fishing, hunting, waking up in the morning, driving around checking pastures, counting (animals) and all the basic things that a rancher does."
Before he gets too far down that road, OSU faithful are excited to see what else he can do on the gridiron at the next level. They'll get the their chance to see him take his next steps soon, with the 2018 NFL Draft scheduled for April 26-28 in Arlington, Texas.
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