“He’s a great student, great person. He’s a guy who has some maturity about him,” Head Coach Drew Cronic said about defensive stalwart Ken Standley ‘24 at a recent press conference. “He’s a kid I’ll bring in my office just to ask him what he thinks about stuff cause I think I’m gonna get a mature answer from a person within the program.”
So, how did Standley go from being a college football walk-on from a small, rural town in Georgia to being one of the most critical players for the Bears’ defense on Saturdays?
Despite a slow start in his high school career, in his final year at Ware County High School, Standley went all out, amassing 80 total tackles, 48 of which were solo, according to Mercer Athletics. Though he continued to work hard in hopes of continuing to play in college, he never received the offer he was hoping for.
He ended up heading to Mercer on an academic scholarship to further his education, but he was not offered an official spot on the team at first. Like so many college athletes, he started his college sports career as a walk-on.
While in his first year at Mercer, he appeared in four games, recorded a single solo tackle and one tackle for loss, as well as a forced fumble in a game against the University of North Carolina.
“I feel like I had to prove myself to my coaches, I knew what I had inside of me," Standley said. "I knew that eventually my hard work would pay off,”
After appearing in only four games during his first season, Standley redshirted to preserve a year of eligibility. That decision, Standley said, was one that gave him the chance to refine himself as a player.
“I saw it as an opportunity to further my development, to be better on the football field so most times when you redshirt, that gives you the opportunity to get bigger, get stronger, get faster, so you’d be ready for your opportunities that come on the field," Standley said.
During his first year under Cronic, Standley appeared in nine games, made 39 tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss. Against The Citadel that season, he recorded 12 total tackles and a tackle for loss. Although Standley was able to get more game time, things took a turn for the worse.
During his standout game against The Citadel, Standley suffered from a sprained MCL and a broken wrist, according to Cronic.
“I believe it was a little adrenaline going as well as that I really didn’t feel the severity of the injury but like he said, I had before that game, the previous week, I had broken my thumb,” said Standley. “And then before halftime, I had took a shot to the knee, and that's why I sprained my MCL.”
“A lot of people wouldn’t have played like that, beat up like he was, and we never even knew he was hurt till after the game,” Cronic said.
Despite the injuries, Standley's luck was set to turn around. Early into the 2021 season, Cronic decided to hand out scholarships to a few deserving walk-ons. Standley was excited to find he was one of those chosen to be awarded a scholarship, but his team had a different reaction.
“My teammates didn't even know I was a walk-on, they thought I was a scholarship guy,” Standley said.
That season, he started all 10 games for the Bears and recorded 70 total tackles, which was placed him as second overall on the team and 11th in the SoCon. He also registered 7.5 tackles for loss, one sack, three pass deflections and led the conference with three fumble recoveries.
By the 2022 season, Standley had been selected as a team captain. He started in all 11 games for the Bears, finished second on the team with a total of 85 tackles, 37 of which were solo. He also finished second on the team with seven tackles for loss, in addition to two sacks and one forced fumble. Against The Citadel, Standley had seven tackles, three of which were for a loss, two sacks, and a forced fumble. In the final regular game of the season, Standley hit a career-high 18 tackles, tied for the third-most by a Mercer player in the program's history.
While on his way to being one of the most essential players for the Bears, Standley was also a star academic who graduated with a degree in public health, and is now pursuing his MBA.
“College taught me how to set time away to study, manage my time,” Standley said. “That proved to be the biggest factor in my success is set time away so I could be able to manage football and my studies effectively.”
His advice for athletes coming up the ranks of their respective teams is simple:
“Don’t get discouraged because there are gonna be some times where you feel like, 'man, I’m working so hard and it’s not paying off.' I would just say don’t be discouraged, continue to do the little things,” Standley said. “Continue to do the little things so they build up for big things, build up for big accomplishments. Just don’t get discouraged because there is going to be some times where it’s like, ‘Man, I feel like I deserve this,’ and you might not get it right away."
