Both players walked into their second-floor Douglas 221 residence hall without scholarships and something to prove in the summer of 2000. I A pair of linebackers from the south side of Chicago, Brian Atkinson and Travis Moore didn’t know each other when they moved in together. But their similarities brought the two close. I “We both had similar situations and family

backgrounds,” Moore said. “We both grew up in the inner city and were starving for a scholarship. We both wanted to be recognized and we didn’t get that in high school.”

In their senior years, Moore’s Eisenhower High School and Atkinson’s Fenger High School both had 5-4 records. Neither received much press and exactly zero Division I-A scholarship offers were on the table for these future roommates.

This year, both juniors on the field, Atkinson and Moore, who was transformed into a defensive end after his first year, spearhead the Huskies defense as returning All-MAC players. Their mark on NIU all began with a phone call that summer of ’00.

“I called Travis,” Atkinson said, “just to see what kind of person he was and just to see who I was staying with.”

“Right away I could tell what kind of player he was and there was a level of competition already,” Moore added. “‘I’m from Fenger.’ OK, I’m from Eisenhower. ‘I play linebacker.’ OK, I do too. It was neck and neck. ‘OK, I want the top bunk.’ No, I want the top bunk. I knew right then and there that we were going to push each other. It seemed like he wasn’t going to take nothing and I knew I wasn’t.”

Moore eventually ended up with the top bunk, but a friendship was set into place that would help each other motivate and support each other all the way to scholarships.

Atkinson and Moore both spent their first years at NIU as redshirts on the scout team. Going up against the first-string offense at times, they made the best of their opportunity.

They went up against offensive lineman such as Ryan Diem, now of the Indianapolis Colts, and McCallister Collins who would play was a free agent pickup by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2001.

“Some scout players can look at that as punishment,” Moore said, “but we took it as we want to get better and we want to show the coaches that we can play. And sometimes we kicked those starters’ butts and we took pride in that.”

After their academic freshmen years, NIU coach Joe Novak called Atkinson and Moore into his office to relay some good news.

“It’s a fun thing to call a kid in and tell them, ‘Hey, you’ve done a good job and here’s a scholarship,’” Novak said. “[They] are just great examples of what a kid can do if they want to come in and work hard.”

Novak, however, is no stranger to giving scholarships to walk-ons.

Of NIU’s record-number 11 All-MAC players for the 2002 season, five were one-time walk-ons.

Along with Atkinson and Moore, kicker Steve Azar, cornerback Randee Drew and linebacker Larry Williams, a 2002 graduate, roundout the walk-on to success stories for NIU — at least for now.

“We’ve made a living with kids like that,” said Novak, of walk-ons. “Some come in here and don’t stay, but some do and they’ve got something to prove.”

Starting tight end Keith Perry came into NIU four years ago as a walk-on and after a week of proving himself, he was granted a scholarship.

“I try to take care of kids that show they are good players,” Novak said. “We are hardly ever capped out. I get to 85 [scholarships] during recruiting, then a kid quits here, a kid gets medicalled here, all of a sudden I’m down to 80 or 81. These kids work hard because they know we’ll take care of them.”

This year, there are a total of about 20 walk-on scholarship players. Many of them started the same way Atkinson and Moore did. Only difference is, they all didn’t have someone by their side 24/7 to relate with.

“It was great because I had somebody to lean on, someone to feel my pain,” Moore said. “Every time I took my pads off I knew somebody was going through that exact same problem I was going through. That drew us together right off the bat.”

Everywhere Atkinson went, Moore was close behind, and vice-versa. Practice, the weight room, the Dogpound Deli — it didn’t matter.

Little did they know, they were close even before they arrived in DeKalb, proved by an action picture that Moore had of one of his games.

“We actually played each other in high school,” Atkinson said. “He had a picture and I was in the picture and I didn’t know it.”

Eisenhower beat Fenger 50-0 in that game, but Atkinson takes it in stride when he says Eisenhower recruited him to go there.

With a year and a half left of NIU football for this South Side combo, who like to go by the names of The Beast (Atkinson) and The Monster (Moore), they hope to follow each other after NIU.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Brian Atkinson was playing on Sundays someday,” Novak said. “He’s a good football player. And so is Travis.”

Where one goes, the other is sure not to be far behind.