Ziggy ranked as No. 10 college football walk-on ever

Ezekiel "Ziggy" Ansah has been selected by ESPN as one of the greatest college football walk-ons ever.

Ansah was ranked No.10 by ESPN among college football players who began their careers as a non-scholarship walk-on athlete. The rankings were revealed on ESPN’s The Greatest series on Thursday, Oct. 10. The program is part of ESPN's CFB150 programming celebrating the150th anniversary of college football in 2019. 

Ansah enrolled at BYU in 2008 and participated on the track team in 2009 and also tried to play basketball before ultimately joining the football team in 2010. After joining the program as a walk-on having never played football previously, Ansah went on to become not only a three-time letterman from 2010 to 2012 but also the highest selected BYU defensive player ever drafted in the annual NFL Draft.  

Playing in 31 games with nine starts, Ansah began his football career at BYU on special teams before eventually breaking into the regular rotation playing defensive line. He recorded 72 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, 10 pass breakups and seven quarterback hurries for the Cougars.

Ansah notched a career-high eight tackles twice as a senior in 2012 when he became a regular starter and helped BYU to a No. 3 national ranking in total defense. Ansah was a 2012 All-Independent First Team selection and also received Pro Football Weekly All-America honorable mention. 

The week he graduated from BYU with a degree in actuarial science and a minor in math, Ansah was selected by the Detroit Lions in the first round with the fifth overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft. Ansah, currently with the Seattle Seahawks, is in his seventh NFL season in 2019. 

Select the following link to watch a replay of ESPN’s The Greatest–Walk-ons.