Provo • Brayden El-Bakri loved collisions on the football field while growing up in the Brighton High area, working hard to prove other people, and BYU football, wrong about his athletic abilities.
So when an offer to walk on at BYU came from running backs coach Joe DuPaix in 2012, the 210-pound tailback jumped at the opportunity, turning down chances to play at smaller programs — possibly on scholarship.
El-Bakri, now a junior who weighs around 240 pounds, still hasn’t been put on scholarship, but he’s happy with the way things have turned out.
“This is the dream,” he said.