The story of linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is straight out of a Disney movie.
After playing eight-man football at Salmon River High School in Riggins, Idaho, he walked on at Boise State.
Four years later as a redshirt junior, Vander Esch finally earned a spot as a starter and what a season he had in what would be his final season in college, recording 141 tackles in 2017 for the Broncos, including 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks to earn Mountain West defensive player of the year honors.
The unlikely dream continued on Thursday night when this former walk-on and former eight-man football player was selected in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys.