Meet Tom Hutton, the oldest active college football player with Oklahoma State who is constantly mistaken for staff
TOM HUTTON is not your average college football player.
The Australian punter attends Oklahoma State and was a freshman at the age of 29.
Now 32, he's officially the oldest active football player currently plying his trade in the NCAA.
Hutton spent much of the last decade in a trade school for carpentry in Melbourne, Australia.
He played Aussie Rules and worked in a paper mill before making the dramatic switch to Oklahoma four years ago.
The 6ft3 star excelled in the Mid Gippsland Football League, with his performances earning him a scholarship through Oklahoma State's ProKick Australia program.
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Hutton told 247Sports: "Punting the ball is pretty natural.
"The way that I got into the system is through Pro Kick Australia.
"It is a program that when it got started has had the last five Ray Guy Award winners, and that is based in Melbourne in Victoria, which is about a two-hour drive from where I am."
In his first season, Hutton didn't have a blocked punt and helped OSU rank fourth nationally in punt return defense.
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And his junior 2021 season, the Aussie punted 72 times for an average of 42.4 yards per punt, enough to rank third in the Big 12.
Hutton made his 2022 season debut for the Cowboys earlier this month, setting up a safety against Central Michigan with a perfect pin at the two-yard line.
The 32-year-old, born in 1990, is called "Pops" by his teammates and is regularly mistaken for staff by fellow coaches.
He told the Wall Street Journal: "They ask, ‘Are you staff?’ literally every day.
"Now I’ve started saying, ‘Football player, Hutton."
Players have received a bonus “Covid year” from the NCAA, with Hutton having the option of playing another year.
But the mild-mannered Aussie is going to pass - despite his on-campus fame.
He continued: "I’m not taking it. I’m already old enough."
Hutton might be the oldest player currently in the NCAA, but he's some way from the oldest ever.
Alan Moore - a 61-year-old kicker - turned out for Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama in 2011.
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The Cowboys take on Baylor Bears in their next match-up on October 1 at McLane Stadium.
OSU have made a fast start to the season and sit 3-0 overall, beating Arizona State 34-17 last time out.