Astonishing story of former SEC walk-on now at Winter Olympics in unlikely sport

Milan-Cortina, Italy – When Boone Niederhofer steps onto the bobsled track this week, he will become the first Texas A&M football player ever to compete in a Winter Olympics, completing a journey that began as a preferred walk-on wide receiver catching passes from Johnny Manziel and Kyler Murray while dodging a future No. 1 overall draft pick, Myles Garrett.

Niederhofer, 29, is the brakeman for USA-2 in the four-man bobsled, an unlikely destination for a petroleum engineer from Midland, Texas whose only childhood exposure to the sport was repeatedly watching Cool Runnings with his brother.

“Never thought I was going to do it,” he admitted, laughing. “I just loved to compete.”

That competitive streak carried him from Midland High to College Station after he turned down his lone scholarship offer—Abilene Christian, his father’s alma mater—to chase an SEC dream. He spent two seasons on the scout team, earned an engineering degree and, in 2014, recorded a career-best 29 receptions for 293 yards, including a 42-yard catch against LSU.

An ACL tear during his senior season ended any thought of pro-day heroics, so Niederhofer moved to Houston, took a job in oil-and-gas, married Chloe and settled into what looked like a quiet life. Then came a layoff, a phone call from fellow former Aggies walk-on Sam Moeller, and an invitation to try bobsled.

“I dove all in,” Niederhofer said. “The start is everything—speed, power, explosiveness. That’s football.”

Balancing fatherhood, full-time work as a production engineer in the Permian Basin and international sliding circuits, he trained at dawn, lifted at lunch and worked remotely from Europe while Chloe and their two toddlers followed the tour. The payoff: a fourth-place finish at last season’s world championships in Lake Placid and, now, an Olympic start.

“Our goal is always to medal,” he said. “We’ve got the athletes and the equipment. We just have to perform.”

Back in Texas, the Aggies’ never-ending group text—Johnny Football, Myles Garrett, Christian Kirk, Armani Watts and dozens more—lit up when Niederhofer shared his roster news.

“Really cool amount of support,” he said. “People from every season of life reached out. That’s been uplifting.”

From Kyle Field’s 100,000-seat roar to a 85-mph fiberglass tube on ice, Niederhofer’s route may be the most improbable path in Texas A&M sports history—but it’s not finished yet. A medal in Milan-Cortina would turn astonishment into immortality.