Tackling the Big Screen: Former Ferris State foot­ball player, Jake Visser, is one of 38 play­ers cho­sen to be in the new film “Touchback.” Auditions were held at Coopersville High School over the sum­mer, where nearly 1,200 play­ers tried out for a role. Photo Courtesy of Ferris State Athletics

Not many for­mer col­lege foot­ball play­ers can list film actor on their resumes, but for­mer Bulldog foot­ball star Jake Visser will get his chance to appear on the big screen after secur­ing a role in the upcom­ing film, “Touchback”.

Visser, a for­mer defen­sive tackle who was named the 2008–2009 National Scholar Athlete of the Year by the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association (CCA) after his senior cam­paign, was among 1,200 foot­ball play­ers across the coun­try that audi­tioned to be extras in the film, which stars actor Kurt Russell and for­mer Oscar nom­i­nee Christine Lahti.

The film, which focuses on a man that wakes up in the past to relive his glory days on the high school foot­ball field after a sui­cide attempt, is an inde­pen­dent project that is sched­uled for a 2011 release.

Auditions for extras to round out the two teams were held at Coopersville High School, where Visser played prior to Ferris. Visser had an impres­sive enough try­out to be named one of 38 play­ers that secured a role in the film.

Besides Visser, many for­mer play­ers with GLIAC ties also secured roles in the film. Former Bulldog John Preston also was also selected for as an extra for the movie. The teams are split into “Team Coldwater” and “Team Cuyahoga”. Visser will be a mem­ber of Team Cuyahoga.

For the audi­tion process, pro­duc­ers for the film were specif­i­cally search­ing for real foot­ball play­ers with com­pet­i­tive play­ing expe­ri­ence, as the require­ments for the roles meant that the play­ers had to be between ages 18 and 30 and that the play­ers can­not seek NCAA eligibility.

Filming took place on August 13–17 at Coopersville High School, with the play­ers and extras sit­ting in the stands film­ing var­i­ous scenes for the film.

Visser, a Daktronics All-American First Team selec­tion in 2008, fin­ished his stel­lar col­lege career after the 2008 sea­son and took his poten­tial to the NFL. After his senior sea­son, Visser signed a pri­or­ity free– agent con­tract with the Houston Texans and took part in their train­ing camp last summer.

The oppor­tu­nity did not last for long as Visser was released dur­ing the camp to make room on the ros­ter for cor­ner­back Deltha O’Neal.

Although his pro­fes­sional play­ing career never really got off the ground, Visser will get a chance to get back on the field with his motion pic­ture debut. So while an NFL MVP award might be out of pic­ture, maybe the Oscars will come call­ing one day for Visser. For right now, Visser will focus on the chance to get back on the field and play the game he loves. n