Whalen Gives Back To Ferris With Scholarship

Whalen, at the age of 92, is thought to be the oldest known living former Ferris State football player having competed as a lineman — offensively and defensively — on the 1933, 1934 and 1935 teams under Bulldog Athletics Hall-of-Fame head coach Bill McElwain. Whalen and his teammates helped bring football back during the turbulent days of the United States’ Great Depression era.

Whalen, who was raised on Pere Marquette Street, in Big Rapids, as one of 12 children, and still has relatives to this day in the community, has always maintained an affinity for his hometown. Whalen was a member of the 1933 team that got things going again after the football program was temporarily discontinued, in 1932, as the country attempted to rebuild from the devastation of the Great Depression. Even as time has passed, and so much around the world has changed, Whalen and his family have never lost their affinity for Big Rapids and Ferris State University — a place that has, for decades, meant so much to them.

“This is where I’m from and this is where I grew up,” Whalen said, after he was honored on the field during a halftime ceremony at Ferris State’s Sept. 16 home game against Saginaw Valley State, at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, where he was joined by six of his eight children.

“I still have a lot of family here and Ferris and Big Rapids have always meant a lot to me and to our family. ... It took a lot of hard work for me to make it to play football and go to school.”

The affinity the Whalen family holds for Ferris, in particular still as fans of Bulldog football, was a major motivation for this family-sponsored scholarship. The children of Whalen, who originally came to Ferris on a scholarship, have established the David D. Whalen Scholar-Athlete Endowed Scholarship.

The inaugural award was presented to another Big Rapids native, Cole Meredith, a redshirt sophomore for this season’s Ferris squad. The 6-foot, 199-pound Meredith, who prepped at Big Rapids High School where he helped lead the Cardinals to the state semifinals in 2003, finished an injury-shortened 2006 campaign with 21 receptions for 286 yards and three touchdowns in eight games prior to a season-ending injury suffered by the redshirt sophomore. Meredith, who won a punt, pass and kick competition on his first visit to Top Taggart Field as just a 10-year-old, grew up in the community and worked hard to earn the right to play for his hometown university.

Whalen, more than half a century earlier, had a similar experience — an experience that motivated him and his family to give something back.

“This school and town both mean so much to my dad our family and this is a place that has always been special to him and to all of us,” said David’s son, Bill, who was in attendance as his father was honored under the lights on the stadium turf and who has been working with Brian Kegler, the associate athletics director for Advancement; Tom Kirinovic, the athletics director, and others at the university to make the dream of the Whalen scholarship a reality.

“One of the things about this new scholarship we’re sponsoring is it will leave a legacy for my dad and it’s going to do something positive for others who come to Ferris and are involved in the football program here.

“It’s an opportunity for our family to make a contribution ... to give something back.”

The combined efforts, of the Whalen family, are designed to help grow the scholarship by tens of thousands of dollars in the coming years to help future scholar-athletes at Ferris achieve their dreams — athletically and academically. The Whalens view this scholar-athlete scholarship endowment as returning a favor, to Ferris, which once upon a time awarded David a scholarship and opportunity to continue his education as well as pursue his athletic endeavors as a Bulldog.

“This whole process has been so special for my dad and four our family because the university has been so great to us and we’ve enjoyed working with them to help make this scholarship a reality,” said Bill Whalen, whose dad has been a part of the Bulldog football family for more than seven decades. “Working with President (David) Eisler, and many other people at Ferris, has been a great honor for our family. We look forward to this scholarship helping others who come along and can use the help.”