TEMPE, AZ — It's a graduation celebration 37 years in the making.
Ted Friedli had a successful career at Arizona State University playing football for the Sun Devils for three seasons.
While on the field, he was able to be part of a team that played in multiple bowl games including beating Michigan in the “granddaddy of them all” at the Rose Bowl his Freshman year.
Unfortunately, multiple injuries and social distractions, he said, led to declining grades, causing Friedli to eventually take a step back from school and football.
”Once I couldn’t play football anymore, I lost interest in classes,” he said.
ASU says throughout his life, Friedli has suffered a stroke and has gone through 19 injury-related surgeries. Despite that, he still carried with him the hope that someday he would earn his diploma.
He eventually learned about the Sun Devils for Life scholarship program and re-enrolled in school in 2020. His class schedule as a 55-year-old was one online class per semester for three years.
The program offers scholarships for former athletes to finish their degrees after their athletic careers are over.
”Just proving to myself I can learn, regardless of my ADHD, that was a huge part of all of this, and a sense of accomplishment, setting out to do something and completing it,” Friedli added.
Now, he's set to graduate with a bachelor's degree in sociology at ASU's T Denny Stanford School of Social and Family Dynamics.
Learn more about Friedli's unique path to graduation in the player above.
For more on the Sun Devils for Life scholarship program click here.