Chilton facing new challenge in sixth year

FB: Experienced safety looking to overcome adversity in final season

It was never supposed to happen this way for Austin Chilton.

The Florida native was supposed to be sitting on a beach somewhere. Or, better yet, the mechanical engineering major was supposed to be designing roller coasters at Disney World.

Instead, because of a combination of redshirting as a freshman in 2019 and gaining an additional year of eligibility due to COVID in 2020, Chilton weighed his options and decided to come back to Valparaiso for a sixth season of college football.

It’s the first scrimmage of fall camp earlier this month and Chilton is on the field ready to put his veteran muscles to work against his much younger teammates. It’s just another practice, one of hundreds he’s had at Brown Field.

It’s a special teams period and the ball is in the air. Pads are on for the first time and it’s finally football season.

Crack.

It was never supposed to happen this way for Austin Chilton.