Oregon State wide receiver Eddie Freauff towers over gathered media members following the Beavers' first scrimmage of fall camp.
The redshirt-freshman looks every bit of his listed 6-foot-3, 210-pound size. His high-cut waist makes his already-long arms appear even lengthier, with fingertips that nearly graze his knee while standing up straight. Freauff shakes one reporter's hand and it disappears into his massive mitt like a Russian nesting doll. He unquestionably looks the part of a college wide receiver.
Another asks Freauff about the touchdown he caught just minutes earlier. He gives a brief, humble answer, downplaying the leaping grab and crediting Oregon State's offensive line and quarterback Maalik Murphy.
"I just happened to be the guy to finish the play," Freauff said.
Freauff has finished a lot of plays for Oregon State this fall. He's been the Beavers' belle of the ball through three weeks of fall camp. Whether it's been red zone drills, seven-on-seven and 11-on-11 periods, or one-on-one reps -- you name it, Freauff's done something eye-popping.
"Did you think there was a world in which you'd be standing here, today, talking to us this fall camp?" One reporter asks.
The question, unbeknownst to its asker, is a loaded one. Freauff pauses, taking time to calculate his answer, before letting out a deep sigh as a smile breaks across his face.
"What do you want to do in America?" A faceless voice asks from behind a camera that sways ever so slightly.
In front of the camera lens, a young boy sits with his hands in his lap on a patio bench. He pauses, taking time to calculate his answer, and cracks a wide-mouthed smile. Through a thick accent and thin confidence in his own mastery of English, the boy in the video says he wants to ride bicycles with his brothers in America.
The three-minute video, titled "Eddie Says Thank You!", was uploaded to YouTube in July 2014. It's accumulated just over 360 views in the 11 years it's been on the website, giving a slice-of-life view into an orphanage in Kampala, Uganda.
It's the orphanage where the young boy in the video, Freauff, grew up, and the place where his adoptive parents, Daniel and Jessica Freauff, found their eighth child.
Two years earlier, in July 2012, the couple adopted Eddie's three older half-brothers, Peter, Alex and Moses. The Freauff's planned to bring home all four boys at the same time, but legal complications prevented Eddie's adoption. While Eddie couldn't come with them right away, Daniel and Jessica never forgot about the fourth brother.
"It was really hard, but we managed," Jessica Freauff told the Portland Tribune. "I mean, thank goodness for technology. We were able to Skype with him over those couple years every now and then and (keep) in contact."
Two years later, the Freauffs came back for their eighth. The legal system remained unforgiving the second time around, holding Jessica and Eddie in Uganda for an extra two months as they worked on visas. Jessica said the extra time in Uganda gave her the opportunity to immerse herself in the culture four of her boys come from, as well as extra time to get to know her newest son.
Finally, in November 2014, the newest Freauff made it from Uganda to Oregon.
As Freauff adjusted to his new home in Prineville and grew, it didn't take long for his family to realize how athletically gifted their son was. He gave football a try for the first time in the fifth grade, with as his father coaching him. Even then, Freauff's gifts were undeniable.
"He just had that natural vision and ability that you just recognize instantly," Daniel Freauff said. "I mean, you could just give Eddie the ball, hope a couple people block and he's going to score."
Freauff's first stint with football didn't last long. He said that, despite how much better he was than anyone he faced, he just didn't enjoy it. Freauff picked up other sports in his middle school years, running track, playing AAU basketball and breaking a soccer coach's heart when the pitch wasn't his thing.
He gave football another chance once he got to Crook County High School, donning the Cowboy's blue, yellow and gray and blossoming into a small-town star alongside his brothers, Luke and Eli. Freauff said he really started to take the sport seriously by the time he entered his second year, scoring 17 touchdowns for the Cowboys as a sophomore and junior.
Heading into his senior year, Freauff earned three-star recruiting status from 247Sports and was named a team captain to go along with all-league status on the gridiron. The Freauffs told their son, who was being recruited by college football and basketball coaches, that he had to make a decision on which sport to pursue.
"He said football made him look tough, so he stuck with football," his mom said, chuckling.
The Freauffs entered their sons into several college recruiting camps between high school seasons, trying to best position them to earn an opportunity at the next level. According to his dad, nearly every coach was interested in his athletic gifts, earning early offers from Portland State and Colorado State universities among others.
Nearly every coaches' feedback was the same, even if their opinions on Freauff's eventual position at the college level ranged from defensive end to wide receiver.
"He's raw," his dad said, quoting what coaches told him about his son. "He just makes plays that he shouldn't make."
Oregon State's wide receivers coach, Kefense Hynson, eventually offered Freauff a scholarship ahead of his senior year. His senior year should've been a victory lap with a Division I offer secured to one of the 134 FBS programs in America. But in just the second game of the season, Freauff tore his labrum. His high school career ended with the injury.
It would've ended many high school players' collegiate aspirations, but Freauff's talent was too undeniable. Oregon State -- in the midst of former head coach Jonathan Smith's departure and current head man Trent Bray's introduction -- honored their scholarship offer to the Prineville wide out.
"With Oregon State, the process has been amazing," his dad said. "With Eddie's shoulder and the coaching turnover, like, we didn't know what was going to happen there. You get injured and don't play your senior year, they offered him, but you don't know if that will stick until you sign it. But Oregon State stuck with him, which was amazing and we're very thankful for that."
Freauff spent his freshman season rehabbing his torn labrum and acclimating himself to college football. He didn't see the field in any of the Beavers' disappointing 5-7 season and Hynson, the coach who offered him his place on the team, left to join the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was his second-straight year without extended playing time. Despite spending his time on the sidelines, Freauff said immersing himself in football for the year made him fall truly in love with the sport.
The end of the 2024 season bled into spring practices for the 2025 season. Freauff was healthy and playing again, but hadn't gotten to where he wanted to go yet. He called the spring session disappointing, adding that it lit a fire under him.
"I didn't perform the way I wanted to in the spring," he said. "I was on the sideline, I didn't play much in the spring game, I didn't get any reps with the ones or the twos. And that really hit me, it hit me in the face."
Freauff got to work in the summer, determined to assert himself on the 105-man roster. The receiver teamed up with quarterbacks Maalik Murphy and Gabarri Johnson; as well as fellow wide receivers Darrius Clemons, Trent Walker and others, to accelerate his own development. Pat McCann, who was hired as Hynson's replacement as the Beavers' wide receivers coach, praised Freauff's offseason effort.
"I'll sit up in my office (and) I'll look out (the window) on a random Tuesday afternoon, and he's out there walking through stuff on the field," McCann said. "So, it's been cool to see his growth, just because he's so committed to it... It's fun (helping develop Freauff) because you look at him and he looks like a Big Ten or SEC receiver. I mean, he's physically impressive and now it's just a matter of just kind of putting it all together for him."
It isn't lost on Freauff how incredible his decade-long journey, from Ugandan orphanage to Oregon State wide receiver, has been. His self-awareness is evident on his face as he sighs and smiles, considering the question asked.
"Did you think there was a world in which you'd be standing here, today, talking to us this fall camp?"
Freauff gives a brief, thoughtful answer, saying that he wishes he could say "yes" more confidently. He adds that he knows he isn't a finished product in the sport, that he knows how raw he is and how long of a way he has to go, but that he's proud of the work he's done.
"I think I'm on the right path," he said. "I've got to keep my head down and keep working. The moment I get a big head, that's when (things) go downhill. I think I'm on a good track, so I'm going to keep going."
His real answer to the loaded question is a deeper one. One that goes all the way back to Prineville, his parents, Uganda and a deep-seated yearning to make himself successful.
"The chances of any of what's happened to me happening are so low," Freauff said. "I just want to be great. This is a good opportunity, not many people get this. I just want to make my parents proud, because they put a lot into me. I can't waste this opportunity. Like, it hurts me to think about coming here and just wasting it and not playing."