Every proverbial dog might have its day, but the University of Hawai'i football player known as "Lou-Dog" will have 15 memorable ones.

Louis Santos, who hadn't played football since Pop Warner, has turned UH's spring practice into a fantasy camp.

"I am so thankful to be out here," said Santos, backing his point by doing jumping jacks after yesterday's practice.

Santos has a Hail Mary-to-none chance of remaining on the team past Saturday's final practice of the spring.

UH coach June Jones said he will cut at least 30 players to make room for the recruits and invited walk-ons reporting to training camp in August. The NCAA limits Division I-A training-camp rosters to 105; the roster may expand on the first day of a school's fall semester.

"Will he make the team next year?" said Rich Miano, who coordinates UH's walk-on program. "Probably not. Like the world, we have an over-population problem right now. But guess what? Next spring, he'll be back. And he'll keep coming back."

It is perseverance that opened an opportunity for a third-year mechanical engineering major who didn't play football at Kamehameha Schools.

"In high school, I was kind of a plug," Santos said, smiling.

Instead, he ran track and paddled for Kamehameha's canoe team.

"I paddled in the three seat, the powerhouse," he said.

As a UH student, he attended classes all day, and spent his evenings performing Tahitian, fire-knife and slap dances for a dinner cruise.

"I was a torch lighter in Waikiki, too," he said.

Inside, he burned to play football, a goal that was encouraged when he met UH free safety Leonard Peters. "I saw him around school, and we started talking," Peters said. "I told him he should try out for the team."

In January, Miano conducted an audition for 60 potential walk-on players. Santos, who is 6 feet and 200 pounds, ran 40 yards in 4.8 seconds and bench-pressed 225 pounds 17 times.

"He ran well, lifted well and looked the part," Miano said. "But he never played football before. I didn't want coach Jones saying, 'I don't know what the hell Rich is thinking.' "

Miano told Santos, "thanks, but no thanks," and that was supposed to be that.

"I told him to keep coming out," Peters said. "I told him, 'Work out in the weight room. Come to the workouts. It'll pay off.' "

Miano said: "After we cut him, he refused to go away."

Exasperated, the coaches decided to allow Santos to participate in the 15 days of spring practice.

Walk-ons must pay for their own tuition and school expenses. They also must pay to eat at the team's training table.

Santos, who is competing at safety, was assigned to the scout team, where he portrayed the opposing team's wide receiver. At first, Miano said, "We'd tell him to run a post and he'd run an out. He had no idea of the basics of football that people who grew up with the sport knew."

"But he has no bad tendencies," Peters protested. "He's eager to learn."

Of his first week, Santos said, "I knew I was kind of down on the totem pole. I kept trying. I hustled every play. I kept working with Leonard."

Peters, who lives on the North Shore, arrives at UH at 5:30 every morning. "When we walk into the locker room, he's already there, looking at his playbook," Peters said. "He's all cheerful and happy, and I'm rubbing my eyes to wake up."

Santos has made moderate progress. Whenever he makes a good play, such as yesterday's step-fake on safety Kirk Alexander, Peters makes a paddling motion with his arms.

"He's a paddler, and I'm reminding him of his roots," Peters said.

Now, Santos has emerged as one of the most popular Warriors.

"In six or seven years, I've never seen the guys so enamored with one person," Miano said. "It's amazing. The players will feel bad if we have to cut him because they love him. He goes out there and does exactly what you tell him to do. He tries so hard."

Santos said he realizes his career might soon end.

"If I don't make it, maybe they'll let me come back in the fall," he said. "If not, I'm not going to give up. I'm going to keep trying. I love the game of football. I always wanted to play it. That's why I thank God for letting me live my dream."

Jones said: "He's a really good kid. He doesn't have the experience, but he works so hard. You kind of root for those guys."

Miano said Santos will benefit from the Warrior experience. "There are things you can learn from upper campus and things you can learn on the field. He learned about teamwork, camaraderie, pursuing a common goal."

In turn, Miano said, Santos has provided a lesson for his teammates.

"He has more pride in being a Warrior than anyone we've been associated with," Miano said. "There are a lot of guys now and on past teams who don't realize how lucky they are to be part of a Division I program. They don't realize what a special time it is in their lives. Lou-Dog is cherishing every moment, even if it's not as long as the others have."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.