TROY, N.Y. - When Grant Cochran graduates Saturday, a family tradition that has stretched over 17 years will come to an end.
He's the sixth brother in his family to travel the 2,350 miles from Kent, Wash., to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - just across the Hudson River from Albany. Grant is also the last to play college football.
The days when his family would crowd around the computer to listen to Webcasts of Engineer football games are over.
"I think in some ways they're a little sad," Grant said. "They can still read the paper or listen to the radio, but it's not the same as having a brother in the game."
The Cochrans began their educational odyssey in 1989 when Andy, the oldest, made the cross-country trek to study and play football at the small engineering school. Andy graduated in 1995, followed by his brothers: Chris in 1998; Dan in 1999; Evan in 2002 and Flynn in 2004. This year was Grant's turn.
"We just felt comfortable (at RPI)," Grant said. "We felt needed."
A biomedical engineering major, Grant, 24, held down a 3.7 grade-point average and still managed his after-school activities, including football and ROTC.
Currently a joint service commanding officer in ROTC, Grant is preparing to enter the Navy. He plans to attend medical school at the Department of Defense's Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences. All the Cochrans, except for Evan, participated in the ROTC program.
ROTC was one way their parents could afford to send six kids to the expensive private school - base tuition at RPI this year was $32,600. Their father, Deford, is retired from the Navy and a school teacher. His wife, Charlene, ran a daycare center.
And the brothers all played football. Andy was a linebacker, Chris a defensive lineman. Dan played a year on the junior varsity team, while Evan and Flynn were both wide receivers and still hold team records.
"It's sad," football coach Joe King said. "I've been the head coach here for 17 years and I've had a Cochran on the team ever since I took over in 1989."
Grant, a two-time captain and defensive player, took two years off from his studies to conduct a Mormon Mission. He returned to RPI and the football team after completing the spiritual journey.
Only two of the Cochrans chose alternatives to RPI. Brent, the second-oldest, stayed in Washington. Heather, the youngest, is attending the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
The Cochran children are named alphabetically according to their birth order - a useful tool for keeping track of such a large family. It even extended to the pets: Ivy, Jasmine and Kitty.
"It was an accident with the first three," Grant said.
Grant insists his family's connection to the nation's oldest technological university is more coincidence than birthright.
"We're just a bunch of brothers who wanted to play football," he said. "It is really great though. We do have a lot in common because we all came out here."
The family is holding out hope that future Cochrans will attend the school, said Charlene, the matriarch of the family.
"We have a grandson," she said. "We think, well, maybe he'll go to RPI. It may not be over yet - there may be more Cochrans at RPI."