Impact players
UW’s seniors have provided memories
MADISON – Every senior class leaves a legacy for those who follow. Record-setting seasons. Titles.
Bowl victories. Individual records.
Intact winning streaks against hated rivals.
The Wisconsin players who are set to play their final home game at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Minnesota have provided mostly highlights.
I’ll remember the members of the class for their accomplishments on the field but also for their personalities away from the spotlight.
Here is a look at several of those players through my eyes:
Michael Deiter, OL
Deiter redshirted in 2014 and has
played in and started every game in the last four seasons. He is set to make his 53rd start Saturday, extending the program record he set last week at Purdue.
Now consider that he has started 22 games at left guard, the position he has occupied this season; 16 at center; and 14 at left tackle, the position he manned last season.
Starting 52 consecutive games isn’t easy. Starting 52 games, spread over three positions, is uncommon and worthy of praise. Don’t agree? Ask his teammates and coaches about his selflessness and versatility.
Yet I’ll remember Deiter as much for his forays into the interview room during the week and especially after games.
Over time Deiter has developed into the unofficial spokesperson of the line. He heads to the same spot in the UW interview room each time, up against the nearest wall, and answers questions patiently and thoughtfully whether they come after a loss or a victory.
His answers aren’t rehearsed or clichéd. He speaks from the heart win or lose, something that should be appreciated.
T.J. Edwards and Ryan Connelly
UW fans who live and breathe recruiting rankings, if they are honest, have to acknowledge they weren’t throwing a victory party when Edwards and Connelly joined the program in 2014.
Edwards chose UW over Western Michigan. Connelly, from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, chose to walk on at UW rather than play for Division II Minnesota-Duluth. Why? Because his high school stadium held more people than Duluth’s did.
Yet Edwards has played in 51 games, with 50 starts. Connelly has played in 52 games, with 25 starts.
Edwards led UW in tackles in 2015 and ’16. Connelly finished No. 1 last season. Edwards enters the regularseason finale with a team-high 86 tackles, two ahead of Connelly.
What has been their most impressive accomplishment this season? Being team players.
Edwards and Connelly played behind a physical, veteran line last season. This season the line has been manned by newbies, particularly after nose tackle Olive Sagapolu suffered a season-ending arm injury at Northwestern.
Yet in interview after interview, both Edwards and Connelly have refused to use the personnel changes as a crutch. Rather, they have gone out of their way to praise the work of the young linemen.
Teammates notice such things, as do coaches.
D’Cota Dixon
The undersized safety has battled shoulder and hamstring injuries to start 31 games and play in 50.
I won’t remember those numbers or his fourth-down pass breakup in overtime against Nebraska in 2016.
I’ll remember a thoughtful, articulate young man who survived horrific conditions growing up in Florida, took advantage of a football scholarship to earn an undergraduate degree, enrolled in graduate school to pursue another degree, spent countless hours doing community service work and shared stories about his faith without sounding like a recruiter.
More than anything, I’ll remember meeting Dixon on campus during an off week in 2016 to discuss his childhood and his faith.
The sit-down session was more two people discussing life than an interview, and after 1 hour 22 minutes 31 seconds – I had to tell Dixon to stop because he had better ways to spend his day – I had learned all I needed to know.
Zander Neuville
Neuville, a multi-sport standout at Waupaca High School, joined the program as a walk-on in 2014.
He started out as a defensive end and after redshirting in 2014 played in 13 games in ’15. The staff moved Neuville to tight end in 2016, though he also saw action on defense and special teams.
He was blossoming into a playmaker in 2017 when he suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in the regular-season finale at Minnesota.
He played in only three games this season, which ended because of a torn ACL in his left knee suffered in practice before the Nebraska game.
Those injuries robbed Neuville of two games last season and eight this season, with more to come.
Neuville hopes he and the other seniors can leave UW with one more memory Saturday – hoisting Paul Bunyan’s Axe after beating Minnesota for the 15th consecutive season.
“It is my senior year, my last home game to be out there with the guys and I’m going to enjoy it,” he said. “We’ve got to take care of business first. If we take care of business I’ll definitely grab the Axe.”