Family Ties
September 05, 2001 | Football
Imagine for a second you're a high school senior living in Villa Park, Calif., starring on one of the top teams in the country - Mater Dei High School - a former USA Today national prep champion. You have a choice of colleges, ranging from Arizona and California to Iowa and Wisconsin. Granted the average winter temperature is lower in the midwest. But really, how different can it be'
'I struggled my first year,' senior Joey Boese said. 'I didn't really know what to expect. It was a big adjustment, not only the weather and climate, but also the environment here and everything that goes along with playing football. I have a tremendous group of friends here that have helped me along the way. And obviously my parents were a big part of helping to keep me grounded. '
Boese's parents have played a huge role in Joey's entire life and that didn't change when he moved 2,000 miles from home. The distance has never been much of a problem for Joey's father, Leo Boese, who has attended 39 of his son's 40 games entering today's contest with Fresno State. Leo has travelled more than 110,000 miles in the process.
Joey Boese
'Personally, the week is tough because it's a short week and sometimes even a shorter weekend,' Mr. Boese said. 'We usually come in on Friday night and have dinner. Then it's pretty stressful on Saturday, and then we 're home on Sunday. However, if those are the negatives, they haven't even come close to outweighing the positives of getting to see your son play in person. It 's as great an experience a parent can have, something that can't really be put into words. As the summer began to wind down, my wife and I were counting the days until we could start going to football games again.'
The lengths his dad goes to, both to see him play and just to make him feel support, are not lost on Joey.
'My dad has sacrificed many things for me and my sisters, ' Boese said. 'There's nothing I could ever do to repay him for that. My parents are second to none. They're what keeps me going.'
With his dad in the stands, Boese has been impressing coaches and fans alike since his freshman year. He excelled on special teams as a true freshman, recording 22 tackles on coverage units and as a reserve defensive back. Showing a propensity for being around the ball, Boese also recorded an interception, recovered a fumble on the punt team and downed a punt on the one-yard line.
In addition to his playmaking abilities, both Boese's coaches and professors were quick to find out that he was not merely an athletically gifted young man. His ability to learn new information and put that into use allowed the coaches a certain flexibility when it came to finding Boese a place on the field. In his four years at Wisconsin, he has lined up at all four defensive back positions, including free safety. That's his current position, one that he has been playing since Aug. 21, the day the Badgers learned that a teammate was ruled ineligible.
'I'm just hoping to do everything the coaches ask me to do,' Boese said. 'Sometimes it's a little taxing, both mentally and physically, but I want this team to do well and if it means moving me around, I'm willing to do that.'
Boese and fellow senior Mike Echols are the unquestioned leaders in the secondary. With as many as three true freshmen possibly seeing action in the defensive backfield, Boese's insights and experience are all the more important.
'Joey's been through it, having to play as a youngster,' UW defensive backs coach Todd Bradford said. 'He was thrown in there as a true freshman. That gives him some experience to talk to the younger guys about. They've really leaned on him to see what certain situations are going to be like, what's going to happen and how to respond. I think he's really been outstanding in taking care of the young guys.'
Badger fans can only hope that the younger secondary players develop as Boese has. Originally recruited as a cornerback, Boese backed-up Echols and Jamar Fletcher his first two seasons. Last year, with Bobby Myers gone to the NFL, the Badgers needed a replacement at strong safety. Realizing that Boese was too valuable to keep out of the starting lineup and versatile enough to fill the role, the coaching staff switched him to safety in the spring of 2000. By that time, his maturity as both a player and person was in full swing.
'The fall of his freshman year, Joey would call home and say, `I had a good practice, I intercepted a ball,' or `I had a bad practice, I got beat for a touchdown,'' Leo Boese said. 'Then, in the spring of his freshman year, he would call and say, `I didn't really have a good practice. I made a mental mistake.' It would just be one mental mistake but he realized that, playing at this level, one mental mistake could ruin all the other good things he had done. He matured so that he knew in order to succeed, he had to be prepared mentally. '
No matter how mentally equipped Boese was, however, nothing could have prepared him for the beginning of last season. When NCAA suspensions forced both Fletcher and Echols to miss early-season games, Boese moved to corner for two games. He started the rest of the year at strong safety, one of just three players on the UW defense to start all 13 games. Nothing seemed to fluster the 5-11, 170 pounder though. He made a career-best 58 tackles, fifth-most on the team, and broke up eight passes.
As impressive as those numbers were, his numbers off the field may have been more important to both Joey and his parents. In 2000, Boese earned academic all-Big Ten honors for the second consecutive season. That distinction goes to letterwinners beyond freshman year who maintain a 3.0 or better grade-point-average.
'Football is only going to last so long but getting a degree and doing well in the classroom is going to take me far beyond anything on the football field,' the communication arts major said. 'Getting a degree is very important to both my parents so that makes it very important to me.'
The strong bond between Boese and his parents is evident in almost everything he does and says. He understands that he is on his own, many miles from home but never feels alone. He also wants to succeed for his own good and the good of his team, but knows that his parents are always watching.
'My family is the most important thing in the world for me, ' Boese said. 'Both my older sister and my younger sister, as well as my mom and my dad, support me 100 percent, all the time, no matter what I do. I try to do anything I can to make them proud of me.'
The way this season has begun, it looks like his family will have plenty of reasons to be proud. Adapting to another position change flawlessly and taking over leadership of the secondary are no big deal for a California kid who four years ago had to adapt to life in Wisconsin.
'This university has done more than I could ever ask for, ' Boese said. 'To have the honor to go out on the field and represent Wisconsin on Saturdays with that `W' on my helmet is one of the best things ever in my life. I can honestly say that if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change a thing.'
