Where are they Now?: Brooks Bollinger
December 06, 2010 | Football
Dec. 6, 2010
MADISON, Wis. -- Brooks Bollinger was a four-year starter at quarterback for Wisconsin from 1999-2002. He was also the QB on the Badgers' last Rose Bowl team, leading UW to a 17-9 victory over Stanford in 2000.
We recently caught up with him to get his thoughts on the Rose Bowl, his observations on this year's team and quarterback Scott Tolzien, as well as his plans for the future.
What are some of your memories from the 1999 Rose Bowl?
Obviously winning. I remember the first time walking into the stadium and just kind of that feeling of all of the history and seeing that Rose Bowl sign on the side of the stadium for the first time. It’s just such a special place. The game is just such a blur. The whole week really, meeting Tommy Lasorda, being on the Jay Leno Show. For a kid from North Dakota, all that stuff in L.A., all that stuff that you’re around all week and the people you meet and the stuff that you see, it’s kind of larger than life.
Who are some of the guys you still keep in touch with from that team and are any of them planning to go to this year’s Rose Bowl?
I’ve gotten a number of texts from people that say that they’re going, asking me if I’m going. Ross Kolodziej, I played against him in the UFL championship, we were actually talking about the Rose Bowl today.
I keep in touch with Herbs (strength and conditioning coach Ben Herbert), David Braun, Joey Boese. Nick Greisen played in the UFL this year and I saw him a couple times. Obviously with social networking now, it’s easier to stay in touch. Nate Howard is another one, he’s living in L.A. He has a place out there and I’m going to try to crash at it.
It’s already been unbelievable to hear how many guys are going to make the trip so it should be a good time.
Are you planning to make the trip to southern California?
It’s in negotiations right now. My wife is due with our third child in February so we have to figure out if she can go or if I am able to sneak away for a couple days. We’ll see. I would love to and I’ll try my best to.
What are your thoughts on this year’s team?
I had an opportunity to spend a little time with them in the spring and I was down at the bowl game last year and from being around them at those times I just felt that they had a special group of guys and a special group of seniors. The more I was around the team the more I felt that way.
I spoke to them after a practice in the spring and was around them for a couple days and they just seemed to have that “it,” maturity and leadership and a closeness and respect for one another and they really seemed to buy into what Bret and the coaches were trying to accomplish with the team.
I just can’t say enough about Scott Tolzien and the job he’s done and the leader he is. Watching his development and his maturity over the last few years has been really fun. It’s been great to develop a little bit of a relationship with him and watch that happen.
I told those guys, when I talked to them in the spring, “I think you have the potential to be something really special but it’s up to you to do it.”
It’s fun to see them take that opportunity and make the most of it because now I’m getting old and looking back and remembering how special it is to have that kind of opportunity and to be able to experience the things that they’ve been able to experience this year.
Would you have any advice for Scott Tolzien leading up to the Rose Bowl?
I would just tell him to relax and enjoy it. The Rose Bowl is such a special event and there are only so many people that get to experience it in their lifetime. There’s so much that goes into the whole week, all the traditions, stuff that you’re never going to be able to do again in your whole life so you have to enjoy it. It’s obviously a business trip, it’s about the football game, but take some time to relax and soak it all in.
He is such a mature guy. I think he is so focused and so driven to be a good quarterback and works so hard and is so detail oriented. The biggest thing for him is just to put the work in and when you step on that field on Jan. 1, just know that you’ve put the work in and you deserve to be there and trust yourself and go out there and enjoy it, cut it loose, let it rip.
What are you up to now?
Just collecting unemployment (laughs). I just finished up in the UFL and getting to that stage in my life where I have to figure out what’s next. My third child is due Feb. 22, so I’m enjoying time with the family right now and sitting down and trying to decide what’s next on the professional side. We’ll see. I’m just enjoying every day with the kids and with my wife, trying to get my Christmas wish list together and trying to get a job here in the near future. Hopefully I find one.
