A senior class that's 'gone the extra mile'
November 18, 2017 | Football, Mike Lucas, Varsity Magazine
Just quietly ‘handling their business,’ this year’s Wisconsin football seniors have been the backbone of a 10-0 season and become the winningest class of all time. For the Badgers’ defensive linemen, it’s simply been a matter of leading by example.
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BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — FOX Sports analyst Chris Spielman was saying linebackers are nothing without linemen; the unsung warriors in the trenches, the ones who eat up blockers, so others can run freely to the ball.
Spielman, a three-time All-Pro linebacker with the Detroit Lions, actually did his best work behind the Ball — Jerry Ball, a nose tackle with an insatiable appetite on and off the field.
Spielman dropped Ball's name into Sunday's telecast of the Packers-Bears game from Chicago. Wisconsin linebacker T.J. Edwards, a frustrated Bears fan, heard what he was saying.
Monday, in fact, Edwards, was saying the same things as Spielman, a College Football Hall of Famer at Ohio State. He was talking about the collaboration between the frontline and linebackers.
Edwards was also a name-dropper — singling out Chikwe Obasih, Conor Sheehy and Alec James; the seniors who have a combined 145 games of playing experience (82 starts) dating to 2014.
"I know they're going to do their job to the max," said Edwards, who has started 35 of the last 36 games behind this trio. "They do their job well and they make our jobs a lot easier."
James was standing within earshot of Edwards.
"We try to keep him free," James chimed in. "You need guys flying around in the back end."
After Saturday's defensive clinic — Iowa was held to 66 total yards and five first downs — Edwards and fellow inside linebacker Ryan Connelly both drew the same conclusion about their roles.
"We really didn't get touched too much," said Edwards, speaking for Connelly, the leading tackler with nine. "They always do such a good job; they go the extra mile to make our job a lot easier."
Again, he was referencing the D-line. Obasih, Sheehy and James are the "3" in the 3-4 that are bracing for their final Camp Randall appearance.
"They're super different," Edwards said of their personalities. "Chikwe is always talking. Sheehy is reserved and the true Wisconsin guy. Alec is kind of in the middle and always making guys laugh."
As far as meshing on defense, he said, "All three of them play so well off each other."
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Beyond sharing a work ethic, and a commitment to playing with "relentless effort" (their words), what's the link between Obasih, Sheehy and James?
"GMC," Obasih said.
Wisconsin's Greater Metro Conference.
Obasih went to Brookfield Central, James to Brookfield East, Sheehy to Milwaukee Marquette.
Obasih and James have known each other since middle school.
"The cool thing about growing up in Brookfield," Obasih said, "is there are a lot of sports that intermingle, so a lot of our friends are mutual friends. We'd always be hanging out."
Obasih and James were rivals, friendly rivals.
"It was just cool to see someone else doing something great on the other side of town," Obasih said. "It made me strive to be better."
?? Wisconsin Senior Day ?? Be in your seat by 10:45am ?? Camp Randall Stadium Get there early. Get there loud. Let's send our seniors out right. #OnWisconsin || #Badgers
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) November 15, 2017
That holds true of their UW careers. Obasih, James and Sheehy have pulled for each other. In honing their craft, and "handling their business" (their phrase), the competition has made them better.
"We like to work hard," said Obasih. "We don't care about being the guys in the spotlight, the 'me' guys. We take pride in doing the job we do. If we screw up, we're going to be accountable."
To each other.
"We've been through a lot together," said James, who along with Obasih was redshirted as a freshman in 2013. A year later, Sheehy arrived and lettered as a true frosh.
"There has been a culmination of a lot of things to get us to this point. It's funny, when you get here, everyone tells you how fast it goes, and you try to take advantage of every moment."
And, oh, by the way, James added, "It goes fast, it goes real fast."
But there is staying power in the shared experience for Obasih, Sheehy and James.
"It's a lifelong bond that we have," James said.
• • • •
Sheehy remembers his first moment in Camp Randall Stadium. It was the 2014 home opener against Western Illinois and he had a tackle, one of only two that he had that season.
"I was not as prepared as I am now," said Sheehy. "I had to get used to the speed of the game."
On what drove him to get better after his early exposure to college football, Sheehy said, "The guys around me. It's easy to stay motivated when you have a group of guys like that."
Sheehy can be very measured in his response to questions. He's not about sound bites.
But he did "open up" in late August while appearing on the Paul Chryst radio show.
"Since I've been here, there have been a ton of guys who have been great leaders," he said. "That's the great thing Wisconsin does — it teaches guys how to act and how to do things the right way.
"One guy who really stood out in my mind was Mike Caputo. When I was a young guy, he was a guy that I definitely looked up to because he always did the right things.
"He always knew what he was doing, he always knew what other guys around him were supposed to be doing and he just kept guys in line. That's important.
"Mike always handled his business and people kind of followed."
#OnWisconsin
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) November 14, 2017
Sheehy has taken that same path as a leader, albeit a reticent one.
"Me and him talk all the time," James said of Sheehy. "He has got to know you — and trust you — to open up to you. But he's a good dude. He's one of my close friends."
Like many of his teammates, Sheehy is a fan of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which only seems fitting for the hand-to-hand combat that comes with his turf.
"I just think it's the ultimate competition, man-to-man," Sheehy said. "Being from a team sport where you have 10 other guys on the field with you at the same time, you can rely on people.
"And you kind of have some fail-safes built in, so to speak. But when it's just you and one other guy out there, there's nobody else to rely on. It's just you."
Sort of like wrestling?
"I wrestled in high school," Sheehy said with a grin.
Nobody has been better at winning those one-on-one battles on the line of scrimmage than James, who has 5.5 sacks, the second most on the defense this season. Overall, he has seven tackles for loss.
That's not easy to do from one of the inside techniques, the 3- or 5-technique. Although James is still undersized at 272 pounds, he's active and athletic. He's a former linebacker, so he can run, too.
"He has always been great at pass rush," Obasih said.
Our defense in one word: Tuff #??1?? Total Defense (247.6 ypg) #??1?? Rushing Defense (81.5 ypg) #??1?? Pass Efficiency Defense (94.5) #??3?? Scoring Defense (13.4 ppg) #OnWisconsin || #Badgers
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) November 12, 2017
Last Saturday, Obasih got a chance to reconnect with Philadelphia Eagles nose tackle Beau Allen, who was a UW senior when Obasih and James got on campus.
Playing out of a 4-3 scheme, Allen was one of the key components, along with Ethan Hemer, Tyler Dippel and Pat Muldoon, who's currently a graduate assistant on defense.
They had a combined 207 games of experience.
"We've been striving to be a group," Obasih admitted, "as influential as those guys."
Mission accomplished.
After an inauspicious college debut — "I almost puked on the field when we played down in Houston against LSU" — Obasih has been a fixture up front with James and Sheehy.
"There was a point my redshirt freshman year," he noted, "when Sheehy looked at us and said, 'It's going to be us for awhile.' We've all grown and tried to stay consistent and get better each year."
That growth is something that bonds them.
"I would say we bring the same mindset when it comes to work," James said. "We don't really talk a lot. We just kind of do our work and let people see how we work. We lead by example."
T.J. Watt is the missing link for Obasih and James. They were all roommates for two years. Watt, a starting outside linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, left school after his redshirt junior season.
"We were the 'Step Brothers'," said Obasih. "We'd feed off each other with our goofiness and tomfoolery. There were a lot of pranks when all of us lived together."
Watt obviously never got to run out of the tunnel for Senior Day introductions. Obasih feared that he might not be able to do so — run, that is — after an early-season injury.
Obasih played in the Sept. 1 opener and didn't play again until Oct. 28.
"I was trying to get back earlier than that," said Obasih, a 31-game starter.
What motivated him during his rehab?
"I wanted to be a part of a special team," he said, "that I knew we were going to be — and everyone else knew that we were going to be — since way back in January.
"And I wanted to be up and moving by the time Michigan came around."
They allowed just 66 yards They gave up 0 touchdowns Iowa was 0-for-13 on 3rd Downs The #Badgers defense put forth "a heckuva performance" in yesterday's win.
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFB) November 12, 2017
When Obasih runs onto the field Saturday, he will be greeted by his father, Kemakolam Obasih, and one of his two sisters. His brother and little sis won't be able to attend the game.
"It has just been the five of us for a long time," he said. "Being a single parent was not easy for my dad, but he was always there for us driving us to football camps and different sporting events.
"We've probably put in almost 400,000 miles on our Honda Odyssey. I know it has meant a lot to him (Badger football) and he was pretty down all the weeks I was out.
"I've just wanted to get back out there and make him happy."
When James runs onto the field Saturday, he will be greeted by his mom Heidi, his dad Jimmie (a former Minnesota football player) and his two grandparents.
"I just hope my mom doesn't cry, but she'll probably cry, she's real emotional," James said. "They always pushed me. My dad and grandpa helped me out; my mom drove me to events.
"My grandma has helped me out as well. Without them, I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today. I've got to thank them all."
When Sheehy runs onto the field Saturday, he will be greeted by his mom Elizabeth, dad Tim (a former UW baseball player), sister Anna and brother Ryan, who's stationed at Fort Drum (N.Y.).
"They've just been very supportive of me over my time here," he said. "They've always been there for me — taking me to practice and always helping me out along the way.
"They've definitely been a big driving force behind the success I've had so far."
When Paul Chryst runs onto the field Saturday, he will be grateful for all his seniors.
"I feel really fortunate to have been with this group," said the third-year UW head coach. "Change is hard for anyone. Yet, it's a group that is close to each other.
"You get that way because you go through so many different experiences. They each have their own story on how they got here and even their experience while being here.
"The way the underclassmen can thank them is having a great week (of practice) and putting it all out there (Saturday) to give them a chance to finish their last game at Camp Randall the right way."
