MIKE LUCAS Senior Writer

BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — As an understudy for all but his final collegiate season, Bart Houston grasped the usefulness in listening and learning, the tools of ambition. Especially in the quarterback room where he was constantly reminded "Be you — Be the good you."

It's something that still has application today as a medical sales rep.

At Wisconsin, Curt Phillips and Joel Stave were two of his mentors in that room and Houston absorbed everything. Whether it was Phillips dealing with multiple knee surgeries or Stave handling the scrutiny from the fan base, he observed how they carried themselves, on and off the Camp Randall turf.

As fate would have it, Phillips and Houston, who were teammates for two seasons (2012-13), are on the same team again. Both work for Arthrex, a manufacturing company for orthopedic surgical supplies. Phillips is based in his hometown of Kingsport, Tennessee. Houston is living in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin.

"I've always been interested in the medical field," said the 27-year-old Houston, who earned his undergraduate degree in kinesiology. "I always tell myself that I would have tried to be an orthopedic surgeon if football didn't get in the way.

"I've always had a passion to help people — greater than just helping myself or family — but in helping people the best way that I can. And this (medical sales) was the easiest and quickest way to get into the operating room.

"Without a doubt having the anatomy and physiology background has really helped a lot in talking with doctors. Most are interested in football and how the body moves and stuff like that. And most of the people I call on are Badger fans anyway."

On his initial foray into the business world with Precision Medical Products, he remembered, "On my first day, I met a doctor and was introduced, 'Oh, by the way this is our new rep, Bart Houston.' It was like, 'What?' He kind of did a double-take on me."

Bart Houston? Hmmm. Are you the same Bart Houston who played quarterback for the Badgers and made his first career start at Lambeau Field? The same Bart Houston who was named after Bart Starr and waited five years to finally get his chance and then helped engineer the LSU upset?

That Bart Houston?

Houston nodded and sheepishly assured the doc that "Yes, he was that Bart Houston."
 

Regarding his whereabouts since leaving the UW, he filled in the blanks.

As an undrafted free agent, he signed in May of 2017 with the Pittsburgh Steelers, who had taken note of his arm strength while evaluating outside linebacker T.J. Watt during Wisconsin's Pro Day on campus. The Steelers would later draft Watt with the 30th selection in the first round.

"When they signed me, it was pretty cool," said Houston, who grew up in the San Francisco Bay area in Dublin, California. "As a little kid, I always wanted to be shooting for the stars and the NFL. That was sort of the dream. I wish it would have lasted longer."

After appearing in two of Pittsburgh's four preseason exhibitions — and despite throwing a game-winning touchdown pass in the closing minutes against Atlanta — he was released at the end of training camp. The Steelers kept Roethlisberger, Landry Jones and Joshua Dobbs, a fourth-round pick.

"The first thing I did was thank Coach (Mike) Tomlin for the opportunity," Houston said. "He told me, 'Hey, Big Ben (Roethlisberger) gets hurt sometimes.' His track record proves that. In four of the last five years, he had been injured and they've brought back a player for the practice squad.

"He said, 'We'll give you call if we need someone. Stay ready.'"

That call never came. But Houston was ready. Ready for a change.

"Honestly, I got tired of the training and I felt like I was just running in place and I needed to move on with my life — move on to bigger and bigger things — football isn't everything," Houston said. "You have to turn into an adult someday. I'm in the job I want now. Hey, what else can you ask for?"

• • • •

Houston asked for no more than an opportunity to show what he could do at Wisconsin. But before getting on campus, he had surgery on his throwing shoulder and the rehab put him behind. His first year, moreover, was marked by a head coaching change from Bret Bielema to Gary Andersen.

Over the next two seasons, Houston admitted that there were moments where he wavered on his commitment to the Badger program to where he actually thought about transferring. "I may or may not have called Coach (Paul) Chryst at Pitt," he said. "I looked up to him during recruiting."

A transfer never materialized. But Chryst made it a moot point by taking the UW job in 2015.

"Sometimes having too much success doesn't teach you how to fail," reasoned Houston who was 38-1 as the starting quarterback at De La Salle High School, one of the elite programs in the country. "That was one of the things I learned during the four years that I didn't play (at Wisconsin).

"Throughout it all, I learned mental toughness is the key. It's the only way you can keep away the outside noise. That's one of Joel Stave's greatest attributes. I learned that from him. Don't listen to anybody. And do what you do. And everything will work out.

"I watched Joel for four years," added Houston, who redshirted as a freshman and played sparingly his first three years. "Joel never wavered. He knew what was important and that was the guys around him."

It still boggles Houston's mind that so many people were critical of Stave, who threw for 7,635 yards and 48 touchdowns during his career and still ranks as the winningest quarterback in school history with an overall record of 31-10 as a starter, 22-6 in the Big Ten.

"We always used to joke that Russell Wilson was the worst thing that ever happened to the Badger quarterback room because that was the expectation (for everybody else)," said Houston with his patented laugh. "Russell is what, the No. 2 best player in the NFL today? He's a special guy."

The reference was to an NFL Network survey, "The Top 100 Players of 2020." On the vote of his peers, Wilson finished No. 2 on the list behind Baltimore Raven's quarterback Lamar Jackson. In his one season with the Badgers, Wilson set the bar at an almost unreachable height for those who followed.

At that, Houston never felt pressure to be something or somebody that he wasn't. He wasn't Wilson. Or Stave. But he noted, "There's obviously pressure to carry on the Badger tradition. We're tough, smart, dependable people and football players. I knew that we had to keep those core values."

On August 25, Chryst announced that Houston had won the starting assignment for the 2016 opener — "Bart gives us our best chance against LSU. He earned the right to be the starter" — even though Houston was armed with just 15 relief appearances and 51 career pass attempts.

The last time that Houston had started a game was December 17, 2011 at De La Salle.

But after beating out redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook, Houston said, "Yep, without a doubt, I was prepared to start the opener. But more so I think I was prepared to do whatever I had to do for the team.

"For the four years leading up to that game — and patiently waiting for my turn — I tried to soak in as much as I could from Joel and Curt. I soaked in all I could from the coaches and tried to bring it all together for one last hurrah, one last season.

"I was hungry, I was ready to go.

"I believed in myself and I believed in our team that we could do anything we put our minds to."

Five months earlier, Houston and the Badgers got a "feel" for Lambeau Field.

Chryst conducted one of the team's spring practices on the hallowed turf.

To some, including Houston, it was reminiscent of a scene from the movie "Hoosiers" in which fictional coach Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) had his players measure the free throw line (15 feet) and basket (10 feet) prior to practicing at Butler Field House, the site of the state basketball championship.

"I think you'll find it's the same exact measurements as the gym back in Hickory," Dale said.

That took some of the awe and intimidation out of playing in such a fabled venue.

Not unlike what the UW players were about to experience with Lambeau.

"It's such an historic stadium, you get the buzz and the vibe when you walk in there, like 'Wow, this is where the Packers play,'" Houston marveled. "But it's just like any football field. It's 100 yards with end zones. What happens between those lines is what matters."

Houston acknowledged a kinship with one of the Hoosiers characters. Maybe Ollie?

"Exactly," Houston said of the underdog, undersized backup guard who hit the game-winning free throws to propel Hickory High School into the state finals. Ollie wore No. 13. So did Houston. Ollie was carried off the court on the shoulders of his teammates after the win.

Houston's equivalency was doing the Lambeau Leap after unranked Wisconsin's upset of No. 5 LSU. He later told the media that it was now something that he could cross off his bucket list. In addition, he crowed, "I got some hops, so I got up there pretty clean."
 

What made the environment even more special was the fact that Bartlett Houston was named after Bartlett Starr, the late, great Hall of Fame quarterback for Vince Lombardi's Packers. The storyline was well chronicled nationally before Houston even took his first snap in Lambeau.

"Everyone I still talk to will say, 'Oh, man, that's a cool story,'" Houston related. "I tell them my dad was a ball boy for my grandpa's high school team and they wore green and gold. On TV, he saw the Packers in green and gold and Bart Starr became his hero. That was one of his ultimatums to my mom.

"He said, 'We're going to have a boy and his name is Bart.' So, I grew up watching the Packers. I loved Brett Favre. But even more so, I grew up watching Aaron Rodgers when he was at Cal. And when he got drafted by the Packers, it was like a rite of passage. I've got to keep rooting for these guys."

Houston sighed and admitted, "You can't make this up."

The year before facing LSU, Houston's girlfriend, Caitlyn Clem, the starting goalie on the UW women's soccer team, had given him a Bart Starr jersey for his birthday, a most meaningful keepsake all things considered (Houston and Clem are now engaged to be married in October of 2021).

Houston still has the No. 15 jersey alongside a letter that he received from Cherry Starr.

"For me personally," he said, "that was awesome."

To paraphrase, she wrote Houston to say that watching the Badgers play LSU in Lambeau was such a thrill for Bart and her. Especially knowing someone that had her husband's name has such class and leadership — making them very proud. And she graciously went on to conclude:

"We're so happy for your success and we'll be following you for the rest of the year.

"Bart joins me in sending you and your teammates the best of wishes for a great season …"

Bart Starr passed away on May 26, 2019. He was 85.

Houston took a picture of Cherry Starr's letter and sent it to his father.

"I've only seen my dad cry once," he said, "and, oh, my God, he broke down a little bit."

Beating LSU in Lambeau — with the Starrs looking on — was part of a dream season.

"For sure, I have fond memories," he said, reminiscing. "The one thing that I miss the most about football is being with the guys and prepping for a common goal and that is to beat whoever is next on the schedule. After the Cotton Bowl (his final game), my first thought was, 'Who's next?"'

And then it dawned on him.

"Hey, wait, it's over."

That Bart Houston.