BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

MADISON, Wis. — To suggest that Clay Cundiff has maximized his playing opportunities is an understatement along the lines of saying that the third-year Wisconsin tight end has preferred to wear his hair long and grow it out ever since a freshman buzz cut.

"There's no reason, I just like having my hair long," explained Cundiff, who was modeling a man bun after Monday's practice. "In high school, we couldn't have hair on the collar or over the ears. Every summer, I'd grow my hair out as long as I could and then cut it before going back to school.

"After freshman year, I've been letting it grow out ever since then."

It has paralleled Cundiff's wait and/or growth in becoming a contributor. Right now, he's averaging 28.7 yards per catch. Granted, the sample size is very limited. After sitting out the season opener against Penn State, he has appeared in the last three games, a sum total of 53 offensive snaps.

Cundiff has been targeted once in each appearance and caught all three passes.

"I'm just staying in my playbook and when my number is called and I get out there, if I'm in a position to make a play, that's what I want to do," said the 6-foot-3, 244-pound Cundiff, a sophomore from Bishop Carroll High School in Wichita, Kansas.

"I've definitely progressed a lot from when I first got here as far as my blocking — even from last year to now. I think that the biggest thing that's progressed over my time here just in the footwork and the technique, getting it all down and being confident with it in scrimmages, practices and in games."

As a true freshman in 2019, Cundiff appeared in one game, a 61-0 rout of Central Michigan. Last season, he didn't play at all, a taxing circumstance for any competitor, let alone one who was part of high school teams as a junior that won Class 5A state championships in football and basketball.

Then, again, he has dealt with setbacks in the past. He missed Bishop Carroll's playoff title run in 2017 after being tackled and breaking his collarbone in the regular season finale. He was also sidelined the second half of his senior year with a foot injury. Yet, he was still named first-team all-state.

Looking back on the 2020 season with the Badgers, Cundiff said, "It was tough not getting any game action. But throughout the season, I felt like I was getting better. I knew that spring ball was another opportunity to show what I have to offer. It was more of a confidence thing …"

Cundiff was driven to "just let it loose and make some plays" whenever he got his chance in 2021. When he got into the huddle against Eastern Michigan, he was greeted by Ferguson. "He was building me up, helping me out, and I was really appreciative of that," Cundiff said.

It didn't take long for him to make a positive impression. Graham Mertz delivered a strike to Cundiff, who won his one-on-one matchup and scored from 36 yards out. A questionable holding call on UW wide receiver Danny Davis downfield erased the touchdown and reduced the catch-and-run to 18 yards.

Mertz hooked up with Cundiff again in the Notre Dame game on a 43-yard completion. Cundiff was matched against linebacker Jack Kiser and after juggling the ball several times, he clutched it to his chest for what is the longest pass play of the season for the Badgers.

Last Saturday, he got into the end zone for the first time as a collegian on the penultimate snap from scrimmage in a 38-17 loss to Michigan. On his 25-yard scoring strike from Chase Wolf, he said, "I would have liked a better outcome obviously, but to get my first one (TD) feels really good."

Even though it was a consolation score, UW tight ends coach Mickey Turner pointed out, "We always stress, 'Are you competing all the way through, regardless of the score?' You never know until they actually get in there how they're going to handle game tempo. He hasn't flinched.

"He's just gaining that trust from his teammates more and more every time he makes a play like that. Besides the catches, it's when he blocks the right guy and moves people and he's physical. It's, 'OK, let's give him another shot.' I think his teammates are respecting him for that.

"He's got a great demeanor about him … he's not looking for any hoopla … he's just out there because he loves football. There have been plenty of opportunities for him to sulk, if I come down hard on him, or coach him hard, but he doesn't. He's tough that way and it's allowed him to keep growing."

Cundiff has some history with both UW quarterbacks. Most of his practice reps have come on the No. 2 offense with Wolf ("We have a little connection") while he has known Mertz, a fellow Kansan (Overland Park), since they were high school sophomores. They played together in 7-on-7 leagues.

"My junior year we kind of got close," Cundiff said. "My senior year, I ended up committing and we got closer. He was here on my visit, and he knew what was up (after Cundiff decommitted from the University of Kansas). Whenever I go home, I'll stay at his house for a few days."

Cundiff's mom, Sarah Kriwiel, was at Saturday's game along with an uncle and aunt. He also got a text afterwards from his sister. It was short and sweet ("That was so awesome, great catch" in so many words) but it meant the world to Cundiff because of what 15-year-old Julianna Cundiff has endured.

In 2015, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, an autoimmune condition that occurs when the body stops producing blood cells. Three years ago, she received a life-saving bone-marrow transplant at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. She's now a sophomore in high school.

"It definitely changed my perspective on what really matters and what I thought mattered before," Cundiff said of watching his sister battle the rare disease. "Family matters a lot and the time spent with the ones you love is really special. I learned not to take anything for granted."

He learned something about his own self-discipline, too.

"Going through high school, I had to grow up quick with her going through all the treatments and my mom being gone with her," he said. "She'd be up in Kansas City for weeks, months at a time with her and I was living by myself for a little bit or living with friends. It was a big growing up process."

On those moments where he couldn't hold his emotions in check, he admitted, "There were definitely some days where that happened, and I lost it. I couldn't really hold it in much longer. But for the most part, I tried to stay strong for my little sister."

More than anything, he has been most proud of her courage and fight. Fifteen months ago, he joined his mom, Julianna, and his two older sisters, Caroline and Mary Kate, on a FaceTime call with the 23-year-old West Virginia woman who was the bone marrow donor. "It was very emotional," he said.

Playing at Soldier Field carried a different level of emotion for Cundiff whose grandfather, Ed Kriwiel, threw the game-winning touchdown pass in leading Tilden Tech past Weber for the 1944 Chicago City Championship matching the Public League and Catholic League powers at the Lakeshore venue.

Kriwiel went on to a legendary career as a high school coach in Kansas at Kapaun Mt. Carmel in Wichita. He won nine state championships in football and many more as the golf coach. Sarah Kriwiel has shared many stories with Clay, who has forever cherished a photo taken with his grandfather.

Ed Kriwiel passed away in 2007. Before he did, he got to watch his grandson play once.

"I was in the first grade, and it was my first tackle football game," recalled Cundiff, who played for the Wichita Bears. "I was the fullback and on the very first play, I went 90 yards up the middle for a touchdown. It was a very special game for me and I was glad that he could be there for that."

Cundiff's grandmother, Mary Kriwiel, was also special to him. So much so that when she passed away at the age of 83, he chose to honor her memory by wearing that number during his high school career. One of the last things she told him was "Play hard for me."

Before games, he will write "PH4M" on his wrist tape. Cundiff was unable to request jersey No. 83 when he arrived at Wisconsin since that number is one of six that has been retired. It belonged to Allen Shafer, a 17-year-old freshman quarterback who died from injuries suffered against Iowa in 1944.

Moving forward this season with the Badgers, Cundiff is hoping his number, No. 85, is called more. In the Michigan game, Jack Eschenbach had 32 snaps at tight end, Ferguson had 29 before being injured, Cundiff had 11 and Hayden Rucci had 1. They make up the current rotation at the position.

"I have to be consistent and show the coaches I'm able to go into the game in any situation, if they need me or if Ferg (Ferguson) or Esch are down, and they can throw me in there knowing that I can get the job done," Cundiff said. "Trust is huge here. Trusting everybody to do their job on every play."

When those opportunities present themselves, the 21-year-old Cundiff knows that he must treat them accordingly and play like his hair is on fire. He has plenty of kindling.