Lucas: For Jack Nelson, the love of the game is in his DNA
November 23, 2021 | Football, Mike Lucas
Wisconsin freshman guard cherishes his deep connection with dad — a fellow Badger O-lineman
BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — On most Tuesdays or Wednesdays, or both, Todd Nelson will find a seat about 20 rows up in Section R of Camp Randall Stadium and watch Wisconsin's football practice. His son, Jack, is a redshirt freshman and the starting right guard. He's a chip off the old block. Or blocker.
Todd Nelson was also a starting guard for the Badgers and fixture on the O-line (34 straight starts). Nelson played for three different head coaches — the late Dave McClain, interim Jim Hilles and Don Morton — and was the only UW player taken in the 1989 NFL Draft (12th round, Phoenix Cardinals).
The 55-year-old Nelson can't think of a better way to spend a couple of hours in the morning than watching his son repping the offense and going through some of the same fundamental lineman drills that he once did at his age on the very same field. He wouldn't have it any other way.
"I remember when my grandfather, Nathan Nelson, always came down to the practices when I was playing here," said Nelson, a senior co-captain along with linebacker David Wings on the 1988 team. "It won't last forever. I love the atmosphere. I love being around football, why not?"
Jack Nelson wouldn't have it any other way, either.
"It really does mean a lot," he said. "When I was younger, and he'd come to my basketball practices, it was, 'C'mon, Dad, you're embarrassing me.' I'd feel that. But now, I feel really fortunate every day that I see him up there that I have a dad that cares that much. I'm very thankful for that."
At many practices, Todd Nelson is joined by Bob Dunn, the father of senior wide receiver Jack Dunn.
"Bob and I are longtime friends — way back from high school," he said. "We enjoy that time."
Nelson attended last Wednesday's practice with another close friend, Matt Joki, a former UW teammate, fellow offensive lineman and Jack's godfather. Both are alums of Madison Memorial High School. Joki is living in Nashville, Tennessee, where he's on the board of directors of the Music City Bowl.
"Every time I tell someone around here — like a coach or some alum — I mention that my godfather is Matt Joki, they go, 'Ohhh, Matt Joki,'" Jack said. "When you get to know Matt, you understand why. He's awesome. Super talkative. Kind of the life of the party. He just brings energy."
Nelson, Joki and tight end Brian Anderson, all Madison Memorial grads, were pretty inseparable during their five years together. Just before the opening of their final training camp, Paul Chryst, also a tight end, invited them up to his father's cottage in northern Wisconsin. "A unique trio," Chryst said.
Truly unique in that all three buddies started on the O-line as seniors: Nelson at left guard, Joki at center and Anderson at tight end. Said Nelson at the time, "They're like family to me. I can always have a heart-to-heart with them. You can always put everything out in the open."
And that's what two of them — Nelson and Joki — were doing last week at Camp Randall. They were reminiscing while the younger Nelson was working on his technique and Chryst, the seventh-year Wisconsin head coach, was presiding over practice in preparation for Nebraska.
What Joki had to say about the '88 team being a family still resonates over three decades later. Back then, he was describing the emotion that surfaced after the Badgers beat Minnesota, 14-7, snapping a four-game losing streak to the Gophers. It was the UW's only win in a dreadful 1-10 season.
During the victory lap with Paul Bunyan's Axe, Joki confided, "Brian and I and Todd are holding hands and arms and crying. People just say it's a sport. But that's a joke. It's a way of life. Hopefully, we'll be able to get together in the future at reunions and sit down with our kids and talk about the old days."
Jack Nelson has been forewarned heading into Saturday's regular season finale at Minnesota.
• • • •
"We never really pushed Jack into it," Todd Nelson was saying about his oldest of four sons playing football in the Big Ten, at his alma mater, no less. "Matter of fact, when I heard that Jack was getting a scholarship offer from Coach Chryst, I thought I was getting punked. Are you sure?"
It was not that he didn't believe in his potential. It was just that Jack was midway through his sophomore season at Stoughton (Wisconsin) High School when he got that offer from Chryst and O-line coach Joe Rudolph. In October of 2017, he verbally committed to the 2020 class. He was the first to do so.
"I remember my dad telling me, 'You and me are blessed to be able to do this,'" said Jack Nelson, who also turned back the clock and noted, "My grandpa Jack was a special guy, one of the smartest guys I ever met. But he had polio and he wasn't able to play football as a kid."
As a result, he has never taken anything for granted. Maybe more so now than ever after collapsing face-first during the Nov. 6 game at Rutgers and needing assistance to get off the field. Todd made the trip to Piscataway, New Jersey, and was sitting next to Bob Dunn when it happened.
With it all unfolding in front of his eyes, Todd Nelson said, "I was very concerned — I was quiet, but patient. I was very concerned. But I kind of felt in my gut that he was okay. I don't know why but I just felt that. I went down to the fence (bench area) and talked to Jack. He wanted to keep playing."
After going through a series of tests in Madison that Sunday, he was back on the practice field the following week preparing for Northwestern. He made his 11th start of the season Saturday against Nebraska. Left tackle Tyler Beach is the only other O-lineman to start every game.
Last season, Nelson, who had played left tackle as a prep, was the understudy to Beach at right tackle. He took practice reps with the No. 2 offense, which accelerated his growth in the system while redshirting as a freshman. Last spring, he was moved to right guard, where he has become a constant.
Nobody could be prouder than Todd Nelson, who said of his feelings, "They're over the moon. We talk about the opportunity. We also talk about being grateful. There were a lot of other people who were involved. It just wasn't mom and dad Nelson. There were other coaches, friends. A lot of people."
Not the least of which has been Todd's wife, Sarah Nelson. Asked about her influence and overall role in helping raise so many competitive boys under one roof, Jack smiled and said, "She supports me in every way she can. I'm very thankful to have her around, especially being a chiropractor."
Jack Nelson was all smiles after the Badgers extended their winning streak to seven straight games by holding on for a 35-28 win over Nebraska. The offense rolled up 397 total yards, 252 on the ground, to pick up the slack for a defense that was under siege for the first time.
"It's great to be able to have our team lean on us, absolutely," said Nelson, who credited the Cornhuskers for putting up the good fight. "Their record (3-8) doesn't reflect how good of a football team that is. We're just really proud to have offense pick it up like that."
The steady development of Nelson and another first-year starter, center Joe Tippman, a redshirt sophomore, has factored into the improved play and consistency on the offensive line. Especially during the win streak in opening holes for tailback Braelon Allen and protecting quarterback Graham Mertz.
Nelson and Tippman have had conversations about their growth and Nelson said, "It's just the feel for the game, that's the biggest thing — football IQ, technique obviously — everything like that in every category you could expect in just being a young player and getting thrown into it and learning.
"We're a team. A family. A close family at that. We're all there to make each other better."
Meanwhile, Todd Nelson is not shy about critiquing Jack Nelson. Within reason.
"It's more enjoyment than critiquing, I let the coaches coach," he said of his weekly practice visits. "But I'll watch the game very closely. And later that evening or the next day, I'll watch it again. And I'll kind of compare notes with what Jack thinks. It's nothing too serious."
Admitting as much, Jack Nelson smiled again and said, "He'll just show me some plays. But to be honest, he played guard here so long ago, it's such a different game."
Yet the spirit in competing and the joy of playing is still the same. For father and son.
