BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider

"It sounds good," he said with a knowing smile, "and it smells good, too."

Chenal is referring to Chanel No. 5, one of the most iconic perfumes ever made. It's the world's best-selling fragrance, costing in the neighborhood of $350 for one fluid ounce because it uses rare ingredients like civet and rose oil.

Chenal has some uncommon features of his own for a guy who checks in at 6-foot-2 and 255 pounds, like overpowering strength (he has bench-pressed 420 pounds), terrific speed (his top end is 20.95 mph) and elite athleticism (his vertical jump is 33 inches and he can cover 10 yards in 1.52 seconds).

But while Chenal didn't switch numbers for marketing purposes, he did do it for love.

"I wanted to go back to my roots and represent that number because it runs so deep in my family," he said.

Leo wore No. 5 throughout his decorated career at Grantsburg (Wisconsin) High School, where he was the state small-school player of the year on offense as a running back and defense as a linebacker when he was a senior in 2018. His choice of numbers back then was a nod to older brother Peter, the second-oldest of 16 children.

"He's five years older than me and he wore it," Leo explained. "He was kind of my hero growing up. He was always the hardest worker in the room."

Leo has a similar reputation among UW teammates and coaches, one he shares with brother John, a senior fullback. Both are starters, both are weight-room warriors, both were fixtures on the honor roll and both were multi-sport standouts (basketball and track) throughout high school.

When Leo came to Madison in 2019, cornerback Rachad Wildgoose had No. 5 on defense. Chenal donned 45 because that was the first number he was given, "so I rolled with it." When Wildgoose opted to turn pro after his junior season, Chenal requested No. 5.

John, meanwhile, wears 44 for the Badgers. He wore No. 33 in high school, "but, of course, he can't take 33" because it was retired in honor of Heisman Trophy-winning tailback Ron Dayne in 1999, Leo said.

Not every player on the Wisconsin roster for 2021 has a backstory about the number on their uniform, but some do.

True freshman running back Braelon Allen wore No. 1 as a two-way standout at Fond du Lac (Wisconsin) High School, where he was first-team all-state as a safety on defense and a running back on offense in 2021. He could have stuck with No. 1 — no one had it on offense — but he decided to make a unique change made possible by a 2020 NCAA rule change that opened up a new possibility.

"Before I got here, everyone had been asking me what number I was getting," he said. "I didn't know how it worked; if you choose or they give you one. So I was going through the roster, seeing what was open on the offensive side of the ball, and there weren't too many numbers that appealed to me.

"I knew you could wear (number) 0 and no one here had it last year, so I figured I'd be the first one at Wisconsin to wear the number. So I asked Coach (Paul Chryst) and he got it for me."

Fifth-year senior cornerback Faion Hicks began wearing No. 1 while in Little League and later at Flanagan High School in Miami, Florida.

"I've pretty much had it my whole career," he said." Growing up I thought it was a really cool number. Having that No. 1 meant that you were THAT guy and I wanted to be that guy every year. It's something I wanted to carry on."

Senior cornerback Donte Burton wears No. 4 in part because his father, Dexter, wore it during a college career that included two seasons at Georgia in the early 1990s.

"Since I was young, I've always worn that number," said Donte, who played at Central Gwinnett High School in Lawrenceville, Georgia. "My dad gave me that number when I was, like, 5 years old. He was my coach in pee wees."

Donte wore No. 4 as a pitcher and shortstop in baseball and guard in basketball. He has five younger sisters — softball and basketball players — who wear either No. 4 or 14. He was asked if there's a photo for the group wearing their jerseys.

"No," he said. "We should definitely do that."

Sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz has been wearing No. 5 ever since he switched high schools and became a two-time all-state standout at Blue Valley North in Overland Park, Kansas.

"I was going to a new school and wanted to get a new number," he said, referring to his move to Blue Valley North from Bishop Miege. "The deeper meaning is I've got five people in my family (father Ron, mother Amy and sisters Lauren and Mya) and they're my reason why I do everything. They're why I do what I do and why I wake up every day.

"A lot of guys have different whys for why they do things. For me, we've always been so close as a family and done everything together. It's one little way I can bring them with me on the field."

Sophomore wide receiver Chimere Dike has worn No. 13 since his freshman season at Waukesha (Wisconsin) North High School.

"I got pulled up to varsity and my coach comes out of the locker room with the only jersey that would fit me because I was about 5-9, 140 pounds soaking wet at the time," he recalled. "It was No. 13. I started playing with it and went with it. When I got here, Coach Chryst was nice enough to give it to me and I stuck with it."

Dike wears No. 13 in direct defiance to superstitions.

"It's unlucky for the opponent," he said. "That's what I like to think anyway."

Sixth-year senior cornerback Caesar Williams grew up in Grand Prairie, Texas, idolizing two Hall of Fame NFL players who starred for Texas-based teams while wearing No. 21.

"I always wanted to be a running back," he said. "LaDainian Tomlinson was my favorite person, my role model. So I wore 21."

Tomlinson played at TCU and won the Doak Walker Award in 2000. He was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

"When I switched to defense, my other role model was Deion Sanders," Williams said of the 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee. "Seeing him in a (Dallas) Cowboys uniform wearing 21 was amazing to me. He's one of the best corners of all-time, so for him to wear 21 and for me to wear 21 — I've been wearing it since the fourth grade — it means a lot to me."

Cormac Sampson, a redshirt junior center from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has traveled a long and winding road to No. 62.

"When I came in as a true freshman, I was 96," he began. "That lasted a little bit through fall camp. Then they switched me to tight end and No. 47 and that was my number the rest of the year.

"Going into my second year, I got 67 because I switched positions from tight end to center and tackle. Then that year's fall camp rolled around and a bunch of injuries happened to the tight end group, so I got switched to a tight end number even though they still wanted me as an offensive lineman initially. So I switched back to 96.

"When I got switched over to tight end for the rest of the season, I got switched to 85 and that's how I played out my second year. Now I'm back at center and I'm 62."

Tyler Beach, a fifth-year left tackle from Grafton, Wisconsin, arrived on the scene after All-American Ryan Ramczyk turned pro and was a first-round NFL draft pick of New Orleans. Now, like Ramczyk, he wears No. 65.

"He kind of came up out of nowhere and that kind of resonated with me," Beach said of Ramczyk, who enrolled at four different small colleges and thought about becoming a welder before transferring to UW in 2015. "That's why I took 65. He just came out of the woodwork and I felt like, earlier in my career, that's how it was with me."

Redshirt freshman right guard Jack Nelson, from Stoughton, Wisconsin, is good to go wearing No. 79 even though his father, Todd, wore No. 75 when he played for the Badgers from 1986 to '88.

"If you're going to play O-line at Wisconsin, you can't really get a number that's not been touched by an All-American because there've been so many," he said, offering David Edwards and Aaron Gibson as former honorees who wore 79.

"My dad's number was 75 and I was 75 going through high school. My email and my passwords all had 75 because my dad's my hero and mentor. But when I got here I was 79. I wasn't bent out of shape at all because my dad was here and was a captain and all that stuff and made his mark on the program. I'm going to make my own mark."

Jaylan Franklin, from Brownstown, Michigan, began his UW career in 2018 as an outside linebacker wearing No. 42. Now a redshirt junior, he's playing tight end wearing No. 81.

"Switching to 81 is special in a few ways," he said. "Troy Fumagalli used to wear that number and my oldest brother Brandon wore 81 all through high school. It has a lot of special qualities for me. It gives me something to play for and live up to."

True freshman defensive end Mike Jarvis, from Medford, New Jersey, initially wanted No. 69, but will wear No. 97 intent on honoring Isaiahh Loudermilk, the guy who wore it before him.

"I want to represent it as best that I can," Jarvis said. "I just want to keep the legacy going. It's a very respectful number. I've just got to treat it right.

"I wanted to be in the 90s and I asked for 97 and they gave that to me. I just have to respect it and treat it with care and represent it very strong."