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LB Matt Wilhelm (All-American, National Champion, Super Bowl Champion, OSU HOF)

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Time of Joy: Wilhelm cherishes Super Bowl moments with family
Published: Tuesday, February 08, 2011
By COLIN WILSON
[email protected]

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Green Bay Packers' Matt Wilhelm celebrates with his daughter Tianna after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25 in the NFL football Super Bowl XLV game Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

After the game ended, the celebration began, and Packers linebacker Matt Wilhelm sought out the people who helped him get to where he is today ? his family.

Now a Super Bowl champion, Wilhelm was intent on sharing it with his two children, Mason and Gianna, and his wife, Vanessa.

The moment was so special, an Associated Press photographer caught it perfectly. Wilhelm laying on the field, in the confetti, with 7-month-old Gianna in his hands, not a care in the world.

?It was pure joy,? said Wilhelm, a native of Lorain and graduate of Elyria Catholic. ?For me to have them down there and support me through the ups and downs of my career, to be there it was the culmination of a lot of hard work and prayers. To have my son and my daughter and my wife on the field to enjoy that moment with me is going to last a lifetime.?

Mason, 3, wasn?t left out of the picture, so to speak. He also was captured in his personalized Wilhelm jersey giving his dad a hug as the celebration went on.

?To have him on the field and to have that moment captured in a photograph means a lot to me,? Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm?s parents, Rodger and Ruth, were also on hand for the experience. He fondly remembered winning the BCS National Championship game with Ohio State in Tempe, Arizona with his family in attendance.

?I had an extreme sense of pride for the state of Ohio in winning my national championship there and my parents were there to be a part of that and to win on this level which very few people have the opportunity to do, it was nice to win it and to have them there,? Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm said he was also proud to represent the area that shaped him as a person by winning a ring.

?To represent not only my family, the city of Lorain, Elyria Catholic, Lorain County in general, the state of Ohio to be a Super Bowl champion and to come from those type of roots, it goes well beyond just myself,? Wilhelm said.

Continued...
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http://morningjournal.com/articles/...4d51dac761777566040450.txt?viewmode=fullstory
 
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A Super thrill: EC grad Matt Wilhelm recalls thrilling championship
Filed by Scott Petrak March 8th, 2011 in Sports.

Matt Wilhelm wanted to watch the commercials. He wanted to see how the biggest moment of his NFL career was captured by television. He wanted to experience the joy again.

So he sat down to view a recording of Super Bowl XLV. When he wasn?t interrupted by diaper changes, baths and the general commotion that comes with two small children, the game was as thrilling as he remembered.

?I had to watch it during naptime,? Wilhelm said Monday by phone from Northern California. ?Just to relive it again gives you goose bumps.?

Wilhelm was a special teams stalwart of the Green Bay Packers in their 31-25 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last month in Texas. After eight years in the NFL as a linebacker/special teamer, the Elyria Catholic and Ohio State graduate joined an elite fraternity of Super Bowl champions.

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Elyria Catholic graduate and Packers linebacker Matt Wilhelm plays with son Mason in Cowboys Stadium after Green Bay?s Super Bowl win last month. (AP photo.)

?I?m truly blessed to have things work out the way they did,? said Wilhelm, who was a midseason pickup of the Packers. ?Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl. Charles Barkley and Karl Malone never won a championship.

?I have the ring. The book?s closed. The ink?s dry.?

Wilhelm has switched back to full-time-dad mode. Wife Vanessa stayed in California with 3-year-old Mason and 8-month-old Gianna when Wilhelm joined the Packers.

?In a matter of a few days I went from Super Bowl champion to becoming a husband and father again,? he said. ?It?s a role I try to play. Being away from home so long, my wife had her hands full.

?It was time for me to step up. Take off the profession athlete hat and put on the father hat.?

Wilhelm?s parental instincts were obvious before and after the Super Bowl.

In an interview with The Chronicle leading up to the game, he expressed how important it was for him to have his kids at the Super Bowl, despite the travel from California and the inconvenience for Vanessa. Then in the minutes after the Packers? triumph, he played in the confetti with Mason and Gianna.

An Associated Press photographer captured the moment.

?It?s an experience I will take to the grave with me,? said Wilhelm, who will be inducted into the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame in May. ?I hope it means a lot to them. It?s in the record books. No one can undo the pictures, undo the records. Hopefully it?s something they?ll talk about for the rest of their lives.

?When I basically demanded the kids come to the game ? what 2-year-old sits still for three hours? ? I knew it would not be easy. My parents and brother were there, my wife?s parents and brother were there. I have a great support system that understood what it meant for them to be there and for the kids to be there.?

Cont..
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http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/...-matt-wilhelm-recalls-thrilling-championship/
 
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Elyria Sports Hall of Fame: Matt Wilhelm still making memories
Filed by Scott Petrak May 5th, 2011 in Sports.

Matt Wilhelm will have a lifetime of athletic achievements recognized Saturday when he enters the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame, but this isn?t the time to get reflective. He just turned 30, will be an NFL free agent whenever the lockout ends, wants to re-sign with the Green Bay Packers and believes his career has years remaining.

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Matt Wilhelm holds his EC jersey when it was retired in 2003. (CT photo by Linda Murphy.)

It?s a good thing he doesn?t plan to spend hours going through scrapbooks, because he might not find the time. Wilhelm has two young kids and couldn?t make it through a 20-minute phone interview without multiple interruptions from Mason, the 3-year-old older brother who?s lost his appreciation for naps.

?My career is coming to an end, but hopefully it?s later than sooner,? he said last week from his home in San Diego. ?If the committee saw fit for me to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, they?re just going to have to continue to rewrite the record books because the stats will be changing.

?It really is such an honor.?
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As Wilhelm got older and better, the calls from Division I football programs began. His choice of scholarship came down to Ohio State and Michigan, and a message from Buckeye assistant coach Fred Pagac tipped the scales.

?He literally cornered me at the spring game and said, ?You realize you?ll never be able to step foot back in the state of Ohio if you go to Michigan??? Wilhelm said. ?That set in. I literally did a beeline from there to John Cooper and said, ?Coach, I want to be a Buckeye.??

He became a starting linebacker as a sophomore and earned All-Big Ten and All-American status as a senior with 121 tackles, including 191⁄2 for loss. He finished his career with 43? tackles for loss.

?Get an education, win a national title and make it to the NFL,? he said. ?To accomplish all three is why I went to Ohio State.?

The national championship was neck-and-neck for Wilhelm?s top moment in scarlet and gray.

?For me, having my parents down on the field for that last game against Michigan,? he said. ?We were 12-0, needed to win, had my parents there and to be recognized by 100,000 people. To have the type of game I did to get to the national championship almost meant more than winning the national championship.?
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http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/...l-of-fame-matt-wilhelm-still-making-memories/
 
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On a national scale, Matt Wilhelm has brought a tremendous amount of pride to Lorain County with his football career, first winning a national title with Ohio State and most recently as a member of the Green Bay Packers Super Bowl win this past season.

Wilhelm was an All-Ohio running back at Elyria Catholic and won the Lorain County Golden Helmet.

He said he was inspired by his family members who left a great football legacy before him. He thanked his parents, who put him through Catholic school and have supported his career from the beginning.

?Their undying support and love for me was undying throughout my entire career, Wilhelm said. ?They?re the two most hardworking inspirational people I know and I?m so blessed ot have them as parents.?

Wilhelm painted his career timeline, from St. Peter?s to St. Jude to Elyria Catholic to Ohio State to the NFL, and his parents being there every step of the way.

?I knew I could look over and see two of the proudest parents supporting me,? Wilhelm said.
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http://morningjournal.com/articles/...4dc612340b4ad624363675.txt?viewmode=fullstory
 
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Green Bay Packers linebacker Matt Wilhelm won't be back
Jul. 29, 2011

The agent of Green Bay Packers inside linebacker Matt Wilhelm has said the team will not bring him back for 2011.

The decision removes another inside linebacker from a roster that intends to cut or trade Nick Barnett and released Brandon Chillar on Friday. The inside linebacker depth chart suddenly looks like starters A.J. Hawk and Desmond Bishop, then sixth-round draft pick D.J. Smith.

Wilhelm was signed by the Packers on Oct. 26 and played in seven regular season games and all four playoff games. He recorded four special teams tackles in 2010.
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http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com...01/110729064/LB-Wilhelm-won-t-back-agent-says
 
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Adam Caplan reports the Chiefs worked out two players this week -- LB Matt Wilhelm and LB Leon Williams. Both are inside linebackers, which is interesting.

Wilhelm is listed at 6'4", 245 pounds and some Chiefs fans may be familiar with him from his days with the San Diego Chargers, who made him a fourth round pick in the 2003 NFL draft. He's also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles.
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http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2011/10/13/2487743/kansas-city-chiefs-workouts
 
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