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

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Local heroes host new kind of football camp
Filed by Scott Petrak July 11th, 2012 in Sports.

Matt Wilhelm is back in Lorain County, and he wants to have an impact.

The eight-year NFL linebacker and Super Bowl champion with the Packers in 2010 hasn?t officially retired, but he?s begun the shift to the next stage of his life. That included moving back full time to his hometown of Lorain and becoming more involved in the community.

So Wilhelm decided to start a football skills camp with former Ohio State teammate Mike D?Andrea, a former star at Avon Lake High School. The camp is July 21 at Victory Park in North Ridgeville for kids in fifth through eighth grades.

?To have a hand in the youth of Lorain County drives me to do this,? said Wilhelm, an Elyria Catholic graduate. ?That?s why I?m here, to represent Lorain County, where I?m from.?

Wilhelm, 31, said there weren?t many football camps when he was in grade school but they can be a valuable tool. This camp will be different from most, and not just because the founders are two of the most decorated athletes to come out of Lorain County in the past two decades. Many of the instructors will be coaches from area high schools.

?There will be a smorgasbord of Lorain County coaches,? said Wilhelm, who hopes to make the camp an annual event. ?The coaches will be representing their schools, and the kids will be seeing what else is out there. Lorain kids will be exposed to Elyria and Elyria Catholic.

?Having something like this will benefit these schools in Lorain County.?

Wilhelm said coaches from Avon, Avon Lake, Lorain, Elyria, Elyria Catholic, Bay, Westlake and Rocky River had already committed as volunteers and a few others were expected. He said the idea to invite coaches came to him one day.

?Why have random camp counselors? Have coaches to represent, wearing their high school gear,? he said. ?The kids are performing in front of coaches they could potentially be around. This is an opportunity camp for kids and coaches.?
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Wilhelm didn?t play in the NFL last year for the first time since he was drafted by the Chargers in the fourth round in 2003. He had a tryout with the Raiders and came close to signing with Kansas City.

He hasn?t filed his retirement papers but doesn?t plan on going to a training camp. He continues to work out and will be open if a team needs a veteran linebacker during the season.

?It would have to be the right situation, right coaches,? he said.

Wilhelm has a long list of post-NFL plans, including possibly starting a football academy next year. In the meantime, he?s enjoying his kids, a 4-year-old boy and 2-year-old daughter.

?I?m at home being a dad. I?m enjoying my time, not having to be somewhere,? he said.
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http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2012/07/11/local-heroes-host-new-kind-of-football-camp/
 
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Published: 11/11/2012
?THE ALL-AMERICAN?
Matt Wilhelm was 'The All-American" for 2002 Buckeyes
BY DAVID BRIGGS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER

FIESTA-OHIO-ST-WILHELM-buckeyes.jpg
Ohio State linebacker Matt Wilhelm is shown in this Nov. 23, 2002 file photo.
ASSOCIATED PRESS

MATT WILHELM

Line*backer

A life*time of hard hits is catch*ing up to Matt Wil*helm.

An All-Amer*i*can line*backer on Ohio State?s na*tional cham*pi*on*ship team, he senses his mem*ory slip*ping.

?Just not re*ally be*ing able to re*call spe*cif*ics about games and events,? said Wil*helm, who es*ti*mates he suf*fered four or five con*cus*sions in his ca*reer.

But he counts him*self among the lucky ones. Wil*helm, 31, was smart with the mil*lions he earned over an eight-year NFL ca*reer and left the game on his own terms.

?For the most part,? he said, ?I?m healthy.?

Wil*helm re*tired from the Green Bay Pack*ers af*ter the 2010 sea*son the same way he left OSU ? as a cham*pion ? and now lives in his na*tive Lo*rain, Ohio, where he works as a pro*moter for a 90-day fit*ness chal*lenge from the Los An*ge*les-based com*pany ViSalus.

He hopes to stay in*volved with the game. A vet*eran of the NFL?s Broad*cast Boot Camp, an an*nual four-day train*ing ses*sion for play*ers in*ter*ested in talk*ing foot*ball af*ter walk*ing it, Wil*helm plans to look for tele*vi*sion work in the fu*ture.

But for now, his job is as a hus*band and father to two young chil*dren, Ma*son, 4, and Gianna, 2 ? the rea*son he chose to stay at home when the NFL lock*out ended late last sum*mer.

?Be*ing with my chil*dren through*out the lock*out was prob*a*bly the rea*son why I left,? said Wil*helm, a fourth-round draft pick by the San Diego Charg*ers in 2003. ?I knew it would be dif*fi*cult for me to be away from them. I re*ally just made the de*ter*mi*na*tion of walk*ing away on top, win*ning a Su*per Bowl af*ter hav*ing a suc*cess*ful ca*reer.?

Ma*son, too, has seen clips of the cham*pi*on*ship game.

?I?ll ask him who it is, and he?ll say it?s me,? Wil*helm said with a laugh. ?But he doesn?t know what or why or any*thing about it.?

Grow*ing up in Ohio, he will soon enough.
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http://www.toledoblade.com/Ohio-Sta...m-was-The-All-American-for-2002-Buckeyes.html
 
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Wilhelm was on the 2002 National Championship team and was a member of the Packers? Super Bowl XLV championship team.

Now Wilhelm is a distributor for ViSalus, which markets weight management nutritional products, dietary supplements and energy drinks in the United States and Canada.

Wilhelm said he looks forward to Saturday?s OSU-Michigan game.

?It?ll be like the ultimate reunion,? he said. ?I was there in the off-season and met Urban Meyer, but this time the national championship team will be there so that will be great. OSU has always had great football teams. I think it?s something about the way kids are raised here. Our parents kicked us out of the house and we played football. It?s just part of the lifestyle here.?
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http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com...-draws-big-crowd-linebackers?odyssey=nav|head
 
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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9B9YNtOfvt0"]Matt Wilhelm on the 2002 Season - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNTqTCEvtEc"]Mike Doss, Tim Anderson & Matt Wilhelm on the Lst Play of the Michigan Game - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WndQJI0CmWg"]Fox, Doss, Wilhelm and Anderson Discuss the Last Play - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWAm8vqfiXs"]WilhelmClosing - YouTube[/ame]
 
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Sports media notes: Matt Wilhelm excited about new role at WKNR
Published: Sunday, April 28, 2013
By Bob Finnan
[email protected]
@BobCavsinsider

Throughout his football career, Matt Wilhelm was always a good quote.

He wasn't one of those guys that just grunted when you asked him a question. He'd give insightful answers with some actual thought behind them.

Wilhelm, 32, also had a gift of gab ? not a bad thing in his line of work. He was hired this week by WKNR-AM 850 to be the station's football analyst.

He hit the ground running over the weekend providing expert commentary on the Browns' 2013 NFL draft.

He said the job grew out of his relationship with radio personality Munch Bishop from when Wilhelm was an All-American linebacker at Ohio State.

He was one of the top linebackers in Lorain County history during his days at Elyria Catholic High School, from where he graduated in 1999.

Wilhelm earned a scholarship to the Buckeyes and was a main cog on their 2002 national championship win over Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.

He was San Diego's fourth-round pick in the 2003 NFL draft. He played six years for the Chargers. He played one season with the San Francisco 49ers, and then wrapped up his eight-year NFL career with the Green Bay Packers. His final game came in Green Bay's Super Bowl XLV championship team.

He probably could have extended his NFL career, but the lockout hit in 2011.

"I was comfortable walking away," Wilhelm said. "It gave me time with my family. My mind and body was intact. Yes, I loved the game. But I was not just going to hang on. It was the time."

Wilhelm and his wife, Vanessa, had a 5-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl.

cont..
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http://news-herald.com/articles/2013/04/28/sports/nh6859691.txt?viewmode=fullstory
 
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8. MATT WILHELM, 2002
With his career split between two head coaches, Matt Wilhelm came into his own under Jim Tressel. After Tressel's inaugural season, the senior took control of the defense; his 1.39 tackles for loss per game is the fifth-highest mark among linebackers.

Wilhelm ended his collegiate career on top, winning the BCS National Championship his senior year. That year, he also earned consensus First-Team All-American honors.
 
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