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Garrett Wolfe's unlikely star trek
Pothole-pitted path to glory at NIU began on Division Street bus
September 28, 2006
BY
JIM O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
On the westbound Division Street bus, dreams can get lost in the journey. They aren't necessarily supposed to go anywhere. Garrett Wolfe was once a face on that bus. There was no reason to believe he was necessarily going to go anywhere.
Every school morning west, every school night back home, Wolfe rode. From the corner of Lavergne and Division, past the Chocolate City Unisex Salon, past the Judah Apostolic Church, past Mama B's Food for the Soul, Wolfe rode.
Three buses actually -- Division Street No. 70 to Austin Avenue No.91 north to Belmont Avenue No. 77 west -- to get to Holy Cross High School in River Grove. On a good day, with the two transfers, the journey took an hour. On a bad day, with interminable waits at cold bus stops, it could be closer to two hours.
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Northern Illinois University's top dog Garrett Wolfe.
(Craig Watson/STNG)
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Wolfe now is hailed as one of the greatest college football players in the land. The land -- America -- a concept and place not always comprehensible, revered or accessible along the bus routes that slice and tease the North Austin neighborhood. He may or may not win the Heisman Memorial Trophy in December as the country's best college football player. He leads the nation in rushing and all-purpose yards for the Northern Illinois Huskies. He is 5-7 and 177 pounds and all about focus, determination and the grace of whatever prompting spirit passes for God in North Austin.
And wherever his next route might take him, Wolfe never will forget the bus rides.
''I used to daydream, daydream to survive,'' he now says. ''I mainly daydreamed about having a car. It seemed that everyone at Holy Cross had a car, or at least a ride home after practice. Everyone but me.
''I'd walk the block or so to get the bus on Belmont to go home and usually have to wait. Some teammates would drive by. These were my teammates, my friends, guys I'd just practiced with. And they'd drive by, and no one would make eye contact. No one. I guess it should have made me angry, but it didn't. By the next afternoon, it just made me more determined.''
And kept alive his dream of taking his dreams somewhere.
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''I think Garrett was George Burns,'' his mother, Patricia, said. ''He was a wise old soul born back into a little child's body. He's always seemed to have some wisdom beyond his years. And he's never been afraid to let you and everyone else know it.''
Late in the era of Mayor Daley I, Patricia Van Ellis was an undergraduate student on the lakeshore campus of Loyola University. She was the eldest of 16 (''The drill sergeant,'' she says), a Farragut Academy graduate. She met a fellow student named Gary Wolfe who was thinking of the priesthood. Instead, the possibilities of domestic bliss -- the seminarian with the drill sergeant -- intervened.
The Wolfes had three sons: Peter, Elliott and Garrett. Peter, the eldest, was in his own sphere. Elliott, four years older than Garrett, was the prompting spirit.
''Anything Elliott did, I wanted to do better,'' said Garrett, sounding more than a little like Michael Jordan talking about his rivalry with older brother Larry. ''Anything -- basketball, football, video games. We once got into a wild brawl in the kitchen over who could pour milk on the cereal faster.''
But it was Elliott who first pursued betterment through football. He became a two-way regular at Gordon Tech (running back/linebacker) who played briefly at North Park University before transferring to grid-less Northeastern Illinois. Baby brother was watching.
''My first organized football was at LaFollette Park, 1400 North Laramie,'' Garrett recalled. ''In seventh grade, we were the Wildcats, and Mr. William Gray -- now the coach at Marshall -- was our coach. I was about 5-2 or 5-3 and ran the ball all over and we ended up finishing third in the city and played at Soldier Field. I was hooked.''
One year later, Wolfe decided to follow friends from St. Angela's grade school and attend Fenwick High School. His promising athleticism was obvious, but so, too, was his inattentiveness in the classroom. His grades hit bottom. A friendly nun suggested to Patricia Wolfe that her son try Holy Cross.
''Garrett is certainly not dumb,'' Patricia said. ''But he has learned the hard way that a person eventually pays a price for ignoring class today and homework tonight. What he learned back then is why he's going to graduate Northern in May.''
What he also learned under coach Joe DiCanio was how to make his diminutive stature work in tandem with his speed to enhance his elusiveness. From second-string cornerback at the start of his sophomore year, Wolfe went on to rush for more than 4,300 yards and 56 touchdowns during his final two seasons at Holy Cross. He also learned that daydreaming was no route toward the big buses of college football.
''I remember very well one afternoon when coach DiCanio pulled me over between classes,'' Wolfe said. ''He told me that if I don't start focusing on classes, don't stop doing my own thing, I was not going to play college football. He also told me that there are no guarantees even after college football, so focus on education now. For some reason, I was paying attention that afternoon.''
Wolfe's grades scared off most colleges, but not NIU coach Joe Novak. Even so, it took a notable stretch run in his senior spring -- eight course credits successfully completed -- to get No. 1 off the Division Street bus and on the road to DeKalb.
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''Garrett Wolfe is a masterful running back,'' said Jim Tressel, the head coach at No. 1 Ohio State. ''At any level.''
Added Ohio University's Frank Solich, who starred in or coached nine nation-leading rushing attacks at Nebraska: ''If you put a player like Garrett Wolfe in almost any system and get him enough touches, he's going to shine. He is that quality of a player.''
The route up at NIU was balky, then stratospheric. Wolfe was redshirted as a freshman, far behind Michael ''The Burner'' Turner. He was submarined in Year 2 by academics. In his third season, he lolled through opening efforts of 24, 45 and 33 yards against Maryland, Southern Illinois and Iowa State. He then rocked for 202 yards against Bowling Green in late September 2004 and hasn't stopped rolling since.
''There were times last season when I didn't think Garrett had a higher level to play to, and he has shown already this season that he does,'' said Thomas Hammock, the NIU running backs coach and himself once a star tailback in Novak's system. ''The most important thing is that he will do anything to help this team win.''
His style is supernatural, suggesting a golf cart turning into a space station. Wolfe gets the ball from quarterback Phil Horvath and disappears into the tall corn that Novak seems to harvest each autumn along his offensive line. Somewhere among the row, Wolfe sprouts rockets. He emerges in flight, makes linebackers miss and screws defensive backs into the ground. Said NIU All-America tackle Doug Free: ''Garrett is magic.''
The magic transforms to young George Burns-cum-Dave Chappelle off the field. He lives off-campus with ex-Huskie Andre Morris. His group gathers after games to watch game tape, eat pizza and hang out. Close chums include wide receiver Jarrett Carter (''We both love old monster movies and Pacino and Pesci,'' Carter says) and young damsel Burgundy Ollie. The Division Street bus seems so far behind.
''I don't go back to the neighborhood much,'' Wolfe said. ''There's not much there for me but my family and my Aunt Veronica's macaroni-and-cheese. The bad guys won't bother me because they're all my friends who I grew up with. I'm just in a different place right now.''
That place could lead to a Heisman Trophy -- and/or the NFL or a postgraduate coaching career. He has keenly mixed emotions about the lack of a Heisman campaign for him by NIU administrators, despite public statements Tuesday. One night earlier, Wolfe said: ''The biggest thing I don't understand about what the school is doing is that they don't seem to understand, any mention of me is a promotion for the university. You can turn on 'Sports Center' and hear 'Chad Johnson' without hearing 'Cincinnati Bengals.' But you can't turn on TV and hear 'Garrett Wolfe' without hearing 'Northern Illinois.' Forget about me and the Heisman -- it's in their best interests to actively promote any student-athlete of theirs for that sort of national honor.''
In the meantime, Wolfe's face on the westbound bus is just part of his ancient gallery -- with many, many reasons to believe that his dreams are going somewhere.
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FROM DIVISION STREET TO DEKALB
The golden steps of Garrett Wolfe:
Vitals: 22 years old; 5-7, 177 pounds; on schedule to graduate in May with degree in communications.
Currently: Leads nation in rushing (207 yards per game) and all-purpose running (246 ypg). Rushing total tops total of 104 of 118 other Division I-A teams.
1984
Born Aug. 17 in Chicago. Parents Gary and Patricia, brothers Peter and Elliott live in North Austin neighborhood.
1996
Helps lead seventh-grade LaFollette Park Wildcats to Chicago Park District championship rounds at Soldier Field.
1998
Letters in varsity track as a freshman at Fenwick but doesn't flourish as a student. Transfers to Holy Cross.
2001
Caps brilliant prep career as repeat All-Stater; finishes with 4,311 rushing yards in two varsity seasons at Holy Cross.
2002
Takes eight classes in final semester -- five is standard -- to graduate on time and qualify for NIU scholarship.
2002
Redshirted as ninth-string tailback at NIU.
2003
Sidelined by ''institutional academic problems."
2004
Bursts onto Mid-American Conference panorama with 1,656 rushing yards in 11 games.
2005
Helps lead NIU to MAC title game by averaging 181.1 yards per game despite nagging knee, shoulder injuries.
2006
Preseason All-America selection by Playboy; remains high on most lists of Heisman Trophy candidates.
LITTLE BIG MEN IN NFL
Six of the best running backs in NFL history are under 6 feet.
Emmitt Smith 5-10, 216
Gained the most yards in NFL
history
Priest Holmes 5-9, 213<
Three Pro Bowls
Barry Sanders 5-8, 203
No. 3 all-time leading rusher
Warrick Dunn 5-9, 180
Averaging 4.9 yards per carry in 10th season
Marshall Faulk 5-10, 211
Seven Pro Bowls, one Super
Bowl ring
LaDainian Tomlinson 5-10, 218
Five Pro Bowls in five seasons
My wife and I were at the OSU-NIU game and were very impressed with Wolfe. Congrats on win #2!
