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Wolfe focused on leaving a winner By Olin Buchanan, Rivals.com College Football Senior Writer
Go ahead, make the jokes.
Garrett Wolfe has heard them all.
Tell him he's on the short list for a major award and start the yuks. Now, that's comedy.
When you're a small man ? 5 feet 7, 177-pounds ? in the big man's game of college football taunts are as common as the chalked lines that measure off the field.
At least, they were. Nobody laughs much now. Actually, they haven't in a while.
Now a group of men well over 6-feet tall at Northern Illinois University look up to their teammate. Garrett Wolfe is the big man on campus.
"He's a little guy, but if you watch him on the field he amazes a lot of people," Huskies quarterback
Phil Horvath said. "The things he's done for this program ? every week you see something else and you say, 'Wow, what an amazing back.' Every week you see something on film that gets you thinking how special we are to have him."
Wolfe has beaten homesickness, beaten the odds and hopes to beat a path to New York City for the Heisman Trophy ceremonies.
But he remains unsatisfied because the Huskies (1-2) haven't beaten enough opponents.
"As hard as it may be to believe, there is no personal satisfaction," Wolfe said. "The only personal satisfaction I get is being a winner. I want people to associate me with winning games. There are statistical giants with losing teams, but I don't want my name to bear that."
Wolfe, who surprises some opponents by running effectively between the tackles despite his size, has won almost every personal fight he's had since arriving in DeKalb in 2002.
He readily admits he did not pay attention to his grades in high school, so any college coach that offered a scholarship was taking a risk. And then he was so homesick he actually tried to go home to the old neighborhood in Chicago where he grew up.
"I didn't really want to be here," he recalled. "I was unbelievably homesick, beyond my wildest imagination. I had two tough parents that weren't going to let me come home."
Patricia and Gary Wolfe made Garrett stay and he eventually made the most of his opportunity. He realized he didn't want to return to the neighborhood as a failure and began working hard toward his degree in Communications. He is on schedule to graduate in May.
He's using the skills he has acquired in his major to communicate his desire to win to teammates. Wolfe has taken over the role of vocal leader, and warns that he's trying to make a bowl game - not trying to make friends.
"He definitely has become more vocal," Horvath said. "In the past he did it on the field and didn't say too much. We pride ourselves on senior leadership, and I know Garrett has taken it on his shoulders to get everyone right and get everyone on the same page."
But Wolfe doesn't have a Napoleon complex. That is, unless the reference is to Napoleon Kaufman or Napoleon McCallum ? Heisman Trophy contenders from years past.
So far this season Wolfe has rushed for 630 yards, which is more yardage than 115 teams in Division I have managed. His staggering totals aren't the byproduct of playing marginal competition, either.
He had 171 yards rushing and 285 yards of total offense in the season-opener against No.1-ranked Ohio State, a performance which should make him a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate.
"I definitely think he should be a Heisman Trophy contender," Horvath said. "Look at his rushing yards and his all-purpose yards. Look what he did against the No. 1 team in the country. He should be getting more credit than he's getting now."
Of course, Wolfe's biggest problem is his small school. Players from mid-majors don't get serious consideration for college football's greatest individual award.
TCU's LaDainian Tomlinson finished fourth in 2000 behind Florida State's Chris Weinke, Oklahoma's Josh Heupel and Purdue's Drew Brees.
In 1994 Alcorn State quarterback Steve McNair finished third behind Colorado's Rashaan Salaam and Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter.
Who would be considered the premier player now?
The small minds that discriminate against small players from small schools will prevent Wolfe from having a fair shot at the Heisman, but at his current pace he should at least get an invitation to the presentation ceremony as a finalist.
"I feel like it's an honor (to be considered)," Wolfe said. "It would be great to win the award, but I'm not setting my sights on it. To have my name mentioned on the short list at the end of the season would truly be an honor."
Wolfe is proving that he belongs on the short list. And anyone who's been paying attention won't laugh.
