Published: Dec. 3, 2013
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
MADISON — Not knowing what to expect or what he was capable
of achieving, Hartford Union graduate Tyler Dippel set out to work hard and do
something special at the University of Wisconsin.
In return, he got memories that will be hard to forget and a
new set of brothers he couldn’t imagine not having in his life, especially with
what he’s been through the last month.
“It’s a place I’ll never forget,” Dippel said. “It’ll be
very special to me for the rest of my life.”
All that hit him in the face like an ice-cold wind gust
Saturday during the Wisconsin Badgers’ final game of the regular season against
Penn State. It was Senior Day, a day the program honored and thanked 26 seniors
for their commitment to the legacy of Wisconsin football.
Moments before the game, head coach Gary Andersen addressed
the team in the tunnel just a few feet from the entry way onto the field at
Camp Randall Stadium. He looked at the seniors, specifically, and said to them,
“This is never going to happen again,” referring to them running out of the
tunnel and onto the field at Camp Randall Stadium.
Each senior was introduced individually.
When it was Dippel’s turn, he got butterflies.
“Wow,” he said when he saw the sea of red once out of the
darkness of the tunnel and into the sunlight. “I was just taking it in, every
little detail.”
At the end of the tunnel was Andersen. Each player then got
a necklace of flowers, jogged onto the field between two lines of the UW
Marching Band and the underclassmen of the Badgers’ football team. For the
previous four years, it was Dippel in that line.
“There was a lot of emotions going on,” Dippel said, adding,
“I love these guys to death.”
Dippel got a nice ovation from the crowd, as did quarterback
Curt Phillips. The loudest ovations came for wide receiver Jared Abbrederis,
running back James White and linebacker Chris Borland.
Each player fought back tears, but they couldn’t hide their
emotion. With the help of the big-screen scoreboard behind the north end zone,
it wasn’t hard to see what the moment meant to each player.
“Emotions are things that are hard to control sometimes,”
Dippel said. “It just hits you hard.”
Waiting for him on the field was his father, Ken.
Tyler Dippel was also voted as one of the four captains for
the game, along with Abbrederis, Pat Muldoon and Jacob Pedersen.
To share the moment was his father was special for Dippel,
especially after the last month or so for the family. Tyler Dippel left the
Badgers before the Nov. 2 game at Iowa to attend to a family matter in
California.
Dippel wouldn’t disclose the nature of the family emergency
and UW officials remain silent on the issue. It was serious enough, however, to
get a teammate to wonder how he could help.
Muldoon, one of the other seniors for the Badgers, is
Dippel’s roommate on the road and when the team stays in a hotel the Friday
night before a home game. This semester, the two didn’t have many classes so
they often met up to have breakfast and just hang out. They formed a bond as
tight as brothers.
When the word spread throughout the Badgers’ locker room
about Dippel’s situation, Muldoon stepped forward. He had to do something. He
asked Andersen if he could go out to California to be with the Dippel family
and offer any kind of support he could give them, no matter how big or how
small.
“When I went out there, I know it meant a lot,” Muldoon
said.
Once back with the team, Dippel was an inspiration.
“He’s a leader on the team,” Muldoon said.
Dippel returned in time for the Badgers’ next game, a home
game against BYU. On a whim, Dippel was surged to the front of the group, just
seconds before the team took the field. Dippel led the team onto the field for
the game, a high honor for any player as it is often the coach that leads a
team onto the field.
This situation was different.
“When I was out there (in California), it got pretty
emotional for me, too,” Muldoon said. “It’s always hard seeing someone you love
go through a hard time. You kind of feel for them. I was glad I could be there.
I was glad I could help him.”
Once buried in college recruitment letters, Dippel learned
this year he made the right choice.
“There’s no words to describe how much they helped me,” he
said. “It’s incredible. I never expected something like that. I couldn’t have
done it without them.”
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