Justin Beaver brought tremendous talent, desire and attitude fo UW-Whitewater football

(Editor's Note: I watched Saskatchewan defeat Edmonton in the CFL season opener on ESPN on Saturday. It brought back memories of Justin Beaver at Rough Rider's training camp in June of 2008)

The UW-Whitewater football team will look to rebound from its 7-3 record in 2011. Who knows… maybe three consecutive unbeaten seasons, three straight Division 3 national titles and seven consecutive WIAC championships and trips to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl caught up with the Hawks.

I don’t subscribe to that theory but I do wonder if seven consecutive championship seasons resulted in some (especially) fans to take unbeaten seasons for granted.

Most of the current UWW players weren’t around when Justin Beaver led his mid-2000’s teams into the national limelight.

The running back out of Palmyra-Eagle High School missed much of his freshman season to injury. As a sophomore he helped lead the Warhawks to an unbeaten season. UWW’s playoff run to the 2005 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl included a stunning 44-41 win at defending national champion Linfield, Oregon. Linfield entered the playoffs a prohibitive favorite to repeat as national champions. On that chilly, rainy afternoon Beaver and his teammates simply refused to lose.

Talent? You bet, but it was the attitude that developed in that team that allowed the program to take that next step.

Beaver was not only talented at tailback but he was tough. Case in point… in a game played on October 16, 2006 vs. La Crosse at Perkins Stadium. Justin had rushed for 286 yards on 39 carries in the game. On his 39th carry he fractured his collar bone on a hit in front of the UWW bench. Despite a 45-10 UW-Whitewater win to keep the Hawks unbeaten many wondered if Whitewater’s chances of making it back to Salem, Virginia were still alive. After the game Justin told me he planned to be back, maybe as early as the playoff opener. I remember Pat Coleman of D3football.com writing there was no way that would happen.

The following week Beaver had a metal plate surgically placed in his injured shoulder. As promised, six weeks later vs. La Crosse in week-two of the playoffs Justin returned in a big way – like 227 yards rushing on 36 carries. It was plain old-fashioned desire and attitude that Beaver showed to his teammates.

Beaver also had a huge desire to play NFL football following his Warhawk career. Justin prepared relentlessly for his shot at professional football.

In his NFL Pro Day in Madison, Beaver ran the 40-yard dash in 4.41 seconds. That run would have placed him as the fifth-fastest running back at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine, His 3.96-second 20-yard shuttle time was better than any of the Combine backs. And his 24 bench reps would have put him in the top ten among running backs in that category. A group of NFL scouts at the McClain Facility that day couldn’t believe what they had just witnessed. Among the scouts was Green Bay Packers’ general manager Ted Thompson.

Justin was hopeful of being drafted however it was not to be. The 2007 D3 Player of the Year was invited to the Packers’ post-draft rookie minicamp. Despite favorable media coverage and an impressive performance no free agent contract was offered.

Beaver ultimately signed a free agent contract with the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. The then reigning Division 3 Player of the Year caught both the media and fans eye but again the “business side” of professional football appeared again.

Just 10 days after I had traveled to Regina to do Warhawkfootball.com stories on Beaver’s bid to make the Rough Riders roster Justin was cut. He was later signed as a member of Saskatchewan’s 2008 practice squad.

The one thing that has stuck with me on that trip to Regina was Justin telling me that he was giving it his best shot and if he didn’t realize his dream of playing pro football it would then return back to Wisconsin to become a teacher. It is what he went to college to become.

Lets flash forward five years. Justin a successful teacher and coach and is happily married to Amber along with 1 year old Kaiden and “living the dream.

Positive vibes for Blanchard in advance of training camp

(Adjacent photo courtesy of Jose M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune)

For most UW-Whitewater football fans you also either a Green Bay Packer fan or fan of the Chicago Bears, With former UWW quarterback looking for a regular season roster spot with the Bears again this summer all Warhawk fan’s eyes will be shifted towards Bourbonnais, IL. when training camp opens on July 25.

Blanchard spent much of last season on the Bears’ practice squad prior to being released in December as part of roster moves due to late season injuries to players on the active roster. Blanchard was resigned in January to a 2-year, $900 thousand deal.

Blanchard got a second chance to be part of the Bears’ rookie minicamp in May along with veterans’ minicamp in June followed by OTAs.

Lovle Smith was fired following the 2013 season with Marc Trestman moving from the CFL to Chicago to be the Bears’ new head coach. Trestman is a former quarterback and has been known as a “guru” in developing quarterbacks during his professional coaching career.

Young quarterbacks.

Trestman has been impressed at what he has seen so far from Blanchard.

"He's articulate in the verbiage of our offense," Trestman said of Blanchard following rookie minicamp. "Getting the reps has really helped him. He has very good fundamentals. He needs to improve like every quarterback does. But he's got a very good base. The ball easily comes out of his hand as you can see when he's over the top on his throws it's very natural throwing motion. He doesn't have to squeeze the ball hard. He doesn't have to what I would say 'work the ball' -- it comes off his hand very easily and very naturally.”

"He's got some mobility. He's got a long way to go. We're in shorts. I think we'll see a little bit more out of him getting into camp with some pads on when we get into the preseason games we'll see more of what he has."

Blanchard’s helmet. Why? Apparently the footage will be used to evaluate Blanchard and give coaches a better idea of what of what the quarterback sees during play development. According to Chicago Tribune Bears; beat writer Brad Bigge, “For Blanchard, his camera footage could mean a roster spot as he’s currently behind starting quarterback Jay Cutler and back up Josh McCown.”

Some Bears’ “Insiders” say that a strong training camp by Blanchard will likely result in the former U-Dub-Dub quarterback secruring a spot on Chicago’s regular season roster.

Derrick LeVake to be inducted into UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame

The 2013 UW-Whitewater Athletics Hall of Fame will have two former UWW football players who will inducted on Nov. 2, 2013. As previously reported, former All-American nose tackle Brad Arnett’s name was announced earlier this week. On Thursday came the announcement that Derrick LeVake is also a member of UWW’s 2013 Hall of Fame class.

LeVake made quite an impression when playing offensive tackle for the UW-Whitewater Warhawks in the mid-1990’s. LeVake is known as one of the most dominate offensive linemen in Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference history. LeVake earned All-Conference honors The West Allis native took the “long road” to success as a student-athlete at Whitewater and later professional football.

LeVake weighed 185 pounds as a senior in high school at West Allis Central. Following high school he spent four years trained in covert operations that used deadly force. As member of the U.S. Army’s elite Rangers, he jumping out of airplanes during Operation Desert Storm and chased retreating Iraqis back to Baghdad.

Following his military duty, LeVake enrolled at UW-Whitewater weighing 240 pounds and proceeded to have a dominate career both on the football field and on the wrestling mat. In football, Derrick starting his development into a dominate offensive tackle, he blossomed junior and senior seasons resulting in being named a 1st Team All-American both seasons, a finalist for the NCAA Division III Player of the Year in 1997 along with being named the WIAC’s Player of the Year.

LeVake weighed 185 pounds as a senior in high school at West Allis Central. Following high school he spent four years trained in covert operations that used deadly force. As member of the U.S. Army’s elite Rangers, he jumping out of airplanes during Operation Desert Storm and chased retreating Iraqis back to Baghdad.

LeVake was ranked 23rd among offensive tackles in Mel Kiper’s 1998 NFL Draft Preview. Though not drafted, LaVake signed a free agent contract with the Cincinnati Bengals immediately after the draft.. . After an impressive beginning, LeVake was beset by injuries which eventually would take their toll.

The story was the same after LeVake was given the chance to play for Amsterdam in the early-years of NFL-Europe. The former Warhawk played two years with the Admirals.

Following his football career the former Army Ranger began a successful career involving security and safety. . LeVake is a Licensed Private Investigator, a Certified Protection Specialist, a Certified "Refuse To Be A Victim" Workshop Instructor, and a Certified Law Enforcement Firearms Instructor. Businesses, celebrities, athletes and politicians have utilized Mr. LeVake's services as an executive protection agent and/or instructor to meet their individual safety and security needs.

Make plans now to attend UW-Whitewater Football Alumni Weekend on Sept 27 and 28th

The motto of UW-Whitewater football is powered by Tradition.Why the motto?

How about 32 conference champions, 77 All-Americans and 384 (some multi-year) All-Conference players that played for the purple and white (in recent years also back).

Coming up September 27th and 28th, four of those 32 WIAC//WSUC championship teams will be honored at the first UW-Whitewater Football Alumni Weekend Celebration.

The 1978 WSUC championship team will be celebrating its 35th anniversary. The 1988 team its 25th anniversary. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the 1998 championship team while the 2008 Warhawks will mark anniversary No. 5.

The event will include a Friday (9/27) afternoon at the Whitewater Country Club with a Friday evening social and banquet at Randy’s Family Restaurant. A Saturday morning (9/28) brunch followed by a pregame tailgate at Perkins Stadium prior to the Warhawks taking on Waldorf College in a 1 pm non-conference game.

Postcards will be mailed next week to former players from the four squads being honored. A formal brochure will be sent out in late July.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact UW-Whitewater athletics marketing director Leah Thyne at 262-472-1655 (phone), thynel@uww.edu (email), @ Thyne_UWW (twitter)

More stories involving the 2013 UW-Whitewater Football Alumni Weekend Celebration will be published here on the Warhawkfootball.com Newswire throughout the summer.

New Warhawk Hall-of-Famer Brad Arnett has JJ Watt as one of his clients at NX Level

(Editor's Note: The following story on newly announced UW-Whitewater Athletic Hall of Fame member Brad Arnett includes excerpts a story originally published in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

Brad Arnett’s NX Level facility in Waukesha is “home” to dozens of athletes from pre-high school all the way to those already make a living in the NFL. Among Arnett’s clients is Houston Texans’ All-Pro defensive end JJ Watt.

Watt grew up nearby in Pewaukee and in high school started trekking here every morning at 5 or 6, when Arnett opened the building for him. The heat wouldn't be on yet. "It was always freezing in here," said Watt.

"But I wouldn't be where I am today without Brad," said Watt, a defensive end who was Houston's top draft pick (No. 11 overall in 2011). Watt has quickly developed into one of the highest profile defensive players in the NFL. "I'd been working on those combine drills with Brad ever since high school. To have those concepts down I felt like I was ahead of the other guys in terms of my training."

Arnett is a former nose tackle from UW-Whitewater and Wisconsin prior to becoming a strength coach at the universities of Minnesota and Arizona but became disheartened by the win-at-all-costs ethos in college football.

"I don't think we do enough to teach these kids how to take care of themselves and teach them life skills," said Arnett.

A friend of his, John Fina, who played for Arizona and with the Buffalo Bills, introduced Arnett to Joe Panos, the former Bills and UW offensive lineman who began his college career at UW-Whitewater. They established NX Level in May 2005.

Panos, now a sports agent who had a big pay day on Monday when his client, Dallas Cowboy 1st round draft pick Travis Frederick, signed a reported four-year deal with a fifth-year option worth $6.87 million, according to a source. The first three seasons of the deal are guaranteed and feature a $3.37 million signing bonus.

Arnett’s facility has also been the training “home” for a for a number of former UW-Whitewater players. Matt Gifford, a wide receiver on the Warhawks’ 2007 NCAA III national champions, is currently a Sports Performance Enhancement Specialist at NX Level in Waukesha.

Brad Arnett to be inducted into Warhawk Athletic Hall of Fame

The first member of UW-Whitewater’s 2013 Athletic Hall of Fame Class was announced via Twitter this morning (6/24). Brad Arnett who played football for the Warhawks from 1990-1993 will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on December 2nd.

Arnett, who grew up in Fort Atkinson, has been working professionally with athletes of all ages to meet their goals for more than 17 years. He played four years of football at the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater, two of which as a starter, and earned all-conference and All-American honors his senior season of 1993. In 1994 Brad began his career as strength and conditioning coach for University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. After completing his degree in Corporate and Community Health in 1995 at Whitewater and his Master’s degree in Kinesiology in 1996 at the University of Minnesota, Brad remained with the University and worked for over five ½ years as the Director of the Olympic sport strength and conditioning program. Brad is CSCS certified and a USAW club coach.

In 2000, Brad joined the University of Arizona and served as Assistant Athletic Director of strength and conditioning, working specifically with the men’s football and basketball teams as well as overseeing all aspects in regards to the training of Arizona’s 17 other athletic programs. Brad has trained athletes from every professional organization including: NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA, LPGA, UFC, Arena football, Olympic medalist’s (8 athletes that have medaled individually, several others on Olympic and World teams) as well as professional tri-athletes.

UW-Whitewater finishes fourth in the final Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings 2012-13

The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater finished fourth in the final standings of the 2012-13 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup released by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics. The Directors' Cup awards points for a school's finish in national competition. The Warhawks accumulated 895 points during 2012-13, the most ever for a Division III school in Wisconsin, for the highest finish in UW-Whitewater history.

"Placing fourth in the 2012-13 Directors' Cup Standings is an outstanding accomplishment for anyone affiliated with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater," Athletic Director Paul Plinske said. "This historical mark is symbolic of total program success in national competition. I'm hopeful that this success brings our alumni and fans great pride as we continue to proclaim that we are "powered by tradition". I couldn't be more proud of the Warhawks and what they have done to place fourth out of 440 Division III schools. Go Warhawks."

The Warhawks scored points in 15 sports led by the women's basketball team's national runner-up performance. Wrestling took third in their national meet, men's track and field took fourth both the indoor and outdoor national competitions, and women's track and field was seventh in the outdoor meet in May. Other sports contributing to UW-W's point total in national championships were baseball, men's basketball, men's swimming, men's tennis, women's soccer, softball, women's swimming and diving, women's tennis, women's bowling, and women's volleyball.

Whitewater's fourth place finish is the second highest by a Wisconsin school since the inaugural Director's Cup in 1996 when UW-Oshkosh took third. UW-W is the sixth public school to place in the top four since the award's inception and the only public school to finish in the top ten in 2012-13.

Five Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) schools have finished in the top 30 of the 2012-13 NCAA Division III Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup final standings. The standings recognize the best NCAA Division III overall athletics programs in the country. UW-Whitewater posted the highest finish for a WIAC institution since UW-Oshkosh placed third during the 1995-96 academic year, placing fourth with 895 points. UW-Eau Claire was 14th with 672 points, UW-La Crosse 16th with 609, UW-Oshkosh 21st with 550 and UW-Stevens Point 30th with 450.50. The conference has placed at least one team in the top 10 of the standings 17 times in the 18-year history of the award.

Williams College won the Directors' Cup with 1,273.75 points, the Ephs' sixteenth time winning the title. Emory, 986.50, and Middlebury, 941.75, placed second and third respectively with Whitewater fourth. Washington University-St. Louis rounded out the top five with 859.50 points.

Fot the 1st time in eight years UWW represented in the USA-Mexico D3 all-star game

For the first time in eight years UW-Whitewater was represented at the USA vs. Mexico Tazon De Estrellas All-Star Game played annually in Mexico. UWW’s even consecutive postseason trips to the NCAA Division III National Championship Game in Salem, Virginia prevented UW-Whitewater seniors from participating in the all-star game.

UW-Whitewater fullback Bernie Tamsett (Waterford) and defensive tackle Jake Hohlstein (Portage) were selected to the Stars and Stripes roster for the upcoming 2012 Tazon De Estrellas All-Star Game to be played in Guadalajara, Mexico on December 15th.

Tamsett and Hohlstein ended their UW-Whitewater football careers with a 52-3 record, both contributing to three WIAC championships, three NCAA III playoff berths, and three Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl championships for NCAA III titles in 2009, 2010, and 2011.

Forty-four Division III seniors from 26 schools represented the United States in the game that was played at La Fortaleza Azul (The Blue Fortress) against the Conadeip All-Stars of Mexico. The U.S. team entered the game looking to avenge a 45-27 loss suffered in 2011 at the hands of the home team drawn from the national conference of private schools in Mexico.

The Stars and Stripes team won 32-15. UW-Whitewater's Jake Hohlstein led the defense with nine tackles, three tackles for a loss, two quarterback sacks, one fumble forced, and one pass broken up. Bernie Tamsett was a member of several special teams, and was credited with an assisted tackle.

For now I'm looking at colon cancer in my rear view mirror

I'm embarrassed to say that for the first time in 25 years I was forced to miss a UW-Whitewater Football postseason banquet a couple of months ago. I was still a bit weak following several months of battling a tough opponent - colon cancer.

I want to appologize to the 2012 Warhawk football team and UWW fans for my rather sparse coverage on my Warhawkfootball.com ebsite. As I reflect - it was a surrealistic time period for me as I forced myself to keep my primary focus on winning my own battle - a battle against cancer.

Some pretty big news came my way back in mid-February..........

It took ne a while to grasp the February 13th news that seven month's of chemo and radiation has destroyed the tumor that was found in my colon in late May of 2012. Thank you to the many who have given me the will and energy to wage this battle. Your thoughts and prayers have been so inspirational for me and my family!!

As of June 16th I have resumed posting stories on the Warhawkfootball.com Newswire.  It's time for me to "get back in the game!!"