In The Locker Room With Senior Linebacker Chad Wallerstedt
Oct 22, 2001 | Football
Oct. 22, 2001
MANHATTAN, Kan. -
- by Erica Courtright, Kansas State Sports Information student assistant
The historic Colosseum towers over the landscape's horizon. The 2,000-year-old structure, which once hosted crowds of spectators, gladiators and wild beasts, now stands in ruins, empty and silent against the Roman sky.
The surrounding Italian countryside with fertile green valleys and abundant mountain forests harbors the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa and bears roots to great names like Michelangelo and da Vinci. On nearly all sides of the boot-shaped landmass, hues of blue and cyan drape the boundaries of the terrain as vast seas seem to overwhelm the view.
It's unlike anything K-State linebacker Chad Wallerstedt had ever seen before.
The scene was a stark contrast to the John Deere shades of green dotting the rolling seas of golden grain that span the deep blue backdrop of the Kansas skyline.
But Wallerstedt, a senior in landscape architecture, left the comfort of Kansas to spend last spring semester studying abroad in Italy. He traveled with a group of 32 K-State students and teachers as part of a program within the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. The K-State group joined a group of about 60 students from Texas A&M and 10 students from Colorado State at a student study center in Castel Fiorentino, Italy.
"I've just always wanted to live in a foreign country," he said, "and I've always been interested in Italy. That is pretty much the birthplace of architecture."
While studying there, Wallerstedt found himself surrounded by examples of the world's finest painting, sculpture and architecture, masterpieces that characterize the Italian culture's history.
"I had the best time over there," he said. "It was in a perfect location. I could hop on a train anytime I wanted and go to Florence, and I was two hours away from Rome."
Months later, ink sketches in a pocket-sized notebook and albums of photographs enhance his memory of those trips. But Italy seems far from Manhattan, Kan., especially for a K-State football player and budding architect at the height of the Wildcat football season.
The demands on a Division I athlete are high, as are the demands on an architecture student. Coaches expect long hours on the field and in the weight room, and instructors expect long hours in the studio. Balancing the two can be nearly impossible.
Ask Wallerstedt.
"It's tough sometimes," he said. "I go to class all day, and then I go straight to practice, then go back to studio until two or three in the morning. Basically, I just go on very little amounts of sleep."
Wallerstedt said his "never quit" attitude sees him through, but there are still times when the twofold pressure is almost too much.
"Sometimes I've been really overwhelmed," he said, "especially when I stay up all night to do a project and then have to go to practice the next day on no sleep."
The strength coaches may have seen Wallerstedt's exhaustion at its worst, he said, especially when he had 7:30 a.m. classes that forced him to lift at 6 a.m., sometimes after pulling an all-nighter.
"That wasn't too fun," he said. "Sometimes I would have to lay down in the locker room a little bit and take a 10 minute nap before I had to lift weights in the morning."
Still, he has continued playing to the admiration of his teammates.
Senior tight end Nick Warren, who roomed with Wallerstedt during their freshman year, said he has a great deal of respect for his old roommate.
"Everybody realizes Chad is someone who has a great attitude," Warren said. "Managing to do all he's done shows a lot about his character. He's very goal-oriented, and he understands what his role is on this team."
Unlike his cousin Matt who was all-conference linebacker at K-State in 1987 or his cousin Brett who was an All-American at Arizona State and went on to play in the NFL for five seasons, Wallerstedt has seen very little action on the field.
Warren said Wallerstedt's contribution to the program comes mainly on scout teams.
"He probably would have wanted to have a bigger role on Saturdays," Warren said, "but he plays a large part during the week in helping everyone to get ready. I know he's helped us out a lot on offense."
Without playing time as an incentive, it's difficult to see why Wallerstedt would continue the juggling act. After all, there hasn't been a football player who earned a degree in architecture since 1962. But Wallerstedt said he has his reasons for continuing.
Three reasons to be exact.
"Actually, I gave a speech about that to my team earlier this year," he said. "I just kind of wanted to share with the guys why I was still playing. Because, hey, I'm a walk-on. I'm not getting any money. I can probably count the games I've played in on one hand, so why am I still doing it?"
Wallerstedt said he's driven by a love of football, the game he's grown up loving, and his upbringing.
"I was raised always to never give up, never to quit," he said. "My dad always told me that when I was growing up, so I just always stayed with it."
Wallerstedt said the third reason he continues to play is because of the friends he has made on the team.
"I'd miss those guys too much," he said. "Like when I was overseas I missed hanging around with the guys. It was really great when I came back that first day and everybody was coming over to me and telling me how much they missed me and stuff. It was nice to be missed by those guys, too."
But, in less than three months, Wallerstedt realizes it will be time to say goodbye to a lot of it. His football career will draw to a close, and the memories will begin to fade, the cheering fans growing gradually quiet in his mind like the ancient crowds at the great Roman Colosseum.
He will continue working toward his architecture degree, and in December 2002 he should finish, also with a minor in community planning. Like the victorious Roman gladiators, he will have beaten the odds.
When Wallerstedt told his academic advisor he wanted to play football and study architecture his freshman year, he was told it would never work.
"It's kind of like I've always had something to prove," he said.
But Wallerstedt said he's always been confident about his chances for success."I always finish what I start," he said.
