Wieclaw Can't Wait for Hurricane (Football) Season to Arrive

When Jake Wieclaw was a young boy, he started kicking around a soccer ball in the back yard. His mother enrolled him in his first competitive league at the age of 7.

The question of why soccer is one that can be answered easily enough.

“His older brother Matt played soccer,” said New Lenox resident Theresa Wieclaw. “He was following in his brother’s footsteps.”

Before long, Jake was blazing his own trails. In the view of those watching him closest, he went from ordinary to extraordinary in a blink of an eye.

He played year-round travel soccer with the Chicago Magic until he was a sophomore at Lincoln-Way Central High School. Then, he decided to devote himself to American football. He quickly developed into a reliable wide receiver and record-setting placekicker for the Knights.

Today, he is a fifth-year senior at the University of Miami, a pre-season All-America candidate and one of 30 kickers on the Lou Groza Award watch list. The award is presented annually to the nation’s top collegiate placekicker.

“For me, it’s hard work paying off,” Wieclaw said of what it means to be on the Groza watch list. “I worked really, really hard going into last season. And I’ve been working really, really hard preparing for this season. It’s a great honor, something I’ve very proud of, but at the same time I know those things don’t come easy.”

Wieclaw, a Groza Award semifinalist a year ago, stamped his footprint in the Florida sand during a memorable junior year with the Hurricanes, his first as a starter. He made 11-of-14 field goals and 29 straight extra-point attempts. The highlight was his 36-yard game-winning field goal as time expired in Miami’s 6-3 victory over South Florida on Nov. 19 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, home of the Buccaneers.

His parents were setting on the edge of their seats in the stands at the time.

“They iced him twice,” Theresa Wieclaw recalls of South Florida’s tactic to call two timeouts before the dramatic finish. “But he made it. We were staying with a friend of mine that I’ve known since second grade—Pennye Garcia.

“The funny part is her daughter went to USF. She had on all her ‘Bulls’ stuff but was sitting in the Miami section anyway. It was awesome to be able to share that moment with her.”

Wieclaw an Academic Whiz, Too

Wieclaw also handled kickoff duties for the ’Canes and was credited with limiting opponents to an average of 18.6 yards per return last season. He returns for an encore performance with his diploma in hand and his future in the making.

He graduated in May with degrees in business and geography. His mother said he might like to become a coach one day.

“Who knows?” she said. “We’ll have to wait and see what life brings him.”

There is a chance Wieclaw could win a very big trophy, the one named after NFL Hall of Famer Lou “The Toe” Groza. And he could be selected in the NFL Draft.

“I’m not exactly too sure how it all works,” Wieclaw said of the draft process. “I believe as long as I have a good year, the best will work out for me.”

“I think he’s blessed to be living his dream,” Theresa Wieclaw said. “Every kid that goes into football wants to grow up and play in the NFL.  They pretend, ‘I’m so and so.’ Not many get a chance to do that. All you can do is pray that your kids grow up and do a little better than you do, that they have a chance to live their dreams. Every day he can do that is a gift.”

Wieclaw's Humble Start in Football

The irony is Wieclaw wasn’t presented with a chance—let alone a gift—when he first enrolled in Pop Warner football ranks. He started out with the New Lenox Mustangs.

“He was in fourth grade and his coach said, ‘We don’t kick at this age,’ ” Theresa Wieclaw said. “So, the next year, one of the coaches—Pat Athans—said, ‘Who can kick?’ Once Jake hit that first ball, he said, ‘You’re our kicker.’ We knew he could kick. My husband (Scott) wanted him to kick. In the Mustangs program, if you kick an extra-point after a touchdown it’s worth double—two points. If you run, it’s one point.”

“I knew he had the potential and the desire,” Scott Wieclaw said. “His dream is to play in the NFL. It’s a slim shot. But he still would love to do that. That’s every kid’s dream, isn’t it?”

Wieclaw is racing these days to reach the finish line. Miami opens Sept. 1 at Boston College.

“I do the same workouts as the rest of the guys on our team,” he said. “The whole team runs. The whole teams lifts. The difference is what I do outside of those team workouts. With kickers and the special teams units, we do our own thing depending on the day. We might focus on field goals one day. I’ll work with my snapper and holder to get comfortable and get the timing down.

“If I’m not doing that, I’m working on kickoffs, trying to get more height and more distance. If I’m not kicking, I’m working on core strength and flexibility and hip strength. You’ve got to be fast. You’ve got to be strong. And you’ve got to be flexible to make it as a kicker.

“It’s a repetitive thing, yes, like golf. You have to have a stroke you can repeat.”

COMING FRIDAY: Log on at 6 a.m. Friday and relive the thrill of Jake Wieclaw's game-winning kick against South Florida.