Moffitt stays for right reasons

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON, WIS.

As he prepares for his final college football game, fifth-year senior guard John Moffitt ponders what might have been.

What if Moffitt, fed up with school and exhausted after a draining 2009 season, hadn’t given the Wisconsin staff a late heads-up that he was planning to enter the NFL draft?

What if offensive coordinator Paul Chryst and head coach Bret Bielema had pushed hard for him to stay rather than gathering the facts and allowing Moffitt to make an informed choice?

What if Moffitt had trusted his initial leaning and bolted for big bucks rather than stay and try to win a Big Ten Conference title?

“I just think it is amazing how much you can grow in one year,” said Moffitt, who started all 12 games at left guard this season and was a first-team All-American. “And I really have grown a lot. If I had left, it would have been one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

Although Moffitt played well in UW’s 20-14 upset of No. 14 Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl, his body was worn down and he was ready for a new life.

When he informed Bielema he was leaving for the NFL, only a few days before the deadline for underclassmen to formally declare for the draft, UW’s head coach tried to gather as much objective information as possible so his player could make an informed rather than emotional decision.

Chryst, familiar with the NFL from his days as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers, didn’t browbeat Moffitt in an effort to keep him on the team.

“Coach Chryst said, which made a lot of sense to me, is that you want to give yourself the best shot possible because it is one shot,” Moffitt explained. “And you’re not really doing that right now.”

So Moffitt changed his mind and stayed. Later that winter he discovered he had a hernia injury that required surgery. Had that injury been discovered during a medical exam before the draft, the consequences could have been dire.

Instead, Moffitt stayed on UW’s roster, played his best football and helped UW win a share of the Big Ten title.