| Editor's note: Throughout the season, Pro Football Weekly will run a
continuing series of articles spotlighting top prospects for the 2002 draft. 
Wisconsin strength coach John Dettman laughs whenever he thinks of the time Wendell
Bryant visited Wisconsin on his recruiting visit as a high school senior.
Bryant was dressed in casual clothes. He fit in well with all of the other recruits
except for one noticeable difference. Bryant was wearing a pair of Strength shoes –
you know, those shoes with the elevated-toe that are designed to strengthen the calf
muscles and increase a player’s vertical jump.
Recruits are not allowed to work out on their college visits, so Dettman was a bit
perplexed. When he asked Bryant why he was wearing Strength shoes, Bryant replied,
"Coach, I’m always working out. I’m always working out."
Dettman knew Bryant was serious when he enrolled at Wisconsin. He rates Bryant’s
work ethic among the best he has encountered, right next to that of San Diego RB Terrell
Fletcher and Cleveland LB Tarek Salah, two former Wisconsin standouts.
"Put it this way," Dettman says, "work-ethic wise, there isn’t
anyone better. If there is someone better walking around, I need to meet him. I don’t
know if I see anyone around here more than I see him. And that’s offseason, inseason,
year-round. There is always something that he is working on. If there is anybody who is
focused on getting better, it’s Wendell.
"Bottom line, he’ll do whatever it takes, whenever it takes. He works hard on
the field, off the field, in the classroom, in the weight room, going the extra step,
doing whatever he needs to do. I consider him an extremely focused kid, who in my opinion,
and I am going on my 12th year here, he may be the best. He’s definitely
in the top two or three of the kids that I’ve seen go through here."
Defensive line and assistant head coach John Palermo realized the depth of
Bryant’s potential as a freshman. Before the first game, he brought Bryant into his
office and told him he was going to play his first year instead of redshirting. Palermo
told him he could help the team win right away.
Bryant wasn’t so sure. He asked Palermo to contact his mother, who raised Bryant
as a single mother. The three of them met and discussed foregoing Bryant’s redshirt
season, where he could have spent more time developing. His mother wanted to make sure he
was ready.
As an 18-year old true freshman, Bryant was inserted into the lineup. He played in all
12 games, started two and capped the season with a dominant performance in the 1999 Rose
Bowl. The backup freshman defensive tackle made four tackles – two for losses –
and batted down two passes at the line of scrimmage. But even more impressive was his sack
on UCLA All-America QB Cade McNown on the Bruins’ final play with 1:07 left to clinch
a 38-31 Rose Bowl victory.
Despite being the focus of double- and triple-team blocks, Bryant has registered five
tackles behind the line of scrimmage in his three bowl appearances. He seems to have a
knack for rising to the occasion in big games, but Wisconsin defensive coordinator Kevin
Cosgrove said the St. Louis native doesn’t play well solely in big games — he
plays huge every game.
"That’s the way he plays all the time," Cosgrove said. "It just
shows more in big games because people look at it more. But no matter who we play, he is
always playing well."
Palermo concurred, citing Bryant’s consistent grades on film every week.
"I would tell you, in four years, probably the worst he has ever graded would
probably be 80 and most of the time, he is in the 90s (out of 100)," Palermo said.
"He makes very few mistakes. And when he does, I let him know about it. He’s
just a pleasure to be around, because he takes criticism very well. He does all the little
things to get better."
After every two-a-day practice in the summer, when most of his teammates are walking up
the hill to the locker room, Bryant is still on the field with his helmet strapped
tightly, hitting pop-up dummies or working on staying low under the cage, trying to
improve his technique.
"He is a coach’s dream," Palermo said. "He is just a special kid.
And I’ve had a lot of special players, but no one like him that is just the total
package."
And Palermo has been around some great players. Palermo compares Bryant’s heart
and passion to one of those special players, who was a consensus All-American at Notre
Dame, where Palermo was an assistant from 1988-89.
"I think Wendell has a tremendous heart and the same passion as Chris
Zorich," Palermo said. "(Bryant) is just a big Chris Zorich. Wendell’s 6-4,
about 305 (pounds). Chris at the time was not real big. He was 6-0, 250-260 (pounds). And
I normally don’t talk about kids like I’m talking about him now. I’ve just
been so pleased with the kid throughout his whole career because, as good of a football
player as he is, he’s a better person and student and everything else."
Bryant, 21, has garnered all-conference academic honors among his many accolades, which
include being the 2000 Big Ten Defensive Lineman of the Year, a 2001 preseason
All-American and team captain this season. Through all his achievements, his mother may be
proudest about seeing her son make the Dean’s List. Palermo said the academic honors
speak volumes about Bryant’s character.
"Some kids you have to chase them to class," Palermo said. "You have to
chase them here and there. I can tell you this, if Wendell has missed one class in four
years, I’d be shocked. That’s just the kind of kid he is."
PFW personnel expert Joel Buchsbaum wrote in his 2001-02 Pro Prospect Preview
(published before the start of the 2001 season) that Bryant could be a top ten draft pick,
but noted some of his weaknesses on the field. Buchsbaum says:
"…He plays hard and will show ability as an inside rusher, but he is
inconsistent to shed blocks. Bryant is quick off the ball and almost sudden at times, and
he shows good instincts and reactions most of the time. He can be very disruptive when he
gets into gaps. At times, he will play end and rush from the outside, but he does not have
a great burst off the edge and great closing speed."
Wisconsin defensive coordinator Cosgrove disagrees, attributing Wisconsin’s gap
control defense for creating the appearance that Bryant is being blocked.
"He doesn’t get blocked," Cosgrove said. "We’re such a
gap-controlled team that it may seem like he is staying in, but he is staying where his
responsibility is until he finds the football. (Buchsbaum) is probably looking at that,
but when we want him to attack, depending on what we are doing, he is a force. And he does
have tremendous closing speed."
Bryant very likely could have been an NFL first-round pick as a junior last year, like
teammates Jamar Fletcher (26th overall pick, Miami) and Michael Bennett (27th
overall pick, Minnesota), but Bryant stayed behind to fulfill a promise he made to his
mother and earn his degree. In Wisconsin’s Big Ten opener vs. Penn State, Bryant
recorded five sacks, tying a Wisconsin record, and helped hold the Nittany Lions to 131
yards of total offense in the Badgers’ 18-6 victory.
"You know the great ones are all the same, going back to Fletcher last year, who
was a first-rounder," Cosgrove said. "Those guys — their practice habits
are so good that everything carries over to the game. I’ve been around some pretty
good players. They all have that same thing in common — they all practice hard, and
not only speed-wise, but fundamentally and technically.
"They are doing things the right way. They are trying to improve themselves every
play. And that carries over to the game. You don’t just play that way in a game. It doesn’t
just happen, no matter how talented you are. It really doesn’t. This is my 22nd
year coaching. I’ve been around a lot of good athletes, but the difference is how
they prepare themselves during the week. And he prepares himself to be a great
player."
Palermo said Bryant’s preparation is best demonstrated in his intellectual
approach to the game. Palermo watches film from the previous day with his defensive
lineman before every practice, but Bryant doesn’t have the patience to wait until the
next day.
"Usually there are only two or three kids that come up after practice,"
Palermo said. "We watch it the next day, but Wendell is so anxious to know what he
needs to improve on for practice the next day that he just can’t stand it. He comes
up and watches film. He is up here every night after practice. He wants to watch where he
screwed up, or where he did well. He studies the game."
He studies the game like NFL scouts have been studying film of him since his freshman
year, according to Cosgrove. He says Bryant’s size and athleticism will definitely
make him a valuable commodity come draft day.
"He has tremendous size for such an athletic guy," Cosgrove said. "The
way he comes off the ball, he’s tough to block. He’s 6-4, he’s
300-something pounds, he runs under a 5-flat 40 (-yard dash), but he’s quick.
He’s quick off the ball. That’s what makes him so tough to block."
Although Bryant weighs in a shade above 300 pounds, he may be even more attractive to
scouts when he stops walking around campus in his Strength shoes and adds some more
weight.
"Some of the kids here have scooters or cars or bicycles," Palermo said.
"Wendell walks everywhere. He’s only about 305 right now. He could carry 325,
330 — but he walks everywhere. He told me when he was a freshman. He said,
‘Coach, I made it my first year without a scooter and a bike. I guess I can make it
my next three.’ He’s a very humble kid. I’m going to miss him tremendously.
He’s like part of the family."
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