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University of Minnesota Athletics
Proving Them Wrong; Junior Linebacker Ben West
10/20/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
One item forcing people to take notice of Ben is his fear of failure. That fear has pushed him in the off-season, making him work harder and maintain his focus to succeed. That fear eventually earned him a starting spot, yet it still lives within him.
"The one thing that really motivates me is the fear of failure," West said. "I always worry about failing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. You just have to remind yourself that you've got to let it loose. That fear of being moved down from the starting position will always be there, but I just have to play through it."
Linebackers coach Greg Hudson places the reasoning behind West's new role on a simple progression. He sees West as a hard worker whose work ethic was reflected in his performance during practice. Whenever one has such a combination, the player can usually expect great things because work ethic begets performance and performance begets playing time.
"Ben has an excellent work ethic, but that wasn't really the deciding factor in having him start," Hudson said. "His work ethic turned into performance in practice. That performance developed over the course of time and turned into playing time for him. He really showed us what he could do and that was formed out of his work ethic and drive."
Ben could have quit or not even given college football a shot. But, with the encouragement of his high school football coach, he passed up opportunities at Wisconsin, Kansas and St. Cloud State to play for the Gophers. Over the past two years, it was that encouragement and the occasional thought to hang it up that gave him the added motivation to keep going.
"I'm not going to say I never doubted myself, it was more of a day-to-day issue," West said. "I had a high school coach who always told me I could do it, I could start. But, everyone has their bad days. Some days you feel you can rule the world and others you just think, 'Maybe I can't do this.' I think those 'can't' days are more motivating than the 'can' days."
Not to say the 'can't' days out-numbered the 'can,' but Ben has obviously harnessed enough motivation to propel into a season in which he has more solo tackles (36) than he did total tackles in his career, 20. In other words, he has proved himself. He has shown that you cannot avoid what Ben West has to offer.
"It's a lot of fun proving people wrong," West said. "A lot of people were shocked and didn't believe I could step into the starting role and succeed, but I think I've shown that I can do it pretty well. Having people not believe in you just motivates you even more. It pushes you to the point of success."
He proved the critics, opponents, media and many others wrong. One of those individuals that never really questioned Ben's ability was Coach Hudson. He watched and evaluated West in practices and confidently claims that placing him on the starting line was one of those decisions that could not be avoided.
"It really wasn't a difficult decision having Ben start," Hudson said. "I always say that the guys make the starting decisions on their own. In an age of video and digital cameras, everything is being watched and evaluated. After evaluating all the options, the decision was easy because of his performance in practice and his hard work."
To the skeptics, it can be said that Ben West was a surprise. But, that was to the skeptics. The rest knew it would be a matter of time before he shined through and proved everybody wrong. And, after a lot of hard work and unmitigated motivation, Ben has become an unavoidable force in the Gopher defense that he knew he could be.
Written by Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Thompson
Ben West. A matter of months ago, many people would have heard that name and associated it with a second-string, walk-on middle linebacker. A matter of months ago, they may have looked at his career statistics and thought 'Twenty tackles for a second string junior, not bad.' But all that has changed, and you simply can't avoid him. Why? Because, now he's starting. Now, he's on scholarship. And, because this season he leads the team in tackles with 51. He is simply unavoidable.
One item forcing people to take notice of Ben is his fear of failure. That fear has pushed him in the off-season, making him work harder and maintain his focus to succeed. That fear eventually earned him a starting spot, yet it still lives within him.
"The one thing that really motivates me is the fear of failure," West said. "I always worry about failing, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. You just have to remind yourself that you've got to let it loose. That fear of being moved down from the starting position will always be there, but I just have to play through it."
Linebackers coach Greg Hudson places the reasoning behind West's new role on a simple progression. He sees West as a hard worker whose work ethic was reflected in his performance during practice. Whenever one has such a combination, the player can usually expect great things because work ethic begets performance and performance begets playing time.
"Ben has an excellent work ethic, but that wasn't really the deciding factor in having him start," Hudson said. "His work ethic turned into performance in practice. That performance developed over the course of time and turned into playing time for him. He really showed us what he could do and that was formed out of his work ethic and drive."
Ben could have quit or not even given college football a shot. But, with the encouragement of his high school football coach, he passed up opportunities at Wisconsin, Kansas and St. Cloud State to play for the Gophers. Over the past two years, it was that encouragement and the occasional thought to hang it up that gave him the added motivation to keep going.
"I'm not going to say I never doubted myself, it was more of a day-to-day issue," West said. "I had a high school coach who always told me I could do it, I could start. But, everyone has their bad days. Some days you feel you can rule the world and others you just think, 'Maybe I can't do this.' I think those 'can't' days are more motivating than the 'can' days."
Not to say the 'can't' days out-numbered the 'can,' but Ben has obviously harnessed enough motivation to propel into a season in which he has more solo tackles (36) than he did total tackles in his career, 20. In other words, he has proved himself. He has shown that you cannot avoid what Ben West has to offer.
"It's a lot of fun proving people wrong," West said. "A lot of people were shocked and didn't believe I could step into the starting role and succeed, but I think I've shown that I can do it pretty well. Having people not believe in you just motivates you even more. It pushes you to the point of success."
He proved the critics, opponents, media and many others wrong. One of those individuals that never really questioned Ben's ability was Coach Hudson. He watched and evaluated West in practices and confidently claims that placing him on the starting line was one of those decisions that could not be avoided.
"It really wasn't a difficult decision having Ben start," Hudson said. "I always say that the guys make the starting decisions on their own. In an age of video and digital cameras, everything is being watched and evaluated. After evaluating all the options, the decision was easy because of his performance in practice and his hard work."
To the skeptics, it can be said that Ben West was a surprise. But, that was to the skeptics. The rest knew it would be a matter of time before he shined through and proved everybody wrong. And, after a lot of hard work and unmitigated motivation, Ben has become an unavoidable force in the Gopher defense that he knew he could be.
Written by Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant Tarcy Thompson
