Rams News

Grant Wistrom at a glance
04/18 11:03 PM

By Jim Thomas
Of the Post-Dispatch Staff

Full name: Grant Alden Wistrom.

Nickname: Boog (father gave it to him when he was young).

Birthday: July 3, 1976

College major: Biological sciences (pre-pharmacy). Carries a grade-point average of approximately 3.7 on a 4.0 scale.

High school sports: Football, basketball, track and field.

Youth sports: Pop Warner football, Little League baseball.

Summer jobs: Worked at driving range in high school; worked at camp for at-risk youth in college. Last summer he was an intern for the Nebraska Pharmacy Association.

Parents: Ron and Kathy Wistrom of Webb City, Mo.

Marital status: Single.

Hobbies: Golf, watching TV.

Superstitions: ``I have worn the same T-shirt since freshman year. It is a rag, but I tie a piece of it on my uniform.''

The most interesting thing about me is: ``I have a new puppy.''

After football, I want to: ``Be a pharmacist or coach high school football.''

Jersey number: 98 in college; no pro preference listed.

(Source: Rams' ``player information sheet.'')

A sampling of Wistrom's college football honors


> 1997 Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman).
> Two-time first-team All-American
> Two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year
> Two-time Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player-of-the-Year finalist.
> Two-time first-team Academic All-American.
> One of only two Nebraska players to win Academic All-America and football All-America honors in successive seasons (Dave Rimington 1981-82 was the other).


What others have said about Wistrom

> Baylor quarterback Jeff Watson: ``Grant Wistrom hit me on a play where I dropped back to pass and I thought I broke my jaw. He put his helmet into my ear hole and that was the hardest hit I've ever had in football. I could hear the crowd go `Oooo.' So I knew it must have looked awful, too.''

> Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride: ``I think it is in his genes. He's always been a worker, every day. Everything he does is at full speed. He's a kid you can depend on, on and off the field. He's a loyal person. He has all the qualities you'd want from an All-America player.''

> Colorado assistant coach Chuck Heater: ``Wistrom is the kind of player who comes right through you. He'll just walk you right back to the quarterback with his strength. But he's also fast enough to go around you.''

> Nebraska defensive tackle Jason Peter: ``He's incredibly intense. I can honestly say that every down in practice he's going as hard as if it was a game. He does not let up, and from everybody I've seen, he's the best player in his position in the country.''

ARCHIVE

HOME