JARED ABBREDERIS When the Badgers invited Abbrederis to walk-
on, there was a condition. "They were bringing me in as a receiver who could play quarterback on the scout team,'' he said. No more, no less, no real expectations. How did he feel about that?
"I really didn't know how it worked,'' he said.
"But I told them, 'OK, I'm coming. I'll just work and see what happens.' That's my mindset all the time. Work hard and you can achieve what you want.''
Abbrederis didn't want to sound over-confi- dent, but he pointed out, "I had the opportunity
to run track here. If I didn't think I could play (football) I would have done track.'' That mindset and work ethic are by-products of his wrestling background in high school. "Wrestling was great for showing that you were mentally tough,'' he said. "It was you and one other guy out there (on the mat) and if you made a mistake, you had to man-up to it. "In practices, the only way you could get bet-
ter was to push through the pain. Wrestling is the toughest sport I've ever done. I didn't have to cut much weight; I don't have much body fat. "Maybe I'd skip a meal here or there.''
