MOSS PROVES . . . : He’s No Joke : Badger Back Hopes to Have Last Laugh on His Detractors

Everyone wants to see you fail, or so it has always seemed to Brent Moss.

Even now that he has led Wisconsin out of the Big Ten Conference cellar, becoming the first Badger in nearly two decades to lead the conference in rushing, Moss knows that some are waiting to see him trip.

Those who take pleasure in Moss’ misfortunes--and he has had his share--are like the ones who called Moss’ dorm room to harass him when he was a freshman. Moss sat out the season because he was academically ineligible.

“Hey, Brent,” the callers would say, “what’s two plus two?”

Moss didn’t think that was funny.

Moss eventually regained his eligibility, after the NCAA recently amended its requirements for standardized test scores, and will return to Wisconsin to play his senior season next year.

And now that Moss has led Wisconsin (9-1-1, 6-1-1 Big Ten) to its first Rose Bowl appearance in 31 years, against UCLA (8-3, 6-2 Pacific 10 Conference) on Saturday, Moss doesn’t receive those prank calls anymore. But he will never forget them.

Much as he will never forget every time he has been tackled.

*

It’s hard to imagine that Moss, whose 14 touchdowns led the conference this season, disliked football when he played on his first organized team at Washington Park High in Racine, Wis.

“I guess it was just the work I had to do,” Moss said. “I was the type of person that, I just wanted to play, I didn’t want to do anything else.”

But under the guidance of Coach Phil Dobbs, Moss learned to love the sport, and soon had high aspirations.

Moss used to share his dreams of playing college football with his best friend, Todd Harris.

In high school, Moss and Harris were inseparable.

“There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for him and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for me,” Moss said. “He was the only one, back then, telling me that I could go all the way. He knew that I could (play in college) and someday he was going to be watching me.”

His senior season, Moss rushed for more than 2,000 yards and scored 31 touchdowns. He became one of the state’s most sought-after recruits and seemed to be on top of the world.

Then, one night in 1990, Harris was shot in the chest during a confrontation at a nightclub and later died.

“That changed my life,” Moss said.

Perhaps because of Harris, Moss decided that he wanted to stay close to his home and his family when he went to school.

Moss turned down Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State, among others, and made the unlikely decision to go to Wisconsin after Barry Alvarez, in his first year as Badger coach, convinced Moss that the run would be emphasized.

But, for Moss, the life of the star recruit faded quickly during his first year at Wisconsin. He had failed to meet the NCAA’s minimum requirements for standardized test scores and had to forfeit his freshman season. He could not practice with the team or receive a scholarship.

Shortly after Moss arrived, intent on using the year to get acclimated to the academic demands, the mocking phone calls began.

J.C. Dawkins, currently a junior wide receiver for the Badgers, was a teammate of Moss’ in high school and his roommate during their freshman year at Wisconsin.

Outwardly, Dawkins would get more upset than Moss about the phone calls. But Moss was deeply hurt.

Moss was so angry, in fact, that he considered leaving school.

“I felt like no one up here appreciated me and (they) didn’t like me,” Moss says.

To compound matters, Moss suffered a sprained ankle before the 1991 season and lost the starting tailback job to Terrell Fletcher.

Through all of Moss’ aggravation, Stacy Johnson, Moss’ girlfriend from high school, stuck by him.

In the spring of 1992, Johnson gave birth to Moss’ son, Cyrus Johnson-Moss.

Taking care of Cyrus has added a whole new dimension to Moss’ life--responsibility.

“In the middle of the night, he wants something to drink and you have to get up,” Moss said.

Cyrus also has given Moss a new appreciation for his own father, Henry, who worked hard as a field services manager for an oil company in Racine to make ends meet for the family while Brent was growing up. Now, with Cyrus, Moss realizes it is his turn to provide similar support.

“I have to look at whatever I’m doing, in school or playing football, that is going to take care of my son just the way that my father took care of me,” Moss said.

But it hasn’t always been easy. Last fall, Moss was arrested and spent the night in jail after an argument with Johnson became so loud that neighbors called the police. Charges were later dropped.

“I’ve had some tough times with my girlfriend,” Moss said. “She has stuck by me.”

While Johnson is one of few who have been there since the beginning for Moss, others are beginning to show their support for him.

Moss was voted the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year this season after rushing for 1,479 yards in 276 carries. He is Wisconsin’s first all-conference tailback since Billy Marek in 1975. Moss is the first Badger to lead the Big Ten in rushing since Marek in 1974.

Moss’ accomplishments this season are even more impressive because he has shared the position with Fletcher, who has gained 932 yards in 158 carries and scored nine touchdowns.

In a scheme designed by Jim Hueber, running backs coach, Moss plays the first two series of a game and is taken out. Then, Fletcher plays for the next two series. Whichever one does better plays for the rest of the game.

Both Moss and Fletcher said they were less than satisfied with the two-back plan, but have learned to live with it.

“I can’t cry about it, I just make the most of the situation,” Fletcher said.

And having two quality tailbacks has benefited the Badgers.

“The ability for both of them to play in the same game and to stay fresh and to make defenses have to play against tailbacks with those skills has really helped us,” Hueber said.

Their styles of play are very different. Moss, 5 feet 9, 205 pounds, runs at opponents.

“He wants to slam it at you and find a way to get through the hole, if he has to run over you, he will,” Hueber said.

When Moss doesn’t have the ball, he’s not afraid to throw a block, which Moss said he views as “returning a favor” for his offensive line.

Joe Panos, a senior right tackle, appreciates Moss’ attitude.

“I love blocking for Brent because of the way he runs,” Panos said. “He would rather go through you than around you.”

Fletcher, 5-9, 195 pounds, with better stop-and-go skills than Moss, would rather slide through a hole than act like a human hammer.

Much of the success of the Wisconsin running game goes to its veteran offensive line, which includes three first-team all-conference selections: junior center Cory Raymer, junior left guard Joe Rudolph and Panos, who jokingly demands Moss’ travel money on every trip as payment for blocking for him.

Not many joke around with Moss, whose quiet intensity can be disarming.

Moss intimidated Wisconsin’s sports information director when the two first met because of his steely gaze.

Said Hueber: “(Moss) likes to pick and choose who he is going to talk to.”

And Moss’ personality has not changed under the national spotlight.

Moss’ success this season sparked speculation that he might forgo his senior season of eligibility and make himself available for the NFL draft.

But when the regular season ended earlier this month, Alvarez consulted with several contacts in the NFL on Moss’ behalf, asking them to evaluate where Moss might go in the draft.

Their evaluation--that Moss probably would not be drafted in the first three rounds--persuaded Moss to play for Wisconsin next season with the hope that his stock will rise.

Moreover, there is another group that Moss hopes to impress next season: Heisman Trophy voters.

*

Moss is wearing a hip-length leather coat, jeans and a baseball cap as he sits stiffly on a red vinyl couch in a wood-paneled lounge in Wisconsin’s Camp Randall Stadium.

He looks at the floor as he softly answers questions from a reporter.

Moss is talking about the events that have had the greatest impact on his life.

But he is not talking about how he has just helped Wisconsin to one of its most successful seasons since 1901 or how he finished the season third in the nation in rushing, averaging 134.5 yards.

Instead, Moss is talking about the hard times.

“That’s the way it is,” Moss said, looking up suddenly, “people want to see you fail.”

And maybe in the Rose Bowl, when thousands of red-clad Wisconsin fans are screaming his name, he will get to look at the camera and tell those prank callers--and the nation--once and for all, that he is not a failure.