Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1169907
n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . M I C H I G A N S T A T E 25 25 NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL || 2019 YEARBOOK A lifelong New England Patriots fan, he finds it surreal that he's even mentioned as a likely 2020 NFL draft pick. After watching his idol, Tom Brady, lead the Patriots to their first Super Bowl in 2002, an elated Joe told his dad that he, too, wanted to play in the NFL. But, as so often happens, that lofty dream took a backseat to more modest pursuits in the years that followed. "Junior year of high school I started getting recruited, and I started thinking it would be really cool if I could play college football, and I forgot about those little kid goals," says Joe. "Eventually, I got to Northwestern and I just wanted to play, and the next year I wanted to contribute and make plays. The next year my goal was to start, then the next year I wanted to be an All-Big Ten player. Even though I achieved those goals, I still forgot about the little kid goal of playing in the NFL. Now it's come full circle; people are talking about me in the NFL and it's cool because that's how I fell in love with this game originally." He came to Northwestern four years ago looking for a great education and hoping to make some lifelong memories on the field; now he's looking at a pro career, with a chance to suit up alongside his heroes. Joe talks a lot about making the most of every opportunity, and where he's at today, not to mention where he's going, is proof positive that he's done just that, but not only in a football sense. In Evanston, he says, he had a unique opportunity to grow as a person and become a better version of himself. "Every preseason, we go over different values as a team," says Joe. "Character is a big one and so is trust… and Coach Fitzgerald makes it clear that that goes beyond football; it's about being a good son, a good sibling, and eventually a good husband and father. Having those values and people who stay true to them is something you can't find outside of Northwestern. It shows in how we play, but it helps you off the field, too, because you're trying to live up to the expectations of being a Wildcat man." After saying that, Joe pauses for a moment and imagines himself years from now. Maybe he's wrapping up a hall-of-fame career, or maybe he's found success in another walk of life outside football. Whatever he's doing and wherever he is when that time comes, he's certain of one thing: "When I look back, Northwestern will have been the biggest stepping stone I could have possibly had."