Asmussen | Mendenhall happy to have Bielema on Illini side
Sep. 16—CHAMPAIGN — Oh yeah, Rashard Mendenhall roots for Bret Bielema ... now. He is the coach, after all, at the newest Illinois Hall of Famer's alma mater.
"Bielema is a heckuva coach," Mendenhall said Friday afternoon at the Bielfeldt Athletics Administration Building. "To see what he's done in a short time, to see Illinois be competitive in each and every game they play, the guys that are coming in, the way guys relate to him, I'm just excited."
But back in Mendenhall's days — the 2005 to 2007 seasons — Illinois' No. 5 was not much of a Bielema booster.
You see, Bielema was coaching at Wisconsin — as the defensive coordinator in 2005 before he was elevated to head coach in 2006 following Barry Alvarez's retirement. With an obvious goal to stop the Illinois star running back.
"The first time we met, we were on opposite sidelines," Mendenhall said. "I was a little leery as a player."
The Wisconsin part of Bielema seems to be fading. Illinois is his priority.
"We're with him. We're for him. (Athletic director) Josh Whitman knows what he's doing," Mendenhall said. "He wouldn't have brought him here if this wouldn't be the results. Excited to see this program continue to grow."
For the record, Mendenhall got the better of Bielema in their final matchup, running for 160 yards and scoring three touchdowns (one on a reception) in a 31-26 home win against the Badgers. That victory, and wins against Penn State and Ohio State, helped the Illini earn a berth in the Rose Bowl.
Welcome back
Mendenhall returned to the Illinois campus this week for the first time since 2018.
He appreciates the Hall call.
"This means everything to be honored here at my alma mater," Mendenhall said. "Growing up and seeing the names and the pictures on the walls, in (Red) Grange and (George) Halas and the great Jim Grabowski."
A four-star recruit at Niles West, Mendenhall had plenty of college options. But Illinois was where he wanted to be.
"Illinois is home," Mendenhall said. "It's always been."
He remembers a picture of himself as young kid, wearing an Illinois sweatshirt when the family was living in California.
"Growing up, we didn't watch much football," he said. "But what I do remember seeing Illinois play and seeing that orange end zone with the those white letters that said 'Illinois.' Being a kid from Illinois, that just felt like home."
Football was one of his talents that made Mendenhall special.
"When I had the ball in my hands as a fast kid, that was the one time nobody could tell me to slow down," Mendenhall said. "Football is like, 'No, go, let loose. Be all of who you are.' Football is an expression of who I am and how I feel. What we did as brothers together will always stick with me and remain."
The team that reached the Rose Bowl in 2008 was a combinations of newcomers (Arrelious Benn, Martez Wilson), young stars (Juice Williams, Vontae Davis, Mendenhall) and veteran standouts (J Leman, Martin O'Donnell).
It was a unique merger that worked.
"We finally had all the pieces,"Mendenhall said.
Mendenhall had a sizable cheering section at Friday night's Hall of Fame induction ceremony at State Farm Center. Mendenhall and wife Sandra were joined by Rashard's mom Sibyl, brother Walter, and other family and friends.
Rashard and Sandra live in Los Angeles with their three kids, son Mantis and twin daughters Sifa and Sagan.
The couple met when Rashard was a rookie with the Pittsburgh Steelers. She was his dance instructor. Besides Memorial Stadium and campus, was there a "must see" for Mendenhall in his return to Champaign-Urbana?
"All roads lead back to KAMS," he said.
Cool career path
Mendenhall left Illinois with a year of eligibility remaining. Pete Carroll, then in charge at Southern California and now the boss of the Seahawks, let Mendenhall know it was time to turn pro after his Rose Bowl performance.
Against the Trojans, Mendenhall ran for 155 yards and caught five passes for another 59 yards.
"He told me right after that game, 'Man, you were awesome. There is no reason for you to be in school. You go to the NFL. I better not see you in college. The way you carved us up, you have nothing else to prove,'" Mendenhall recalled.
The No. 23 overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft, Mendenhall made his first career start in the fourth game. But he suffered a broken shoulder on a hit from Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis and was out for the season. Mendenhall returned in 2009 and had his first 1,000-yard season with 1,108 yards and seven touchdowns. He was even better in 2010 with 1,273 yards and 13 scores.
Mendenhall retired after six years in the NFL with the Steelers and Cardinals.
Mendenhall had seen many teammates struggle with life after football.
"I knew when I was going into the NFL, the moment I felt it was complete for me, I would stop. That I would be done," Mendenhall said. "When you stay in the game too long, whether you are doing well or not, people start to say you're past your prime or you are getting old. I don't think running backs are given the opportunity to mature the way other positions were."
By retiring early, Mendenhall avoided a physical toll that catches up to players later in life.
"I took a lot of wear off of me by stopping at that time and I'm glad I have," the 36-year-old Mendenhall said. "I play in some basketball leagues and I'm able to be out and active and have some of my athleticism.
He had a "post-football plan," one that didn't involve the game.
Mendenhall started a writing and production company with Sandra: Nappy Rose Productions in California.
Besides television and film work, they produce traditional publishing, poetry and music. Currently, the television and film actors and screenwriters are on strike in a dispute with the major studios. Of course, it impacts some of Nappy Rose Productions business.
But the music side has continued.
"Writing is a sword that I carry and all forms of that," Mendenhall said. "We've made that a part of our company what we do."
Mendenhall's company has its own projects in the works and "some things on the table we can get to once the strike is figured out."
When Mendenhall saw his show "Ballers" streaming with no check in the mail, "it really hit home why we're in a strike."
"Ballers," starring Dwayne Johnson as a former player turned agent, helped Mendenhall move into screenwriting.
HBO was putting together its writing staff and hired Mendenhall for a short run.
"They said, 'You're pretty good at this. We want you to stick with us,'" Mendenhall said.
Two weeks turned into 20 weeks, which turned into five seasons.
He has his hand in all 45 episodes, working as a staff writer, story editor, executive story editor and producer the final two seasons.
Mendenhall learned there are positives to writing over playing football.
"You don't get hit," he said. "You write scenes about people getting hit, getting lit up."
