In his final season at Kansas State, Ian Campbell enters 2008 after earning All-Big 12 honors from league coaches a year ago. Campbell played most of the season at linebacker, but will make the full-time switch to defensive end this season. Here's what Wildcats' team captain has to say about footwear, his hometown and what motivates him.
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"I wear my cowboy boots all the time. I've got several pairs. You won't ever catch me in flip flops.”
"My hometown (Cimarron, Kan.) is full of great, down-to-earth, ordinary people. It's the salt of the earth. What's great about that place is that it's such a small town that a lot of people there really did raise me. I had two or three people I could have called mom. With lots of people, I could literally walk into their house and go straight into their pantry. And there's a lot of people I did that to. I used to raid my neighbor's kitchen all the time. It was a great place. I had 20 or 30 kids that I always played games with. We played football a lot. I had a great experience growing up there.”
"A big chunk of my motivation comes from when I was younger and people told me that I couldn't do this or that. Now, I know I can do it. I don't want that to sound cocky, but I know I can do a lot of things. I don't need to be told by somebody that I can or can't do it. I have my own goals and my own aspirations. I want to achieve those goals and aspirations and not worry about disproving others.”
"Balancing football and school is tough. But, when you grow up, you have to be able to balance things. You've got to balance money. You have to balance your family, your wife, your kids, your job. That's one of the things that is great about college athletics is that is prepares young men and women for that balancing act. It's not always easy, sometimes it's hard. But there are going to be a lot harder moments in your life than college.”
"I want to live the dream. Go to the national championship and go to the NFL.”
By Mike Jeffries
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I wish him the best. He is a good kid. I officiated his last high school game, he got the ball on the last play, they were down by less than a TD if I remember correctly, and he had to have drug people 20 yards. He has heart. He wouldn't quit. I wish him well.
Ian Campbell of Kansas State will move from linebacker to defensive end this season. BY JOHN CLANTON, THE OKLAHOMAN
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