Better Know a Badger: Maema Njongmeta
Wisconsin's 2019 signing class will be moving up to Madison in June, so BadgerBlitz.com reached out to the newest members of the UW roster to get their thoughts as they prepare to start their college careers.
Maema Njongmeta, a three-star inside linebacker from Lincolnshire, Ill., verbally committed to Wisconsin not long after receiving an offer from the coaching staff. He spoke with BadgerBlitz.com this past Tuesday about his decision to come to Wisconsin, his current plans for a college major (and minor) and more.
Miss an interview? Catch up here:
RB Julius Davis | CB James Williams | TE Hayden Rucci | CB Dean Engram | OL Joe Tippmann | DE Gio Paez | DT Keeanu Benton | OLB Skyler Meyers | S Titus Toler | FB Quan Easterling | TE Clay Cundiff
How many days away is it until you head to Madison? Have you been counting them down?
Maema Njongmeta: “Yes, 11 days, and yes, I have been counting them down. I’ve been counting it down since it was like 170 days back in December. It went from triple digits to double digits to almost single digits to days left, so I’m very excited.”
How was the trip up to Madison for the open practice in April? How was it seeing a good chunk of Wisconsin signees together again?
Maema Njongmeta: “The trip up was fantastic because it made everything way more real. After recruiting kind of quieted down, I kind of just didn’t visit campus for a couple of months, and so going back up it was like, ‘OK, this is really happening. You’re ready.’
“I love seeing all the teammates together. There were 19 kids in the class, I think we had about 15 or 16 up for that family day trip so it was really good that everyone was there. It was great to see all the guys ball out and kind of see what my future was going to look like, so it was all in all a great trip.”
Did you get a chance to chat with inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad while up here in April?
Maema Njongmeta: “I talked to Coach Bostad while we were up there. He’s a great coach so he came and talked to my family, talked to my mom and my sisters so we had a good time. He gave me part of the playbook again to just kind of get ready, really start understanding where I fit in the big puzzle that is defense.”
Which inside linebacker position are they looking for you to fill?
Maema Njongmeta: Weakside linebacker.
What are your initial thoughts about your college major?
Maema Njongmeta: “I think it should be good. I’m doing Finance and Investment Banking, and while that can change, I think it’s still going to be a good starting point for me. Then, I want to minor in philosophy. I’m really passionate about philosophy, so the minor in it is kind of just something that’s--it’s not that I want to take a job at doing philosophy--but more of just a passion and kind of just fueling my interest as well. I’m excited for the academic portion of college, too.”
Taking a step back, when did you start playing football, and what hooked you to continue playing the sport?
Maema Njongmeta: “So I started playing football my freshman year of high school. I got interested in the sport because when I was in eighth grade, this football player, Cam Green, who now plays at Northwestern*, he came into my school with a bunch of other kids on a fine arts tour--so completely unrelated to football. I saw him, and he was wearing his letterman [jacket], and he seemed super cool and confident and poised. I was like, ‘Oh, I want to be just like him.’ My friends mentioned that he was playing football and going D-I to Northwestern, and I was like, ‘Oh, I want to be like him.’ When I walked in freshman year, I was like ‘I have to play football,’ so that’s why I originally joined.
“Then, I was hooked onto the sport just because of the physicality and kind of the thrill you get from making a play, tackling, and really just laying the boom on someone. It’s all around a great sport. Honestly the brotherhood as well, so all of these other things just hooked me into the sport.”
*As a head's up, Green announced his retirement from football in late February.
When was the moment you realized you could play Division I football?
Maema Njongmeta: “Well I got my first offer after my junior season in February [2018], but even then there was still some doubts because a lot of coaches just said, ‘Oh you’re too short, you’re not enough of this and all that.’ They were like, “Oh, you’re just really rough, like you’re game’s not refined,’ so it was a lot of doubt even after I got my first couple of offers if I could ever play major Division I football. But my head coach just kept telling me, ‘Look, I’ve coached thousands of kids, you’ve got it. You’ve got what it takes. Just keep grinding, keep grinding.’
“So even into my senior season, I wasn’t really sure, but I decided that I would just ball out and let my stat line and my results speak for themselves. Eventually it did. When Wisconsin truly offered me, I was like, ‘OK, this is a testimony to the fact that I’ve got what it takes.’ That was the moment really.”
You told me one of my favorite commitment stories of the 2019 class. For the BadgerBlitz.com family, how did you tell the Wisconsin coaching staff that you were committing to the program?
Maema Njongmeta: “I realized that my commitment was kind of out of nowhere. [laughs] They invited me down for a game the week after they offered me. I came down, and I’ve been thinking about the decision all week. I was pretty confident about what I was going to say, that I was going to commit there. After the [Rutgers] game, we’re in the locker room. Everyone’s doing the congratulations because they won the game. I lean over to Coach [Bostad], and I’m like, ‘Yo Coach, I’m going to commit.’ [Laughs] Like that was it.
“He goes, ‘Holy [expletive]! Right now?’ He leans over, tells the assistant coaches. Then all of a sudden all of these guys are coming up to me, hugging me, we’re jumping around. So nothing crazy, nothing on TV, no big online thing, I literally told Coach [Bostad], ‘Yo, I’m going to come here. I love it here.’ He was extremely pumped, so that was fun.”
When did Wisconsin get on your radar initially, and why did they stand out to you?
Maema Njongmeta: “So Wisconsin’s always been a school that, academically if football didn’t work out, this was my Plan B. I made a list beginning of junior year, still before I even [knew] if I could really play D-1 football, I made a list of schools. If football didn’t work out, I would go to this school just academically, just because of the great academic institution, and Wisconsin was top 3 in that list.”
“So a lot of the Big Ten schools started coming in to see me leading up to my junior year except Wisconsin, and so I was looking into a bunch of other Big Ten schools. Then about Week 5 of my senior season, Wisconsin just called my coach up, like, ‘Hey, seen your guy and all this.’ My coach notified me and that was really exciting news because that weekend, that Friday that I got that call, that same day, I had the best game of my season. Like 19 tackles, something crazy like that, so the news was obviously very exciting for me. So that’s when they first came into the picture, and then they kind of started recruiting me throughout the season. The rest is history.”
Is there anyone that you model your game after or look up to in either the college orpro game?
Maema Njongmeta: “I really like how [Washington Redskins linebacker] Reuben Foster used to play, just really violent, quick to the ball. [Former MichiganDevin Bush, just the way he’s so fast and quick with the reads and explosive. Those are the two players that I kind of like to look at their highlights and be like, ‘OK this is how I want to play.’
What motivates you to get up and grind on the football field, the weight and film rooms, to get better?
Maema Njongmeta: “I really love the sport of football. I think just everything about it is fantastic. The memories you that make with your teammates, the opportunity to perform on Saturday nights. When it comes down to it, I just whatever I do, I just like to be the best, and I like to compete at it, so football is the exact same way. When I get the opportunity to watch film or to be in the weight room making my body stronger so I can perform better on the field, it excites me. When the final product comes around Saturday nights or Saturday mornings, the games are won before Saturday mornings. So I love the final results, but it’s really the process that I fell in love with and that’s always exciting for me.”