BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Derrick Tindal's time with the Wisconsin football team is about to come full circle, so it's important that you know the story about the gray concrete slab on which he stood earlier this week.
It's where the circle began.
It's where a tough-loving father implored his son to do countless push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups in order to be ready for the rigors of a game they both had come to love.
It's where Tindal's sisters sometimes shed tears and acted out in frustration because they thought their father was being too hard on their teenage brother.
It's where Tindal began a journey that took him from South Florida to Madison, from being a scrawny kid who regularly got into fights to a respected presence, a senior cornerback for the Badgers who's writing a book of science fiction and wants to work with at-risk youth when his football days are done.
We are on the front porch of Tindal's old house on Northwest 30th Terrace, a quiet enclave just a few blocks away from where drugs and violent crimes are prevalent.
On a warm, breezy Tuesday night, Tindal's family and friends are multiplying with every call and text message. They line the asphalt streets where he played tackle football games as a kid and where he once received a nasty wound on his face from a collision with a mailbox.
Everyone has come for hugs and handshakes.
Everyone has come to reminisce.
Everyone has come to see a favorite son whose college career will come full circle Saturday night when UW (12-1 overall) faces Miami (10-2) in the Orange Bowl.
"It's great when you think about it, getting to finish off your college career at home in front of your family members and your friends," Tindal said. "I get to enjoy my teammates and my family at the same time, so it's pretty fun."
Those worlds mixed in a delightful way on Christmas Day when Tindal brought a group of UW teammates to the home of his father, Derrick Sr. The house is dominated by a TV room where people show up three hours before Badgers games are shown to ensure they score a seat on one of the leather sofas.
Another family get-together will take place at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Tindal estimates there will be 70 members of his personal fan club on hand in Section 315 to see Wisconsin play, half of whom will be watching Tindal in person for the first and last time as a collegian.
Full circle.
"So, so proud of him," Grandma Edna said.
"I just want him to keep doing what he's doing," older sister Laquana said.
To think there was a time when Tindal had no take whatsoever on the Badgers. Playing video games growing up, "I'd scroll past them and never even give them a second look," he said with a laugh.
Tindal knew of the Green Bay Packers and their NFL heritage, but that was it as far as geographic knowledge.
"At first I didn't really know too much about Wisconsin," he said. "I never, not once in my lifetime, thought I'd be a Badger."
Tindal said he was recruited mainly by Indiana and TCU, committing at one point to the Hoosiers for 2014.
But former UW coach Gary Andersen and his staff signed Tindal, who said his mind was changed after a campus visit to Madison.
"As soon as I was around the team, I knew this is where I've got to be," Tindal said.
That feeling was enhanced when his mother, Regina Singletary, died of cancer when Tindal was a freshman. He was overwhelmed by the support he received from his Wisconsin family.
"That solidified it more, that I chose the right spot," he said. "I was already close with the team, but, man, when that happened and what they did for me, it was an immediate impact.
"I thought 'These people actually care about me. It's not just about football. They care about my well-being.' I appreciate that."
Tindal said former UW teammate Jeremy Patterson, a defensive tackle who'd lost both parents, was a godsend.
"I was in a dark place there for a while," Tindal said. "I didn't want to do anything. I didn't want to go to practice, class, nothing.
"He helped me get my life on the right path."
The culture of stability and caring continued when Andersen left for Oregon State in December of 2014 and Wisconsin hired popular alum and former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst from Pittsburgh to run the program.
Tindal said he cherishes the "easy" relationship he's built with Chryst and defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard. Coincidentally, Tindal's first scholarship offer came from Chryst when he was coaching at Pitt.
Tindal's father said his son made the right decision to go to Wisconsin, a point driven home during every trip to Madison to see his son play.
"Each and every time I went back, someone different would approach me on the street — random people — and tell me how good of a kid he is," Derrick Sr. said.
"So, for him to go there and meet so many people and become an impact in their lives, that's how I know he made the right choice.
"Everything the coaches told me they would do has been done. I don't think you could do better anywhere else."
Full circle.
Derrick Jr. has played in 51 games for UW, including 33 starts. He has five career interceptions, 21 pass breakups and 103 tackles overall.
A third-team All-Big Ten Conference pick this year, Tindal — listed at 5-foot-11 and 181 pounds — is a member of the winningest senior class in program history with 44 victories.
What would Tindal, a playful, thoughtful, energetic sort, tell a prospect from Florida about his home away from home?
"It's a big difference, but life is all about new experiences," he said. "Travel outside (your home) and you'll see more.
"Wisconsin is the best place to be. It gets a little cold at times, but, hey, man, it's fun, the family atmosphere is fun, everything about this place is fun."
Tindal, fresh off the practice field Tuesday, squinted into a high sun and smiled.
"It don't matter who you are — even if you're not a starter or you don't play — everyone enjoys their experience here," he said of UW. "That tells you something about the program. It's about more than football, basically.
"All our coaches are about making you into a better man outside of football. And you're going to win. So you get the best of both worlds.
"If you want to win and you want to grow and become better, Wisconsin is the place to be. And you can't spell Wisconsin without that 'Dub."
Tindal said he's written a couple chapters for a book about a superhero named T.J. He wouldn't get into the plot other than to acknowledge that the central character is named for a 19-year-old cousin who was killed in a car accident six months ago.
"He so looked up to Derrick," Grandma Edna said of T.J.
Tindal is on the verge of a degree in human development and family studies, a field that will put him in a mentoring role for kids.
"My whole thing is I want to help," he said. "I don't know how I'm going to do it yet, but I just want to help kids in rural neighborhoods, poor neighborhoods, showing them there's another way. I did it. Anybody can do it.
"I feel like my whole life purpose is just to help."
Tindal said his desire to work with kids is driven by two forces.
"They're our future," he said. "Being with them has brought me joy."
Tindal stood on that gray concrete slab, surrounded by family and friends, and listened intently as his father analyzed and reminisced.
"I think he's matured a lot," Derrick Sr. said softly, but firmly. "Overall, I think he's done a good job. I'm proud."
At one point the father revisited those long-ago workouts with his son.
"I know you resented me for it, but at the end of the day it helped you," the father said.
"I'm so glad you made me do what I did," the son said.
Full circle.
