Wharton Wildcat Lineman: Born in the Trenches

Jacob Meier’s exposure to football came early and often. Meier’s dad Chad played college football at Minnesota and South Dakota State.

“My dad got me into the Bucs when I was young,” said Meier. “He taught me a three-point stance, shortly after he taught me to walk.”

Meier’s dad was an offensive lineman and inspired Jacob at a young age.

“One day when I was seven years old, I told my mom I wanted to play football,” said Meier.

It was a rough start. Meier played in a league with 8- and 9-year-olds. “I was the youngest on the team, I really got my butt kicked that first year,” he said.

To compound the matter, the team was terrible and the coach was real tough on him.

“I wanted to quit after that first season,” said Meier.

The next season, a growth spurt and a year of experience made all the difference in the world to the young Meier.

“Things started to click, the game slowed down for me,” he said. “I was able to get back at some of those kids who got me the last year.”

Pretty quickly, Meier settled in to playing right guard and there was no looking back. His career with the New Tampa Wildcats stretched from when he was 7 to when he turned 14 and started attending Benito Middle School. Middle schools only offer flag football, not appealing to an offensive lineman. Meier stuck with the New Tampa Wildcats as long as he could.

He played up until the eighth grade and that year was a memorable one.

“That was the most fun year; I was bigger, faster and we had a stacked team,” said Meier.

According to Meier, his team did not get scored on the entire year and only lost in the championship game. Meier played right guard and nose tackle and led the team in tackles.

His learning curve really shot up when he landed at Wharton. There he learned from upper-classmen Blake Nolds and Conrad Jones.

“Those guys showed me the Xs and Os of football,” he said.

Meier stayed back on junior varsity his freshman year. “It was a good experience for me. It was better than being a tackling dummy on varsity,” he said.

Jacob found himself playing on varsity by his sophomore year, still at right guard.

“I just love that spot. Offensive line is a position where you get to hit someone every play,” he said.

This season, Meier is a team captain and aside from playing his usual spot at right guard, he will be used on the defensive side. The Wildcats are still figuring out their defensive front but Meier will line up at middle linebacker and potentially even on the defensive front.