MADISON, Wis. — Marty Strey had spent a full year in Wisconsin’s football program, learning what it meant to begin from the bottom and challenging himself to find a role as a walk-on. He had gained confidence, working to become bigger, faster and stronger so he could earn a spot on the travel roster to help out on special teams. But a week before his second fall camp was set to begin in 2019, he received a call from his position coach informing him, as gently as possible, that he would not be participating in those initial practices.
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Strey, much to his dismay, was not a crucial enough component to make the 105-man fall camp roster. He was told that he could rejoin the team when the time was right.
“It was awful,” Strey recalled. “It was a huge low point for me.”
Strey wasn’t a bad player. He had earned first-team all-state honors at linebacker as a senior at nearby Sun Prairie High School and was his conference’s linebacker of the year. He had turned down a scholarship offer from FCS school North Dakota, as well as an admissions scholarship from Ivy League school Cornell, to pay his own way at Wisconsin. But this was the kind of moment that left him questioning his decision and whether he belonged. Was it worth it to put this much time and effort into something with so little guaranteed in return?
No matter how down Strey felt, when he evaluated his life plan, he kept returning to the same answer: Absolutely.
“Whenever I face that kind of adversity, I just put my head down and I work,” Strey said. “Never in my mind did it occur that I should give up. I could never see myself wearing something other than red and white and calling myself a Badger with a W on my helmet. I’m very passionate about this place, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m living my dream. I’m absolutely living my dream right now.”
Strey’s dream will continue Saturday when he’ll be among 20 Badgers players honored on senior day before Wisconsin’s home game against Nebraska. Many of those players have compiled more significant on-field statistics than Strey, who has played a total of four career defensive snaps and is a member of three special teams units as a sixth-year senior. But you’d be hard-pressed to find many people who have given as much of themselves to one program while demonstrating such consistent dedication and leadership.
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There is a reason, after all, why Strey’s teammates voted him as a co-captain before the season alongside three players who had already been starters: quarterback Tanner Mordecai, wide receiver Chimere Dike and inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta.
“He’s a great vocal leader,” Badgers defensive lineman Rodas Johnson said. “He’s somebody that you can look at when you’re down or on your back, he’s always going to be there with energy and juice and just love and support. That’s hard to find from anybody, especially in today’s day and age. He’s somebody that really pours something into this program and you see that, you have to respect it. And everybody knows that Marty’s a great leader.”
Strey’s journey to this point has been filled with setbacks that left him searching deep within himself for the power to persevere. He finally made the travel squad as a redshirt sophomore in 2020. During a game against Iowa in 2021, he tore the ACL in his right knee while playing on special teams, which ended his season.
He rehabbed for nine months and was cleared to return in time for preseason practices in 2022. But in his zeal to make a name for himself and re-earn a place on the travel roster, he pushed his body too hard. Strey suffered a tibial plateau impaction fracture in the same knee, meaning he broke his bone and injured the cartilage that covers the bottom part of his knee. Rather than move on after five years in the program, he decided to use an extra year of eligibility and return for a sixth season in 2023 for two key reasons.
First, Strey said he couldn’t envision his last play of competitive football being when he blew out his knee. Second, he wanted to help as much as he could to establish the leadership and messaging from a new coaching staff, led by Luke Fickell, that was set to take the program into a different era. Fickell not only welcomed a player like Strey but placed him on scholarship during the spring for his final season.
Luke Fickell recognized the leader he had in Marty Strey and placed him on scholarship. (Jeff Hanisch / USA Today)“There’s nobody more positive and more upbeat than Marty,” Fickell said. “Marty was somebody I didn’t know. And I got to know him a little bit. Maybe not as much in the spring because he didn’t play a ton, but you had him on a bunch of special teams. And then you get to know him a little bit more in the summer. And then all of a sudden, you go to vote for captains and you see the respect that he has amongst his entire team.
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“Not that it all of a sudden changed my opinion of Marty. But through the season, it’s given me an opportunity to understand, know him a little bit better and see his consistency that he has been for us not just as a player because he only has a certain role, which is important. But his consistency as a leader, his consistency as a guy that’s an example and a motivator.”
The scholarship was a nice surprise to Strey. But the captaincy is something that will stick with him well beyond the end of his playing days. Strey said he recalled sitting down for an exit interview after the season a few years ago with outside linebackers coach Bobby April and discussing long-term goals in the program. Strey told him that he wanted to one day be a captain. April, who had been impressed with Strey’s passion and work ethic, encouraged him to keep pushing.
Now 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 is our type of Wednesday.
Captain @MartyStrey is on the mic for this week’s (WI)red. pic.twitter.com/fJKRybTzHl
— Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) September 14, 2023
“I think a common misconception is that leadership is the guy who’s giving the rah-rah speeches or who’s making the plays,” Strey said. “But that’s not always the case. I’ve always tried to be a leader regardless of my role on this team.”
There are several plaques hanging on the wall outside the team locker room that commemorate the lineage of success within the program. The one that means the most to Strey is the section that features players who began their careers as walk-ons and were named captains since the Barry Alvarez era began in 1990. The first is offensive lineman Joe Panos in 1993 and the latest on the plaque is running back Garrett Groshek in 2019 and 2020. In between are names such as Donnel Thompson, Jason Doering, Jim Leonhard, Ben Strickland, Chris Maragos, Bradie Ewing, Rick Wagner, Joe Schobert, Joel Stave, Jack Cichy, Dare Ogunbowale, Troy Fumagalli and more. Strey will become the 20th name when the plaque is updated and called being a captain “the greatest honor of my life.”
“He’s a coach on the field, first of all,” Wisconsin defensive coordinator Mike Tressel said. “He studies his butt off knowing that he’s not going to be in there a whole bunch on defense, so he’s on the sideline constantly coaching, talking to the guys, relaying messages, seeing what he recognizes. But he’s also a guy that lifts the defense up every day, brings energy and positivity every single day, especially those special teams periods, but always.”
Strey has been reflective in his last year, trying to enjoy the moments he knows he’ll never get to experience again. He shares an apartment with inside linebackers Tate Grass and Njongmeta, as well as tight end Riley Nowakowski. He and Grass are especially close and compete in everything they can, from darts to shows such as “Jeopardy” and “Family Feud” on the Game Show Network. They play Scrabble and chess on their cell phones, constantly trying to gain an edge over the other. Grass said Strey loves to watch the “Hawaii Five-0” television reboot. The two main characters are Steve McGarrett and Danny Williams.
“McGarrett is always the one who drives, even if they’re riding in Danny’s car,” Grass said. “And he likes to think he’s the McGarrett of our friendship.”
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Grass said Strey’s Type-A personality is such that his room is spotless and that he keeps the rest of his roommates on task about dishes and laundry. That consistency translates to all aspects of his life. Strey has been an Academic All-Big Ten honoree the past three seasons and was named a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar in 2020, which requires student-athletes to earn a minimum grade-point average of 3.7. He earned an undergraduate degree in international business and risk management and insurance with a minor in Mandarin Chinese and is in the process of pursuing a master’s degree in sports leadership.
According to Pro Football Focus, Strey has played 138 snaps on special teams this season. He had played 58 career snaps before the season began. He was named special teams player of the game by the staff in Wisconsin’s 25-21 victory against Illinois and returned a kickoff 11 yards last week against Northwestern on a short kick. He is the kind of player and person, Grass said, that is so important for the backbone of a program like Wisconsin’s.
“When a young guy comes in and is seeing what this program is all about and you have guys like that, that’s when that culture builds and that’s when we start to set the standard of what it should be like every year,” Grass said. “So when a guy comes in and sees the way Marty works even though, man, this guy’s not even playing but he’s still working his tail off, has attention to detail, all these things, that’s the standard of the program and that’s what people need to see.”
Strey will run into Camp Randall Stadium for game day one last time Saturday, where he’ll greet his family members on the field, including dad Jeff and mom Erica (who played soccer at Wisconsin). When asked what he anticipated that moment feeling like, after so many years toiling behind the scenes, he paused to compose himself. It hasn’t always been easy. But it’s been a heck of a ride.
“I feel like I’ve been here two decades, but it’s flown by in six years,” Strey said. “I’ve poured my heart and soul into everything that I’ve done here because I love the people here and I love the history of this place and I think that’s kind of what kept me going.
“I’m fortunate that hard work has paid off, being put on scholarship, being able to tell my parents that, being named captain. All these cool moments that have come along this journey have made it all worth it for me.”
(Top photo: Mark Hoffman / USA Today)
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