A touchdown celebration tells a lot about a player’s personality.

Terrell Owens once pulled a pen out of his sock and signed the ball. Joe Horn stashed a cell phone under the goal post and then made a call after his touchdown. And whether it’s proposing to a cheerleader or doing an Irish jig in the end zone, Chad Johnson is always putting on a display for the camera to show it’s all about him.

In a game where selfish prima donnas are commonplace, Garrett Wolfe is the exception to the rule. He avoids excessive celebrations after scoring, and in postgame press conferences, he refuses to take credit for his 200-yard, multi-touchdown games.

Proving critics wrong

NIU’s junior running back is a breed apart. Despite doubts about his size and football future, Wolfe has proved to his critics he’s one of the elite tailbacks in the country. And he’s done it all with class.

Don’t let his small stature fool you. Standing at 5-foot-7 and weighing in at 174 pounds, Wolfe doesn’t fit the standard football physique. But doubts about his size have fueled his competitive nature and have helped make him a physical force.

“I know at the end of the game all those guys are telling me how hard it is to bring me down and how relentless I run,” Wolfe said. “That’s something I take pride in. There might be a lot of guys my size but not a lot of guys that play as physical as I do.”

Coming out of Holy Cross High School in River Grove, Wolfe was a blue-chip recruit. He held 11 school rushing records and accumulated 4,311 rush yards and 56 touchdowns as an upperclassman. NIU coach Joe Novak knew about Wolfe’s credentials, but his lack of size was a concern.

“He wasn’t the biggest or the fastest,” Novak said. “I was concerned about his size. But he’s physical for a little guy, and he takes big hits. When you look at skill players, they have to make plays and his high school highlight film probably lasted a half hour.”

Academic struggles

Wolfe was highly recruited, but the big football programs balked when they saw his high-school transcripts. Wolfe said nobody, including himself, thought he would qualify for a Division I scholarship. But that’s where former NIU recruiting coordinator Scott Schafer stepped in.

“He was very honest and direct with me,” Wolfe recounted. “He didn’t tell me what I wanted to hear – he told me the truth. That helped me grow up and it helped me realize that this man actually, honestly cares about me. It’s bigger than football. He cares about my development as a young man.”

Schafer helped develop a list of academic goals for Wolfe to reach to get that scholarship, and now that effort is paying dividends. After taking over the starting role from the injured A.J. Harris in 2004, Wolfe ran wild and accumulated 1,656 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns, both good for third in the country.

Only a shoulder injury and a knee sprain have slowed Wolfe this season as he has compiled 1,310 yards and 14 touchdowns in eight games. But the shifty running back with big-play potential on every down has refused to let the success go to his head.

“Garrett is extremely humble and well-liked by his teammates,” Novak said. “Sometimes a youngster with all that publicity lets it go to his head.”

Looking to the future

While he was growing up, Wolfe’s mother and father always taught him respect, and he took their life lessons to heart. The articulate and soft-spoken 21-year-old attributes his humble mind-set to his parents.

“You’re a product of your environment and I’ve had a very positive upbringing,” Wolfe said. “My parents would never let me be a disrespectful child. Even to this day, if I were an egotistical, disrespectful young man, they would be very disappointed and upset with me.”

Standing in the hallway next to the locker room in Huskie Stadium, the fashion-conscious junior looks like he just came from a Sean John fashion show, as he’s sporting a designer camouflage coat and pressed jeans. A notoriously snappy dresser, Wolfe said he values people’s opinion of him and that perception is reality.

“I like to always be very well dressed,” Wolfe said with a chuckle. “Another thing I’ve learned is you never have a second chance to make a first impression. The way you dress and present yourself and how groomed you are says a lot about yourself and your character.”

With one season of college eligibility left, Wolfe is confident he can reach even higher heights and likes his chances of getting into the NFL Draft in 2007. While there will always be doubts about his size, there is no questioning his heart.

“Even coming into college, a lot of people didn’t think I could play running back at the collegiate level,” Wolfe said. “But I think I’ve proven a lot of people wrong with what I’ve been able to accomplish. I guess I’ll have to keep proving them wrong. If everything everyone said about me was true, I wouldn’t be here right now.”