From the moment Nick Toon was born, destiny, if you will, told him that he was going to play football.

"It's like the sublime message that the son of a doctor is going to grow up to be a doctor," said Al Toon, Nick's father and former standout wide receiver for both Wisconsin and the New York Jets.
"Whether he wanted to play football or not, that message was sent and probably received."

Rather than trying to avoid his fate, Nick wholeheartedly picked up the game. His father wanted him to play other sports as well, so he wouldn't get "locked into one sport." He began organized ball in seventh grade.

"I wanted to hold him out until the eighth grade, but the pressure was too great," Al said.
Eventually, after four years at Middleton High School, Nick was given the opportunity to play college ball.

His obvious choice, as fate would have it, was the University of Wisconsin.

"I really like Madison; I didn't have any desire to leave," Nick said. "I love my family, want to be able to go home and see them. I love the coaching staff, facilities, great school.
"It's just the right place for me to be."

Origins of Fate

Al never planned on playing Division I college football. Instead, the opportunity came to him through a twist of fate: a hamstring injury.

Originally, Al wanted to go into the Air Force. It wasn't until his junior year in high school that the idea of college football started popping into his head with the arrival of recruiting letters in the mail.

But more than anything else, Al's goal was to represent the United States in the Olympics. Track was his "first love."

After qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 1983, Al injured his hamstring a week before competition. Consequently, as a result of missing out on his lifelong dream, he quit track and began to focus on football.

"It was [pretty heartbreaking]," Al said of the injury. "When you have a goal, and you don't attain the goal for something that you couldn't control, it was quite disappointing, but I was fortunate enough to have a fallback in football, and fortunately that worked out."

His athleticism and track abilities allowed Al to excel on the football field.

He left Wisconsin as the program's all-time leading receiver and subsequently was selected No. 10 overall by the New York Jets in the 1985 draft.

In 1988, Al led the NFL in receptions with 93. His best season, however, came in 1986 when he finished fifth in the NFL in receiving yards with 1,176 and 10th in touchdowns (8).

During Al's eight-year career, he caught 517 balls for 6,605 yards and scored 31 touchdowns.

Time of transition and concussions

Being an NFL player didn't really affect his family life, Al said, comparing it to a "9-to-5 job."

The real problems began with the concussions. Al sustained several concussions throughout the course of his career with the Jets, but it wasn't until several of them occurred in "close proximity" to each other that Al had to re-evaluate his career path.

He had to choose between continuing to play a game that he loved to play or stepping away to pursue a business career and be a full-time father.

He chose to retire, eventually settling on a career in real estate; a choice that Nick says was the right decision.

"The tough part for me at that time was the concerns for my health and the future," Al said. "Plus, I had four kids and my wife that I wanted to be around to support and be there both physically and psychologically."

After several grueling years of rehabilitation, Al's post-concussion syndrome, which he described as an "emotional rollercoaster," improved significantly.

Seeing his father have to leave the game for good after sustaining several concussions toward the back end of his career showed Nick the grim reality of what can go wrong; there are circumstances out there that can end dreams in an instant to which you are powerless — a concept his father came to understand after injuring himself prior to the Olympic Trials.

A big reason why Nick is at UW is so he can control his future to an extent. He will have something to fall back on.

"I think education's a real important thing," Nick said, who may pursue a business-related degree, but is undecided at this point. "You never know what's going to happen out on the field.
One play you could be the best guy out there and the next play you could be done for the rest of your life.

"If you don't have a background in education you've got nothing."

Under the microscope

Nick was born in 1988, during the heyday of Al's NFL career. Although Nick doesn't remember much of his father's playing days, the effects of having a professional football player as a father left a lasting impression; it moved Nick to pick up the game as well.

"Even if he didn't tell me personally to play, I think just the fact that he was a successful NFL player always kind of interested me in sports, and so I wanted to try it out and ended up loving it," Nick said.

Growing up in an environment where his father was a professional athlete numbed Nick
to the pressure of following in Al Toon's legacy.

"I grew up around that pressure, so I don't know any different — it just feels normal to me," Nick said.

Still, the important thing, Al says, is that Nick understands he needs to make his own identity.
Nick's decision to go to Wisconsin only heightened the expectations.

"Nick has been put in a position, voluntarily, where the microscope is on him," said Al, who also felt that he was under the microscope as a scholarship student athlete. "He carries a name that is well known in the area, and he chooses it voluntarily with lots of passion and high regard for what that means."

Regardless of where Nick went to college, Al believes the pressure would have been the same. It just made sense for Nick to go to Wisconsin because that's where his affinity was.
"A great guy''

In high school Nick was not only one of the top athletes on the field by his senior year through a "fantastic work ethic." He was one of the top personalities on the team as well.

"Nick just has tremendous personal character," said Tim Simon, Nick's former coach at Middleton High. "You hear coaches often say, ‘Oh, he's such a great guy,' well I'm telling you, Nick Toon is a great guy — wonderful attitude, very coachable, his character is outstanding — and that comes from his mom and dad."

Throughout Nick's life, and the lives of his other three siblings, his parents cemented the notion that good character — respectful, humble, gracious and charitable — was what mattered most.

"Our goal for all of our kids is character, that they're happy doing what they're doing and that we be as supportive as we can," Al said.

"You have to be self-motivated, be talented and work hard and those are three characteristics, but the most important characteristic that I think is life-long character."

Similar to his father, Nick was a late bloomer. Unfortunately, it may have resulted in other freshman receivers like David Gilreath and Kyle Jefferson getting a shot to play over him.

"They just got their shot and came out and proved what they can do right away," he said. "I'm still waiting for my shot, and when I get it I'll come out and show them what I can do."

But taking his redshirt year isn't a bad thing; the wait gives him an opportunity to learn the offense and the position better for the years to come. And while it presents another hurdle in the road, his coaches, friends and family believe he will surmount it.

"We're awfully glad we've got Nick here because he's a good football player and I think he's got a great future here," UW offensive coordinator Paul Chryst said. "There's a lot of guys that have redshirted here that have been good players, so I think it fits the plan.

"It was a good decision, and I think we'll be glad getting into his fourth and fifth years."

While watching from the sidelines, the game he and his father have come to know so well is "one of the most difficult things" Nick has ever done — however, the most important lesson is that he has good character and is creating his own identity and legacy not as the son of Al Toon, but as Nick Toon.