The story of Minnesota free safety John Pawielski isn't that far off from a very familiar one to those in Madison — that of former Badger star Jimmy Leonhard. A young man who went from walk-on to defensive fixture, Pawielski has gone from the small town of Waupaca, Wis., to the bright lights of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

But there's one considerable difference — Pawielski never got the chance to play for his home state Badgers.

"They were a school that said, 'We weren't sure if you can come in during camp or when school started,'" Pawielski said. "And that was a big turn off for me. The interest really wasn't there I felt."

Wisconsin was far from alone in its hesitance to grant Pawielski a spot. The hard-nosed safety made most of his news in high school as a quarterback for the Comets, where he used his speed to rush for 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns as a senior. But, beyond terrorizing the Hortonville Polar Bears or Clintonville Truckers of the world, Pawielski earned all-state honors in his final season of prep ball in the city on the Chain O' Lakes.

Still, the offers didn't roll in. Nor did they trickle in.

"No one offered me a scholarship," Pawielski said. "I looked at Northern Illinois, Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan and the Big Ten schools, and no one really seemed that interested.

"Division II schools and division III in Wisconsin recruited me. Division II schools offered me the minimum scholarship and they didn't show as much interest as I wanted."

Luckily, Minnesota did take an interest to Pawielski, and offered him a spot in preseason camp — the only such offer he received.

"I had heard good things about the walk-on program at Minnesota," Pawielski said. "My brother was already going to school there, which was a minor factor."

Pawielski made the most of his chance, and performed well enough to earn playing time on special teams as a true freshman. But, even more importantly, his play was good enough to win him a scholarship.

"Coming in as a walk-on, you've got to just fight every day just to prove that you deserve to be there," Pawielski said. "And that really makes it difficult and really gives you a good work ethic because you've got to prove not only to yourself, but everyone else. So I feel like that really helps our work ethic. And just going in day in and day out and competing with the guys on scholarship really helped me and my confidence, proved that I can compete at that level."

Over the last two seasons, Pawielski has continued to prove he belongs, starting at free safety in the 2003 Sun Bowl and 10 games a season ago (he missed two due to injury). Using an endless work ethic and a heady style of play, he impressed the team enough to be voted a captain prior to this season. And he's made an ardent supporter out of Gopher head coach Glen Mason.

"He's a good football player," Mason said. "You won't find a better kid than JP, you just won't. You know what happens a lot of times? Some place down the road I'll get a call from a guy, somebody who wants to hire that guy, who wants a recommendation. Almost always they'll say, 'Alright, coach, you told us all the good things. Now tell us something bad.' I really can't. They'll say, 'Tell us what kind of problems he gave you.' I'll say you know what, that [guy never] gave me one second of problems the whole time he was here, not one second, and I don't lie on those recommendations. He's one of those guys."

Pawielski's top game in terms of tackles (13) a year ago came against the very team he'll face this weekend — a Wisconsin Badger club that didn't have room for him a little more than three years ago. For Pawielski, playing against his home state team makes the matchup a little extra special.

"You get a little more excited, a little more nervous before the game," Pawielski said. "It's something all of your friends from your home town talk about and it's an important game."

And though he has become the leader of the Gophers defense (his 37 stops are tops on the team), Pawielski still looks to his humble roots as a source for motivation, regardless of the fact that he is no longer technically a walk-on.

"Yeah, you still kind of hold onto that [walk-on mentality.] Even now I do," Pawielski said. "They overlooked you and no one thought you were good enough. It drives you and pushes you to keep working hard."