Aaron Mends helps to fuel the legend of Josey Jewell
IOWA CITY, Iowa – My initial intent with this column was to write about Iowa sophomore linebacker Aaron Mends, but it ended up being more about fellow Hawkeye linebacker Josey Jewell.
Mends made sure of it by raving about Jewell throughout his interview, which came after Saturday’s spring game at Kinnick Stadium. At one point, Mends became so excited while talking about Jewell’s influence and his toughness that he used profanity not suitable for print.
It was almost as if Mends couldn’t help himself.
“Being next to Josey you’ve just got be a bad ass all the time,” Mends said. “You’ve got to be a tough…”
You can use your imagination to finish that sentence, but you get the point.
In addition to being a talented and ferocious middle linebacker, Jewell is the ultimate team leader.
The Decorah native, who made second-team all-Big Ten last season, demands respect with his actions on and off the field and with his toughness.
“Linebacker is one of the toughest positions on the field,” said Mends, a 6-foot, 220-pound sophomore from Kansas City, Mo. “From my perspective, you’ve got to be mean. You’ve got be rough. And you’ve got to be tough.
“At Iowa, our motto is tough, smart and physical. That’s what you have to be if you want to be a linebacker here.”
Accountability is huge with Jewell.
So is practicing what you preach.
“You really can’t say anything to him because he doesn’t have other problems so you really can’t check him on things he does,” Mends said. “He makes sure his game is straight. He’s accountable. He holds everybody accountable. He has lot of integrity because he’s not going to be doing things that he wouldn’t ask you to do.”
As a linebacker, the 6-2, 225-pound Jewell does things that most other couldn’t do.
His emergence as a star was one of many storylines from last season. Jewell led Iowa with 126 tackles while starting every game at middle linebacker.
His level of respect was evident at the team banquet in March when Jewell was the recipient of the “Extra Heartbeat” Award, which is presented to players who show exemplary leadership and dedication throughout the year
He also earned the rare distinction of being named a permanent team captain as a sophomore.
“Accountability means a lot to me and just being able to show your accountable in things you do I think is huge in leading people,” Jewell said.
Jewell leads mostly by example, but he’ll get in a teammate’s face when the situation calls for it.
“He’s not going to let you slack at all,” Mends said. “He takes it personally if he sees somebody slacking off.
“He’ll come straight up to you and tell you, `hey, you’ve got to get your life together because you’re really not helping the team or to get you on the right path.’”
Mends has benefited from trying to emulate Jewell, considering Mends was listed as one of the three starting linebackers throughout spring practice, which ended on Saturday. Mends goes to practice each day not wanting to disappoint Jewell, whose work ethic is inspiring.
“He’s an aggressive player, definitely,” Mends said of Jewell. “And he just demands that from everybody. It’s not really about friendships all the time. It’s about being the best player you can be. And if you fall in, he’ll make you the best you can be.”
That’s quite a statement about a kid from Decorah who barely had any scholarship offers.
Jewell came to Iowa with something to prove, but also with talent and maturity beyond his years.
“Just some small things I’ve learned coming up since I was a freshman is to show your leadership by example and let everybody see your on-field and off-field things and how you go about your business,” Jewell said. “Just being able to go about your business right and not screw up and not do stupid things at night, get to sleep at night and just have the daily discipline.”
Being mean in a football sense helps, too.
“You’ve got to be mean to play linebacker,” Jewell said. “You’re going against guys that are 300 pounds and you’ve got to run down guys who are like 180. You’ve got to be ready for anything and you’ve got to harness your energy.”
Jewell is proof that if you do that, others will follow.