Wakefield Happy in Football Return

November 1, 2006

WEATHERFORD –A chance to postpone the labor of everyday hard work for a couple of years was more than enough reason for Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Matt Wakefield to attempt a return to the college football field.

Wakefield, a junior offensive lineman from El Reno, is one of the major reasons why SWOSU is enjoying one of their best football seasons in years. His leadership on an improved offensive unit has the Bulldogs at 5-4 and in position to win their first Lone Star Conference North Division title since 1998.

Wakefield’s decision to return to football started in the long nights in the oil field. The 23-year-old spent lengthy hours driving an 18-wheel semi tractor trailer back and forth to the work site. He had just given up on a full-ride scholarship that helped pay for his first three years at Oklahoma State University. Now he was earning $400 a week as a simple truck driver in Western Oklahoma.

“Work was fine for a while, but eventually my thoughts would come back to football,” Wakefield said. “When I was at OSU, I didn’t really appreciate the game. When it was gone, I began to miss it a lot.”

Wakefield was a highly recruited high school athlete and was a star member of then OSU coach Les Miles’ 2001 recruiting class. He red-shirted his first season and went on to play eight games in the next two years in the Cowboys offensive line.

Although, he was in an exclusive club --  full ride at major college football program -- Wakefield was unhappy.

“I just never felt comfortable there,” Wakefield said. “I had done well in football all my life and when it didn’t carry over at OSU I got down on myself. It just got to the point where I felt I needed to do something different with my life.”

For Wakefield, that meant trying other things such working in distribution for a paint company, driving a delivery truck for a chemical company and finally working in the oilfield.

“People looked at me differently when I came back home.” Wakefield said. “They saw me as a quitter. I knew eventually I would prove them wrong. I just had to wait for the right time.”

The time came in 2005 when Wakefield, at the urging of a friend, attended a few SWOSU games last season. He saw first-hand how the Bulldogs could use some help particularly in the offensive line. SWOSU limped to a 1-10 season in that and had the league’s worst offense statistically.

“The coaches at Southwestern talked with me quite a bit, and I knew that Division II was the only place I had eligibility.” Wakefield said. “I visited UCO and talked with the coaches at East Central but kept on coming back to Southwestern.”

His decision turned out to be beneficial to him and SWOSU.

“This is more of a blue-collar team than I’ve played with in the past,” Wakefield said. “Not many egos on this team. It fits my personality just fine.”