Tenacity pays off for Cats receiver

Zeke Markshausen's story is one that has been told before, through many different players on many different teams. It's a story, however, that never gets old, and it is one Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald believes alludes to what's great about college football.

It's a story about persistence, hard work and determination. It's a story about fighting for an opportunity, and then making the most of it.

Markshausen will sprint out of the tunnel at Raymond James Stadium with his Northwestern teammates for his final collegiate game Friday morning in the Outback Bowl against Auburn, and few players on either side are likely to appreciate the experience more than the Wildcats' senior receiver.

"Not a lot has been given to me in my life without working my butt off for it," said Markshausen, a former walk-on who has evolved into the Wildcats' top pass-catcher, "so I just feel like it means something more to me that I'm out there playing because of what I did to get there."

Markshausen was a solid football player at North Boone High in Capron, Ill., earning all-area and all-conference honors as a receiver and defensive back. But his exploits on the field didn't exactly draw the attention of college recruiters.

Without an offer, he decided to attend Wisconsin-Platteville, a Division III program, and he walked on to both the football and track teams there. The experience was good, but Markshausen wanted to chase his dream of playing in the Big Ten Conference.

He had grown up a fan of the Big Ten. His father, Kim, had played football at Iowa. And he thought he had the talent to do the same. So Markshausen decided to enroll at Northwestern, intent on walking on to the Wildcats' team in 2006. He found out, however, that in itself would be no easy task.

It took 10 telephone calls, Markshausen estimates, before Fitzgerald agreed to a tryout. He was given a week to impress Northwestern coaches.

"I just went out there and gave everything I had," he said.

When Markshausen, who turns 23 in January, didn't hear anything from the coaching staff immediately after the tryout ended, he figured he was safe. It turned out he was right; he had made the team. Markshausen knew that was just the beginning.

"From that point on," Markshausen said, "I knew that I had to do a little bit more than everyone else would."

So the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Markshausen worked feverishly on the scout teams. After sitting out in 2006, he performed well enough to warrant some game action the next two seasons, mostly on special teams. In the spring of 2009, however, Markshausen started to stand out a bit more.

He had built a rapport working in practice the previous few years with quarterback Mike Kafka, the projected starter, and it showed. By the time spring workouts ended, Markshausen had worked his way atop the depth chart.

"You knew coming out of spring that he was going to catch a lot of balls," offensive coordinator Mick McCall said.

Markshausen, who was placed on scholarship in 2009, enters Friday's game against the Tigers with a team-best 79 receptions (for 774 yards and three scores). The numbers seem staggering considering Markshausen entered 2009 with one career catch, but not to those inside the Northwestern locker room.

"You look at young players, and (former Northwestern) coach (Randy) Walker used to say all the time, 'If they bite when they're puppies, they've got a chance to really bite when they're dogs,'" Fitzgerald said. "When he was a young player in our program, he ran good routes, and we thought, 'Man, if he can kind of hone some things, then he's got a chance to be really special.'"

Markshausen believed the same. All he needed was the chance.

"I would say that I'm never completely awestruck by it (my success) or never really completely surprised by it because I knew deep down that if I was given a chance," Markshausen said, "I would be ready for a situation like this."