Ted Helgart

No one player can more accurately depict the excellence pursued and obtained by Occidental Football players both on the field and in the classroom than Ted Helgert '05. For instance, Ted was voted Most Valuable Offensive Lineman four years in a row by his teammates; a feat accomplished for the first time in the long and storied history of Occidental Football. Ted was also recognized nationally for his accomplishments on the field. Not only was he First-Team All Conference in 2001, 2003, and 2004 he was also voted First-Team Western Region All-American in 2004.

Ted not only dominated on the field, however, he was equally proficient in the classroom. Ted was on the Dean's List at Occidental, an Academic All-Conference selection, and was recognized as a Western Region Academic All-American in 2004. Ted is currently a graduate student at UCR for Chemistry, and he also works as a Research Assistant and Teacher's Assistant.

Now consider what Ted himself has to say about playing football at Occidental:

-Did playing football at Occidental help you in Grad school?

"Definitely. There is absolutely no other football playing Chem. Majors in graduate school. In fact, that was my most frequently asked question on my recruiting trips to graduate school. The professors I met with were amazed that I could do so well in such a difficult major, yet play such a time-consuming sport. You could say I had a special edge over all of my peers competing for the same spots."

-Did playing football at Occidental help you prepare better for Grad school better then your classmates?

"I would say yes. From my experiences so far, graduate school is not all about how smart you are. Everyone there is smart, but not everyone can handle the pressure and stress. They have problems dealing with taking class, teaching labs, and working in a research lab. I've been doing multiple things though out my collegiate career so it's not such a big deal to me. Also, many of peers have problems with giving public talks, which are a huge part of graduate school. I've preformed in front of an audience of hundreds every week in college, so giving a talk in front of a twenty to thirty people in graduate school doesn't seem like such a big deal."

- In your mind, what makes Occidental football different than other programs? "A winning attitude. From the first time I set foot in Coach Widolff's office on my recruiting trip the attitude surrounding the football program is "We Will Win," where as at other schools it was: "we will be a good team, we should have won, we will be good with you." The coaches and the players had this amazing attitude that they were going to win. Period. It wasn't that they thought they were better than everyone, or that they were arrogant, as much as it was that they will do whatever it takes to win. Extra film time, extra time in the gym, extra time on the field; they were going to find a way to win. Also unlike other schools, your education will not suffer because of football. Although there is an attitude of "We Will Win," you will find that the coaches will put football aside for academics every time. Whether it be that you have a midterm during practice, you need to get to a study group, or you need to get to a class, the coaches will let you take off whatever football time you need to help your education."