As a senior linebacker on the Wisconsin defense, Alex Lewis has a great deal to think about every time he takes the field. Changing offensive formations, coverage assignments, running backs’ tendencies — these are just a few of the things that run through his mind before the ball is snapped. Yet regardless of the play, the opponent or the particular game, Lewis’ thoughts always gravitate to one thing: his mother.

Were it not for the daily sacrifices of his mother, Belva Lewis-Taylor, his dream of playing football and obtaining a college degree would have been unreachable. With Lewis’ father barely around, Belva shouldered the responsibility of raising Lewis and his younger sister, Roselyn, working two and sometimes three jobs to support them.

“She is my heart and soul,” Lewis said. “My mom basically gave up her life for me, and every time I’m out on the field I do think about it. It makes me want to work hard.”

A proclivity for hard work, coupled with a love of football, is something Lewis has always had. As an eighth-grader, he was informed that he needed to lose 10 pounds if he wanted to play for a local football program. Lewis took initiative immediately, jogging around the neighborhood in trash bags and working out in saunas until he lost the weight. The day of weigh-ins, Lewis was told he couldn’t play for a different reason: He exceeded the age limit by a month.

“I remember just sitting there, crying,” Lewis said.

Nothing could hold him back the following year, however, when he joined the team at Delran High School in New Jersey. He competed in track as well, even though he didn’t have the means to train.

“I stole a discus from the high school and I used to just throw it in the backyard by myself,” Lewis said. “There were a lot of people better than me, but everything is a matter of time and patience.”

By the end of his senior year, Lewis was captain of his school’s track team and a state champion in discus. He was captain and a star of the football team as well, but Lewis did not have the academic requirements needed for Division I-A football. Additionally, he was overlooked by scouts because of his 6-foot-1 stature. For the first time in his life, Lewis began to doubt himself.

“People told me I probably couldn’t make it because I was too small or too dumb,” Lewis said. “I started to think, ‘Hey, how far can I take this?’ My senior year I decided to quit and not play football at any colleges and think about track and field.”

But a pep talk from his high school coach convinced him to stick with it, and the next fall Lewis enrolled at SUNY-Morrisville, a junior college, where he worked tirelessly to earn the recognition of a major program. Lewis studied game film so often that Morrisville coach Terry Dow joked about giving him a key to the video room. Lewis’ preparation paid off his sophomore year: He notched 100 tackles and 10 sacks and was named defensive player of the year. He attacked his studies with equal vigor, loading up on 21 credits one semester.

By the end of his second year, Lewis was academically eligible to play Division I football.

Wisconsin came knocking.

“We don’t bring in many junior college transfers and Alex was brought in for a reason: We were thin at linebacker,” Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez said. “We were hoping that he could come in and contribute right away, which he did.”

The transition to the Big Ten was trying at times last season, but this year Lewis has reached a new comfort level and thrived. Used as both a pass rusher and open-field tackler, he leads the team with six sacks and is second on the Badgers with 54 total tackles.

“When he knows exactly what he’s doing, he’s excellent,” Alvarez said. “He’s very active, and he’s a playmaker.”

Lewis earned Big Ten Player of the Week honors last week for his performance against Purdue. Still, that’s not the game that stands out most in his mind.

“Penn State was driving with about 20 seconds left and I heard the crowd starting to go wild,” Lewis said. “I looked around in the stands and I could see my mom holding my little nephew up. That was something.”