Senior offensive lineman Chris Bunders spends his day with football and his fiancee.
PUBLISHED: 2011-10-19
ADAM RICHARD arichard@mndaily.com
At the break of dawn, senior offensive lineman Chris Bunders wakes up at 6 a.m., not to get ready for practice, or class, but to drive for an hour and a half.
“I get the honor of taking my fiancee to work every morning.” Bunders said without any hint of sarcasm, but total adoration.
Bunders’ fiancee, Jennifer Polansky, works for a local hospital in the mental health clinic. She supports Bunders’ passion for football, attends all of his games and even makes trips to road games to watch her future husband take on opposing lineman, while she cheers from the stands.
“If she had to miss a game, I don’t know what she would do,” Bunders said.
“She is a wonderful support for me. I don’t know what I would do without her,” he added.
They met on the first day of 10th grade and began dating shortly after. Bunders was born and raised in Maple Grove, Minn., and attended Osseo High School, where he dominated competition.
He was the ranked in the top-50 in the nation at offensive guard and was a top-10 player overall in Minnesota.
His high school head coach, Derrin Lamker, is still running the show at Osseo and has led the Orioles to an early 5-1 record this year.
“Chris started as a freshman, and that’s not easy to do here. He was the consummate professional,” Lamker said, noting his respect for Bunders’ footwork, work ethic and maturity.
“The Gophers have had a couple tough years, but Chris always says what a great job his coaches and teammates are doing. He’s always got a positive, mature outlook.”
Bunders said his dream was always to play Big Ten football for the Gophers.
“When I got the chance, I jumped on it. I got some offers from other schools, but this is where I really wanted to play. When that offer letter came through, I was really happy. I couldn’t be happier,” Bunders said.
After he drops his fiancee off in the morning, he heads back to campus for treatment on his various injuries sustained from the week’s abuse on the field, before walking to classes the rest of the morning and into the afternoon.
Football isn’t the only thing Bunders is looking to accomplish at the University.
Bunders is a civil engineering major with a minor in construction management. He said he takes his education seriously, and he proved that by winning a scholar-athlete award in 2007. He also said he knows the value of his scholarship.
“My schooling is getting paid for and I’m lucky to have that. I’m going to go out and get my education,” Bunders said.
Civil engineering is a little-known legacy among Gophers offensive guards: Ben Hamilton and Mark Setterstrom previously majored in civil engineering and both went on to play in the NFL.
Bunders is hoping he can follow in their footsteps.
“I’d love to be able to play more football,” Bunders said. “Otherwise, I’m going to try to line up as many jobs as I can this spring, so I can start working and put some money toward our wedding and house.”
Once Bunders finishes class he heads over to start his work with the team at about 2 p.m. He tapes up his hands and arms to begin his weight training to build up his body to handle the tough job of being a Big Ten offensive lineman.
“What you think you can do isn’t even close to what your body is able to do,” Bunders said. “I’ve learned to be able to push my body and it has bounced back and stayed healthy for me.”
After weight lifting, he studies in team meetings and then moves down to the field to put those studies into play at practice.
Practice begins at 3:30 p.m. with stretch work and light jogs across the practice field. Players who don’t hustle to the practice field, skip class or are insubordinate have to wear “Minnesota Lopher” pink jerseys at practice.
Bunders is not found practicing in pink.
Head coach Jerry Kill yells and shouts, getting players motivated on special teams while Bunders and the rest of the offensive line jog over to a side field with offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover to work through their drills.
Bunders squats down under a 5-foot netted ceiling and moves forward. Emerging from the other side, he thrusts forward, elevating his defender with powerful arms as he uncoils the springs of his squatted legs.
Bunders, traditionally a left guard, prepares for all offensive line positions.
Jimmy Gjere had a concussion last week, according to Kill, so the team moved Bunders from guard to tackle against Purdue.
“We’d be lost without Chris right now,” Limegrover said “He’s been our MVP of the offensive line. He’s a tough guy, a blue-collar guy.”
After the first set of drills, Bunders moves to the opposite side of the field and has to take on two tacklers, maintaining proper leverage to drive through the first block while squaring up the second.
Bunders said practice is where good players are able to become actual college players. He was redshirted as a freshman in order to get the proper practice to play college-level football.
“I wanted to start right out of high school,” Bunders said. “My nightmares were soon realized. I realized that I had a lot of work to do. I got to mold my body into what an actual college player looks like. That year was beneficial. If I would’ve been thrown in, I would’ve been sinking more than swimming,” Bunders said.
Practice ends at 6 p.m. with a talk from Kill while the players attentively heed his words while taking a knee.
Bunders listens to the coach and then heads to the locker room to clean up and eat with the team. The team quickly occupies all the chairs throughout the Gibson-Nagurski Football Complex, grabbing dinner to refuel their bodies after practice.
Bunders finishes his meal quickly so that he may return home. After 13 hours of class and football activities, he heads home to do his homework for the evening.
Once all his work is finished, he gets to spend the evening catching up with his fiancee before heading off to bed to start the enterprise all over again the next morning.
ARTICLE URL: http://www.mndaily.com/2011/10/19/day-life-senior-o-lineman-chris-bunders
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