By Joel Magalnick, Special to JTNews
At 6-foot-2 and 240 pounds, the biggest thing about Ben Mahdavi is not his size. What’s big about Mahdavi, defensive captain of the 2002 University of Washington Huskies football team, is the way he commands respect. And it’s not the muscles, either. Through the way he treats his teammates, his coach, and everyone else in his life, that respect is both welcome and deserved.
When Mahdavi talks, he speaks like someone who knows what it means to take charge. As a football player, he talks about how being captain means setting an example for younger players to look up to, making sure his team performs its best and understanding his players’ issues. It is he who must act as a go-between for them and coach Rick Neuheisel.
Off the field, as a Jew, Mahdavi acts the same way. “I have very strict morals,” he says. That’s not just talk. He doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat fast food and doesn’t party. Instead of eating right and keeping in shape for just a few months of the year, he makes what most people would consider a training regimen his everyday philosophy. He does admit to a weakness for Mike & Ike’s candies and ice cream, though he makes sure he doesn’t indulge his sweet tooth too often.
Mahdavi also spends a lot of time with his family, longtime Mercer Island residents. That time has become much more important to him since his father, a star athlete in his own right, passed away earlier this year. That devastating loss has come nowhere close to breaking those family ties, however. His brother, Bobby, a UW pre-med student, works as a technician at the university hospital across the street from the stadium. His mother, Julie, runs the concessions for the Huskies and sister Salome is assistant director of the team’s catering program. All three of them make sure to watch each practice. They’re his biggest fans, and Julie Mahdavi couldn’t be happier about her son’s success. “I’m so proud of him. He’s a natural leader. His intensity and his hard work are infectious and it’s spreading to everybody,” she says.
That’s not surprising. “Family and religion are a priority,” Ben states. But this time of year, football comes first. Like the rest of the Huskies, he eats, sleeps and breathes the game. Having already received his diploma in communications, this is a make-or-break year for Mahdavi. Since he plans to go pro next year, scouts will watching him every Saturday. He’s not yet ready to think about that part of his future, however. With almost the entire season still in front of him, he’s still got a team to defend.
So far he sounds pretty excited. Though he admits the Huskies’ first game against Michigan, a loss, could have gone much better, he’s very optimistic for the rest of the season, especially once they start playing within their conference. “We’ve got a great team,” he says, “but we’ve got to get into a groove.”
As a linebacker, Mahdavi is on the front lines, trying to keep the other team’s quarterback from moving the ball. His record of sacks throughout his college career has shown his ability to do that again and again. His success as long snapper for the special teams, accurately getting the ball into the hands of the punter, has been nearly as good.
As captain, he has taken on a new role, but it’s a job he has worked hard for and earned. The role of defensive captain is an elected one, decided by his teammates. By no means was he guaranteed the honor, but his years of working hard and treating the others on his team “with the utmost respect” paid off. He’s proud of what he has accomplished, and he’s happy to be where he is, with a good staff supporting him and a great team. “I’m happy to be playing for the coach,” he says.
Though Jews on a football field have historically been rare — he’s the first Jewish captain of a PAC-10 team in more than 40 years — that doesn’t bother Mahdavi one bit. His teammates all know his dedication to Judaism. He muses that with such diverse backgrounds and religious beliefs among the players, “everyone has mutual respect for one another.”
One of the drawbacks of spending so much time on the field, however, is that his religious life must take a back seat during the season. Between maintaining scholarships and his professional aspirations, he needs to be right where the rest of the team is on Saturday mornings: on the field. Mahdavi admits he’d like to have the chance to go to Friday night services, but he makes up for it through his dedication to the game. With Rosh Hashanah falling on Saturday this year, he had to sacrifice going to synagogue for his team. He won’t be able to fast for Yom Kippur, either. “I’d pass out,” he says.
There’s time to celebrate the holidays in the future, Mahdavi notes, and he’s doing what he must right now so that will happen. For now, he still has his strict moral code to live by, and a strong will to finish his college years with the respect of everyone around him. With a full career ahead of him, Ben Mahdavi aims to keep his mind strong and his body in shape so he can do what he does best: play football.