Hodge chooses playing time over big-time

He said he could have stayed and played one more year.

But Elijah Hodge eschewed the big time, the Big Ten and all the perks that go with it for one season in a dome, playing against the likes of that college football superpower Saint Francis of Pennsylvania.

“It really doesn't matter what program you're in,” Hodge said. “As long as you're playing football, a sport you love. I made a decision as a man, and I live with it. I don't regret being here at all.”

“Here” is Northern Iowa, where Hodge has transferred after four years as a Wisconsin Badgers linebacker. The brother of Cincinnati Bengals and former Iowa Hawkeyes linebacker Abdul Hodge played 35 games for Wisconsin, including 11 starts as a sophomore.

But injuries, particularly bad knees, played a part in Hodge's losing his starting spot at inside linebacker in 2008. With a degree in hand, he looked for a place to continue studying for a master's and get in one more football season.

Cedar Falls was that place.

“There were a couple of other places, but once I looked at Northern Iowa, there was no question this was it,” said Hodge, who red-shirted one season in Madison. “There were just a lot of things that added up.”

Hodge said his high school coach in Florida is a UNI grad, and friend and former Panther Benny Sapp also extolled the virtues of the school. He was familiar with the state because of his brother.

“I love it here,” he said. “I was really surprised at how the program is run. There's not that much difference from how the program is run at Wisconsin. The talent level is the same.”

“There's an intensity level that he brings to practice and what we're doing,” said first-year UNI linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt. “He's a very physical linebacker. He's a great player down in between the tackles, physical at the point of attack.”