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Niemann family basks in Chiefs’ run
By KALEB CARTER
When Sycamore graduate Ben Niemann was a youngster in a football family, his mother, Lou Ann, would inquire about his future.
His father, Jay, chuckles at the
vivid memory from over a decade ago.
“She’d ask him what he wanted to do when you grow up, and he
said, ‘Mom, I’m going to play in the league.’ Of course you always had to
laugh, not knowing if it would actually become reality,” Jay Niemann said. “I
don’t know that we ever knew it was going to happen until he went in there and
made that final 53-man roster his first year.”
Now a member of the
Kansas City Chiefs, Ben Niemann prepares for the Super Bowl with throngs of
DeKalb County locals voicing their support.
Jay Niemann, now the
defensive line coach for his home-state Iowa Hawkeyes, was NIU’s defensive
coordinator from 2011 to ’15 and was part of five straight Mid-American
Conference Championship Game appearances with the Huskies.
His children, Ben and Nick, went through their high school years as Spartans.
“Sycamore schools are a great school system, and the coaches
that dealt with our boys in all of the sports were good solid leaders and good
people,” Jay Niemann said. “And a lot of the community members that we got to
know and parents of some of the sons that played with our boys we got to know
very well and still have relationships and friendships established with a lot
of them.”
Nick, who followed in his brother’s footsteps to become an Iowa
Hawkeye, was in the summer before his eighth-grade year when his family moved
to Sycamore for his father’s job. He quickly made friends playing in the
Sycamore Youth Baseball league and seamlessly transitioned to summer football
practice. Ben was able to leap right into football as well.
“Coach Ryan’s definitely one of the best in the business in high
school football,” said Nick Niemann, who’s about to become a senior for the
Hawkeyes next year. “A lot of players, coaches and people I know have a lot of
respect for him. It was definitely awesome to be able to play for him the way
Sycamore does things.”
After following his
brother to Iowa City, Nick felt comfortable with his brother taking him under
his wing as a linebacker for the Hawkeyes, before making a jump to the AFC
Champion Chiefs.
“Last year he was pretty
much only on special teams but now he’s playing a lot more on defense,” Nick
Niemann said. “Everyone knew what he was capable of, but obviously, coming in
as an undrafted free agent, compared to some other guys, there might be some
questions, but he’s proved himself. I know that he loves it
there, and I think they have a good relationship with him.”
Not that it was an easy path for Ben Niemann to the Chiefs’
roster. Numerous dominoes had to fall. Timely production from the linebacker in 2018 preseason
games cemented his spot.
Jay Niemann remembers the anxiety-filled chats with his eldest
son as the Chiefs cut more players from the roster in the summer leading up to
his rookie season before Ben made the 53-man roster.
“Every cut that you go through, you just hope that he’s not on
that list,” Jay Niemann said. “And he was surviving those cuts one at a time
and fortunately had some really good preseason games prior to his rookie
season, and that got him to a position where they kept him on the roster, and
it began with a lot of special teams opportunities and slowly evolved to what
it is now.”
Jay Niemann had the chance to watch his sons’ games more closely
than ever as NIU’s defensive coordinator, but missed time watching Ben and Nick
during three years as the defensive coordinator at Rutgers (2016-18).
“In this profession, you miss out on a lot of opportunities to
be involved in activities and events and competitions or games that your kids
are a part of,” Jay Niemann said. “I certainly missed my fair share, although
at NIU I was able to see a lot of the Sycamore games, which was really nice.”
The eldest Niemann, an Iowa State graduate, had a tumultuous
offseason following the 2018 college football season, in which he went from
Rutgers to Kansas to Wyoming before the final opportunity presented itself that
he couldn’t pass up to coach his son, Nick.
After a cherished season
that has allowed the family to be closer together than they’ve been in years,
they’ve banded together to make trips to two playoff games. Lou Ann, Jay and
Nick were there watching in the AFC Division Round when the Chiefs overcame a
24-point deficit to the Houston Texans.
“That was the weird thing about being at the game,” Nick Niemann
said. “They got down so quick it didn’t even feel like they were in that bad of
shape. It was so early, and you knew their big playmaking ability. I don’t
think anybody worried.”
The whole crew was there
for an AFC Championship Game victory in Kansas City as well.
“After the AFC
championship, we were down on the field, and [Ben] just had a huge smile on his
face,” Nick Niemann said. “He just kept saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m going to
the Super Bowl.’ ”
