Sept. 30, 2004
Editor's Note: This feature ran in the Sept. 4 edition of the Mizzou football gameday program.
by Kyle Parrish
During the Missouri Tigers Post-Season Awards Banquet last winter, Beau Viehmann did a lot of standing up.
That's because during the season, he made a lot of opponents sit down.
Of course, when Viehmann makes an opponent sit down, it's usually for a quarter or so - just to shake the cobwebs out. The 5-foot-9, 205-pound senior running back from Owensville, Mo., has the notable distinction of being the team's Hammer Award winner. In other words, he makes a lot of big hits.
"Hitting is something that's always come naturally for me," says Viehmann. "It's a fortunate thing too, because I'm not that athletic."
Despite his self-proclaimed lack of athletic ability, Viehmann has carved out quite an important place for himself on the Tiger roster. In addition to the Hammer Award, Viehmann earned Walk-On Player of the Year honors in 2003 and was named Team Captain for the 2004 season.
For all of his value to the team now, it might come as a surprise that Viehmann almost didn't play.
The three-sport star at Owensville High School, Viehmann was a finalist for the Missouri High School Heisman. He received a number of Division I football offers, but saw them disappear when it was revealed that he suffered a cracked vertebra during his senior season. Determined to walk-on at Mizzou, Viehmann had surgery and rehabbed during the 1999 season. He joined the team in the winter of 2000, only to suffer more back problems. After another corrective surgery, Viehmann weighed the options of returning to the football field.
"I sat out for a year and a half and thought about a lot of things," says Viehmann. "I wanted to be able to pick up my kids someday and to enjoy being active with my family. But I also didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to play college football."
After checking with both his surgeon and team trainer Rex Sharp, Viehmann was cleared to play safely. He walked on for the second time in the winter of 2002. This time, he was under the system of Coach Pinkel and his staff. Additionally, he had to adjust to a new position at outside safety.
"I had to start from scratch the second time I walked on," says Viehmann. "It was tough to adjust to things being completely different than when I walked on the first time, but I knew some guys on the team and that gave me an advantage."
Being the "low man on the totem pole," as Viehmann calls it, provided an opportunity to out-work his teammates and show that he belonged. Extra hours in the weight room, extra effort in drills, and extra initiative in preparation got Viehmann noticed by both his teammates and the coaches. In the spring of 2003, Viehmann was offered the chance to switch back to running back. It was then that he made his first big splash on the collegiate level.
His rushing performance in the 2003 Spring Game turned a lot of heads. Beau Viehmann was back.
For all Viehmann's progress in the spring, toppling Missouri's all-time leading rusher Zach Abron for the starting job in the fall proved too tall a task. Viehmann carried the ball only seven times in 2003. Instead, he carried the team in other ways. He played on all the special teams and served as the blocking back in short yardage situations. The Tigers gained many crucial first downs because of key blocks by Viehmann. And, of course, there were the big hits.
"My goal is always to be the running back on the field," says Viehmann. "But my role on this team is to be always competing - to push everyone harder and to lead by example. If that gets me on the field - great, but if it doesn't, I know the best running back will be out there."
This season, Viehmann will be more important to the Tigers' success than ever before. He will continue to lead the special teams, or "Special Forces" as the Tigers term it. Also, with an explosive offense in the hands of quarterback Brad Smith, Viehmann will likely find himself blocking for more goal-line touchdown opportunities than before. They are jobs Viehmann takes quite seriously.
"Special teams make up one-third of an entire game," says Viehmann. "It's a position of impact and I think it's important to put my teammates in the best possible position."
The desire to put his teammates in a good position reveals the leadership vision that makes Viehmann an ideal captain. He takes pains to serve the team just as much as he does to lead from the front.
"It's flattering to be a captain," says Viehmann. "I feel very honored that my teammates respect me. To be respected by so many people that I admire athletically -it means a lot."
With such a humble attitude in place, Viehmann has no plans to change now that he is in an official position of team leadership.
"We have a lot of great leaders on this team," says Viehmann. "I think we captains were selected for what we were already doing and not so much for what we could become. As captain I must maintain who I am, but take advantage of opportunities to reach people."
Reaching people is a real skill of Viehmann's and it is one from which he will draw in his future career as well.
As a Nursing major, Viehmann relishes the opportunity to care for people in need. Between football and hospital rotations, Viehmann has had some long days, but he reports satisfaction with his chosen path.
"Nursing gives me the opportunity to use my faith - whether expressed or not," says Viehmann. "I get a chance to care about people in a way that they might not have been cared about before."
Despite the rewarding work of his undergraduate years, Viehmann does not plan to pursue Nursing immediately after graduating this December. Instead, he plans to reach people in another way quite familiar to him.
"I really enjoy football," says Viehmann. "I want to share what I've learned with others. My plan is to go to grad school for Education and pursue coaching in some form."
Whether rotations or repetitions, there is no doubt that Viehmann will impact lives after December. He credits the support of God and his family for impacting him to reach past his setbacks and reach out to others the way he does now.
Of course, for the next thirteen weeks, Beau will concentrate on reaching people a little bit harder and faster than usual - just like a hammer.