Preseason all-Mountain West linebacker Ward Dobbs is one out-of-state Wyoming football player who never complains about the cold. Dobbs grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, the son and grandson of gold miners. Dobbs is a third-generation union cardholder, but he’s looking for another line of work when he graduates. A quarterback battle is raging at camp, but everyone knows who is set at linebacker for the Cowboys. During the Mountain West Conference media days in Las Vegas, The Denver Post’s Natalie Meisler talked with Dobbs about his native state and the Cowboys’ outlook .
Q: What brought you to Wyoming from Alaska and what about the detour to Boston?
A: Football, pretty much. I graduated high school a semester early and went to Northeastern University. Going to Boston from Alaska was definitely a culture shock. I look back now and it was definitely a good experience. I don’t regret it.
Q: Did you think Laramie would be warmer than Alaska?
A: I didn’t know what to expect. Laramie is so high in elevation. The winter is the winter but unlike Alaska, at least there’s sunlight. There’s more wind in Laramie, less wind in Alaska.
Q: What is the family mining tradition?
A: My grandfather is an underground gold miner. He’s been all over the world. He was in South America and Africa. He’s the foreman. My grandpa was at all my wrestling tournaments and football games in high school. He bought season tickets at Wyoming, and he’ll come watch all the games. My dad and his brother went to South America with my grandfather. He’s a blaster in gold mines and inroads. I’m third generation in a union but I’m not a blaster.
Q: What jobs have you had?
A: I’ve been a pipe layer and done scaffolding. My older brother is pretty good. There’s been no scaffolding for me since my shoulder surgery (in January). I haven’t gotten into blasting. It looks like it would be pretty fun.
Q: You don’t want to follow the family career path?
A: It beats up the body pretty good. I’m sure my body is going to get beat up pretty bad anyway. It would be nice to have a job to fall back on, though.
Q: You were in Joe Glenn’s first recruiting class. There seems like there’s some pressure on Coach for Wyoming to get over the hump. What’s the talk?
A: There’s always pressure to win games. Everyone in the program now, we came in all together. This is probably one of the closest-knit teams we’ve had. Everyone is really good friends and that alone can do a lot for you.
Q: You play so many games on the road at the end of the season because you need to get the home games in early. How do you change (the late-season slumps)?
A: It’s just the mentality. Everyone has to be on the same level when it comes to being ready to play. It doesn’t matter if you’re home or on the road. We ended up slipping halfway through our season last year and this season is going to be different.
Q: Is that going to be weird to play at Tennessee so late (Nov. 8)? Usually you play the nonleague games early.
A: I’m excited about it. It will be fun. It will be nice to play in Tennessee in November. Who knows, in Laramie we could have a snowstorm.
Q: Do you ever want to move back to Alaska?
A: All my friends are in Wyoming now. I’m up in the air.
Five favorite things about Wyoming football
1. Coach Glenn — He’s always a positive person. Everything about the guy is a positive atmosphere.
2. The guys I play with — They are the kind of people I like to hang out with off the field. They are guys who work hard.
3. The fans — They get really rowdy every game and they are always fun to have there.
4. The facilities — We have a new indoor facility that makes it a ton better when the weather goes south here. Everything is expanding.
5. When a big BCS team comes here — I love to look across the sideline and see their O-linemen with oxygen masks in the second quarter. They are not used to the altitude at all and it’s fun to wear teams down.
