Kornacki: Former Wolverine Mealer Recalls Archrival's Compassion
9/1/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 1, 2015
Elliott Mealer
By Steve Kornacki
Compassion comes, at times, from unexpected places.
Elliott Mealer, a Michigan offensive lineman who graduated in 2012, said there is something special -- a human connection he cherishes -- that he's never spoken about before. It deals with a card his family received after his brother, Brock, learned to walk again after being paralyzed from the waist down and touched the "M Club" banner to rousing applause at Michigan Stadium on Sept. 4, 2010.
The card came from Ohio State coach Jim Tressel, who had recruited him to play for the Buckeyes during his standout career at Wauseon (Ohio) High. It was sent to Sandy Mealer Barber, the aunt of Brock and Elliott, who lives in Wauseon, and it read:
"Sandra,
No doubt, the greatest cheer a Buckeye ever received at the Big House!
You must be so proud of those Mealer Boys!
God bless! Go Bucks! Go Blue!
Jim Tressel
P.S. Thanks for the awesome photo!"
Barber had sent a photo of Brock touching the banner to Tressel along with a thank you for the signed Ohio State football helmet he sent for a charity golf outing held in memory of her brother, David, the father of her nephews. Part of the proceeds went to benefit paralyzed patients at Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
Elliott Mealer was taken aback by that kind gesture.
"It was hand-written and it really touched me," said Elliott. "Jim Tressel and his brother, Doc, recruited me."
Dick "Doc" Tressel was Ohio State's running backs coach.
"Jim Tressel, on behalf of the Ohio State team, sent flowers after the accident even though I had already committed to Michigan," said Mealer of the Dec. 24, 2007, auto accident that left his father and Elliott's girlfriend, Hollis Richer, dead and Brock paralyzed.
"I've never shared this before, but I think that it's a part of the story that should be told. To have an Ohio State coach write 'Go Blue!' on a card. How neat was that?"
The compassion he felt from his archrival resonates deeply with Mealer to this day.
And what's odd is that he always figured he'd be a Buckeye. His grandfather, George Mealer, and his father, four uncles and his aunt always wore scarlet and gray. Aunt Sandy said her father carried a buckeye nut in his pocket until the day he died.
"I grew up an Ohio State fan," said Mealer. "I was a diehard."
However, Wolverine offensive coordinator Mike DeBord (now at Tennessee) and Lloyd Carr, the Hall of Fame coach who retired before he could coach Mealer, connected with him.
"Mike DeBord showed up at my high school and Michigan swept me off my feet," said Mealer. "I definitely had a pull to Michigan, and a feeling that Michigan was just the place to be. It felt like family. It felt like home."
Mealer signed with the Wolverines even after DeBord and Carr departed. He became part of Rich Rodriguez's first recruiting class in Ann Arbor.
And Mealer soon realized why he had been called to Michigan.
Mike Barwis, the new strength and conditioning coach, befriended Brock and continues training him to this day. Six years after they began working on a miracle, Brock can walk a half mile, walked down the aisle on his wedding day in 2012, and thrives as a businessman in their hometown.
And it was Rodriguez who issued Brock the challenge to lead the Wolverines out of the tunnel on that emotional day five years ago.
"The school I had hated growing up was a place I fell in love with," Mealer said of Michigan. "And Lloyd Carr helped a lot with that. It was something special.
"Who would have known that all that would fall into place because I chose Michigan. It was fate. It was all remarkable."
Brock had been set to graduate from Ohio State in the fall of 2007, but decided to work during that semester. He went back to Columbus in a wheelchair in the fall of 2008 and earned his degree in business administration and economics from Ohio State.
"But there's no question we're all Michigan fans now," Elliott, now 26, said with a chuckle.
Barwis also helped Elliott rehabilitate the shoulder he tore up trying to rescue Brock from the family SUV on that tragic Christmas Eve.
"Mike put me in a great position to play in the NFL," said Mealer, who was the starting center at Michigan as a senior in 2012 and signed a free agent contract with the New Orleans Saints in 2013. "I love Mike to death. I didn't have the success I'd have liked, but if going to Michigan was to get Brock to walk again then it was a knock out of the park."
It was a home run, for sure.
"It was that pull I felt -- that faith I had in picking Michigan that made all the difference," said Mealer. "I had divine intervention in picking Michigan."
Mealer didn't make it with the Saints, and tried out the next year with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. They offered a practice squad contract that Mealer declined. He instead played in 2014 with both the San Jose SaberCats of the Arena Football League and the Omaha Mammoths of the Fall Experimental Football League.
"If there is a football league in North America," said Mealer, "I've played in it."
He also coached the freshman football team at Altamonte Springs (Florida) Lake Brantley last year and "loved it."
But now he's "come to peace" with retiring as a football player, and is working as an account executive in Orlando. His girlfriend, Casie Kelly, a Wolverine water polo co-captain in 2009-10, lived there and is a business consultant.
"It was time for me to come to where she is," said Mealer.
Left: Elliott Mealer and girlfriend Casie Kelly, a U-M water polo captain in 2009-10, at Schembechler Hall.
Middle: Mealer in action against Michigan State on Oct. 20, 2012.
Right: Mealer and Kelly in Orlando, Florida.
However, he's looking to use his creativity in a future job venture.
"I want to pursue a career in entertainment," said Mealer. "I've been a production assistant filming some commercials, and was the snapper for Jon Gruden's quarterback camp on ESPN. I'm taking acting lessons in September in (nearby) Winter Park, and I'm more interested in being in front of the camera."
He was known for his spot-on impersonation of Brady Hoke, his coach in his final two seasons at Michigan.
"I can always do my Brady Hoke impersonation," said Mealer, who also has aspirations in stand-up comedy.
However, it was the bonding that occurred between Mealer and Hoke that he remembers most. Hoke lost his father during spring football when Mealer was a senior.
"I can still recall sitting across from him and talking about that," said Mealer. "You go through something like that, and not a lot can be said. But I told him, 'I've been there and if you want to talk to anybody about it, I'm here.' That got me closer to Brady Hoke in a difficult time.
"We were all there for each other, like he was for me."
The friendships and bonds Mealer formed at Michigan run deep.
"To go from square one with Mike DeBord and fast-forwarding to all these people at Barwis Methods and the Michigan coaches and players," said Mealer. "It's just remarkable. I keep saying that, but it's so true.
"It was obviously a tragedy, what happened to our family. But this tragedy turned into something beautiful because of Mike Barwis, Parker Whiteman (who assisted Barwis at Michigan and Barwis Methods and now works for Rodriguez and the University of Arizona football team), Rich Rodriguez and all the people at Michigan.
"Hopefully, a person who needs encouragement will read this and see our story."
• Five Years after the Cheers, Barwis and Brock Thriving (8/31/2015)
