Woelk: Lindsay's Legacy Will Stretch Far Beyond His Numbers

BOULDER — Maybe the most important thing to know about Phillip Lindsay is this: it's never "about" Lindsay.

Yes, when the Colorado running back's CU career finally comes to an end, his legacy will be one that will be difficult to surpass. With at least six games still to go in his career, he is CU's all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 4,989. Now trailing him on that list are the likes of Eric Bieniemy, Rashaan Salaam and Byron White to name a few — a literal pantheon of Buffs greats.

He also now owns the fourth-best single-game rushing performance in CU history (281 yards last weekend against Arizona) and the CU single-game school record for rushing attempts (41).

That alone is enough to put him on the list of all-time favorites for Buffs fans.

But Lindsay is more than that. Lindsay is the epitome of college football, the very definition of what every coach in America wants from his players: tremendous work ethic, unwavering loyalty to the program, a strong believer in the importance of family, great team leader and maybe most of all, a player who wants one thing above all else:

Lindsay wants to win.

It is why, three days after the best performance of his career — the 41-carry, 281-yard, three-touchdown effort against Arizona — he still wanted nothing to do with talking about his records.

Rather, he wanted to talk about getting a win for the 3-3 Buffs, who have lost their last three and are still searching for their first Pac-12 victory. To Lindsay, all the numbers in the world are useless window dressing if the end result isn't a Buffaloes win.

"I'm thinking about trying to get this win to get back on track," Lindsay said when asked about whether he had reflected on his personal accomplishments. "We have a good opportunity to get back on track, that's where my mind is right now."

Lindsay's performance in Colorado's 45-42 loss was no doubt one for the ages. In 41 carries, he was stopped short of the line of scrimmage just once. He had one 45-yard run, but the vast majority of his carries were "tough" yards — bruising runs into the heart of the Wildcats defense, churning out an extra yard or two when most backs would have been stopped. On one drive, he carried 14 times for 80 yards.

Tuesday, he simply shrugged at questions about what kind of toll such an evening can have on his body.

"I feel the same," Lindsay said. "I'm ready. It comes down to a mindset: when you're out there doing it not just for yourself, but for your teammates, for your family, for your state, you have a little bit more energy. For me, the key is to continue to do what I've always done to try to stay healthy, and that's just working on my body. No matter what, I work on body throughout the week for at least six hours a day, so for me it's nothing new."

Teammates, family, the state of Colorado and his beloved Buffs. That's what Lindsay is about. Those are the things that are important to him, the fuel behind his drive.

But, if you are looking for some insight to his character, a clue as to how he came to be the person he is today, there is also this:

At Tuesday's weekly CU press conference, Lindsay was asked where he learned his leadership traits. Lindsay didn't hesitate with the answer.

"My family," Lindsay said decisively. "My father is a big reason why I do the things I do today. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about what my father would do in certain situations. He had five kids; all five of us were hard-headed and we've lived a hard life at times. He could've easily walked out on us and left us with our mom, but he didn't. He stayed by our side. When stuff wasn't going right he made sure it looked like it was going right, even if deep down he was scrambling, thinking about what he was going to do to support us. We've never had to look at our father and doubt whether he would be there for us."

That example, Lindsay said, has stuck with him.

"That's what I try to be for my teammates," he said. "At the lowest times, that's when you need to be there the most. Any time you're winning, everything is always going good. When you lose, you sit there and look at your teammates and you've got to make sure that they're ready to play the next game. That's when you see the true character in a man."

It is definitely the true character of Phillip Lindsay, a player who came to Colorado when the program had hit bottom and through sheer determination and will, helped bring it back to relevancy.

It is why his legacy at Colorado will be much, much more than the outstanding numbers he leaves in the record books.

It is a legacy of leadership and heart, a legacy of which Colorado fans can always be proud — no matter what the numbers say.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu