Click here for the Wilde and Tausch podcast including Jake Kumerow’s interview Thursday.
UW-Whitewater’s own Jake Kumerow has certainly become a bit of a cult figure among Packers Nation, the kid with local ties, the underdog who makes it on the beloved local team at his sport’s top level.
Kumerow is attempting to take his notoriety (such as the hashtag of #WhitewaterJesus on social media) in stride.
“Maybe they like the fact I’m from the area. They can relate to that. I just like working hard and have fun doing it. Maybe they just enjoy watching,” said Kumerow on WTMJ sister station ESPN Milwaukee during Wilde and Tausch Thursday.
“I don’t really think about (the notoriety) a lot, but as time went by, I started hearing more and more people going ‘Go Whitewater!’ I started to recognize people seeing where I was from.”
But it wasn’t necessarily the “local kid making it big” itself that put the spotlight on Kumerow before his rookie year in Green Bay. It was the trust that he quickly established with two-time NFL MVP and locker room leader Aaron Rodgers.
“It meant a lot. Definitely helped out. Man, he’s the best to do it, so to hear that come from him is an honor. I want to hear it more and more times. I just want to keep things rolling. It really helped a lot,” Kumerow explained, saying simply doing his job right earned that trust from the veteran signalcaller.
“I didn’t go out of my way to connect with him personally. I did everything I could for him to notice me in the right way, by putting it on film, studying my plays. He’s the type of guy that notices that. I didn’t have to do anything out of the ordinary except for making sure I was where I was supposed to be at the right time.”
