Jack Ansell wants to use platform to fight Type 1 Diabetes
Coming from The Land Down Under, Purdue punter Jack Ansell didn't have a normal college recruitment. The specialist was nearly 10,000 miles away from Purdue's campus in West Lafayette, but if distance wasn't enough, Covid cast even more roadblocks in his way.
Due to the complications that came with being recruited by schools in the United States, Ansell utilized ProKick Australia to help him with his journey. ProKick has produced six Ray Guy Award winners and sent 15 players to the NFL or CFL, according to their website.
Fellow Big Ten punters, Tory Taylor (Iowa), Hugh Robertson (Illinois), Jesse Mirco (Ohio State) and Mark Crawford (Minnesota) also used ProKick to come stateside.
"So I had a bit of a funny one. With Prokick Australia, the academy I trained with back home, a lot of times coaches will fly out to see guys they want to recruit. I was training in the midst of COVID, so 2020 is when I started off with ProKick," Ansell said. "You never really know where you're going to end up. I had no idea I was coming to Purdue till I was coming in. I just put out the film and you hear things like: This coach, totally unknown to you, wants to see this."
That coach for Ansell was Purdue's Marty Biagi. The Boilermakers' former Special Teams coordinator looked to Australia to find a punter in the 2021 recruiting class. For Ansell, he didn't have much of a chance to examine his school.
"We don't have that opportunity to visit places. You know, see if you like it or not. It's all about the football and if you want to get over here and punt somewhere. It didn't matter where it was for me, JUCO, or D1 or Big Ten, I'm going," Ansell said.
Although Ansell's journey was a bit of a leap of faith, the Boilermaker specialist believes he made the right decision back in January of 2021 and has found his footing in West Lafayette.
"I'm so thankful to be here now. I feel like the direction we're going is just, you know, sky's the limit for us. I feel like we've built something really special here," Ansell said.
Biagi and the rest of Purdue's specialists room embraced Ansell when he got to campus in 2021, helping him adjust to not only a different style of football, but also a different way of life in his new country.
"They were very accepting and really wanted to get to know me and teach me about how it is over here. I think the biggest thing is college football in general. I had no idea what the culture was like inside these walls," Ansell said.
Ansell quickly emerged as Purdue's top option at punter as a true freshman in 2021 and reprised his role atop the Boilermakers' depth chart as a sophomore last season. The bond he created with his teammates off the field helped him between the lines as well. Ansell improved on his average yards per punt by over three yards.
An unorthodox path into college football gives the punter an intriguing backstory, but there is another layer of Jack Ansell that many people don't see. His Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis at the age of 10.
Many who are diagnosed with the condition, particularly after growing up without having it, are shellshocked what they learn about the diagnosis. That wasn't Ansell. His brother, Nick, was diagnosed when he was three years old, so the now Big Ten punter already knew what his new lifestyle would entail.
Taking insulin shots, monitoring blood sugar levels and keeping tabs on his diet were all things he would have to do. After watching his brother navigate the same condition, he knew that it would not impact him as much as others may have believed.
Type 1 Diabetes made playing sports and maintaining peak performance a little more difficult, but it has never kept Ansell from getting on the field. During practices and games, he continuously monitors his blood sugar levels and makes necessary adjustments as needed.
Now that he's at Purdue, Ansell wants to use his platform to help others just like him. The details are still in the process of being developed and specifics will come out sometime in the near future, but Ansell is looking to start an initiative to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).
There are many stigmas surrounding Type 1 Diabetes, commonly misconstrued as Type 2 Diabates, and Ansell wants to play his part in debunking the misconceptions about the condition that affects over 20 million people worldwide.
"I think one of the big stigmas with getting diagnosed with diabetes in general is that it's due to an unhealthy lifestyle you know, you eat too much sugar and you're not a healthy person. That just couldn't be further from the truth," Ansell said. "There's a lot of professional athletes who are type one diabetics. Now as a college athlete in the Big Ten, I have a fairly large platform to sort of debunk that myth."
Two others that are playing a part in that pursuit are fellow Boilermaker athletes, linebacker Hudson Miller and men's basketball center William Berg, both also have Type 1 Diabetes. Ansell hopes that he can form a community to help further expand his vision in West Lafayette.
"I think once this grows to hopefully the lengths that I want it to grow to, we can expand into other sports and really have a little community here of raising a lot of money for JDRF," Ansell said.
Ansell recognizes his duty as Purdue's punter in 2023, but he is searching for something more. Something that leaves him fulfilled off the gridiron. He wants to be an inspiration for children with Type 1 Diabetes, particularly potential Purdue fans.
"To be in a position to be that ambassador for them, that means the world to me. There's no greater thing that I can leave my mark with on Purdue than to leave a legacy here and doing something good. I want to be known as a good person who did good things. I don't care about the planning stats or any of that at the end of the day," Ansell said.