Hedelin: Multi-Cultured and Multi-Talented
By Matthew Staudt
Note: This story ran in Purdue's Game Day program on Nov. 22 for the Boilermakers' game against Wisconsin.
Purdue coaches refer to his play as "nasty." Other coaches have noted his toughness and physicality. But there is a whole other side to the Boilermakers' starting left tackle that you don't see on the field.
Meet David Hedelin, No. 75 for the Old Gold and Black. He is Purdue's starting left tackle, has lived in four countries and on three continents and is trilingual. Hedelin is a good soccer player and maybe an even better snowboarder. He has worked at the vineyards of his family's winery and can make his own bottle from scratch. He has launched himself into Purdue's starting lineup, despite being suspended for the team's first three games this season for playing club football in Spain.
This is his story.
Hedelin was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and lived there until he graduated high school at 19, the normal age to do so in the European country of 9.5 million people. As a child, he primarily played soccer and spent the winters snowboarding the mountains. In high school, though, he found a love for American football. High school football in Sweden is significantly different than in America. Only two schools around Stockholm even had a team, so Hedelin had to practice six months every year to play just one game. In all, he practiced 18 months and played three high school games.
He loved it.
After high school, Hedelin and his family - mom, dad and brother - moved to Argentina, where they own a winery. They had maintained it from overseas for five years, but decided it was time to be there for the everyday operations. Not only was he leaving his home country and continent, he had to switch from Swedish to Spanish and from the football field to the vineyards. There, he learned the entire winemaking process from maintaining the fields, to harvesting the grapes and making the wine.
"I worked a lot at the winery and vineyards," Hedelin says. "It's really tough work, and it's really hot in Argentina. You have to dig through the soil and clear out all the bad stuff on the ground to keep the plants healthy. Then, harvesting the grapes is really hard work and very time consuming. You can get hurt, whether your arms and wrists or anything else. The whole process and everything that goes with it is great experience, though, to learn how to make wine."
Hedelin stayed in Argentina with his family for a year and a half, tending to the vineyards and working out two to three times a day to stay in shape for football. He got pretty good at the entire process and even made, bottled and drank his very own wine.
"It was pretty good," Hedelin says with a laugh. "I'm not a wine expert, but I would say it was pretty good."
Between growing seasons, Hedelin would travel back and forth to Sweden where he was a member of a club football team (not the one that would earn him a three-game suspension from the NCAA). He practiced and played games in Sweden, and would travel back to Argentina to work. He did that until he turned 21 and his family decided to move to Spain. Hedelin again was switching continents, but this time he could at least use the same language.
Hedelin was in Spain for only about six months. It wasn't your standard Spanish vacation, though. He used his time exclusively to work out and play for a Spanish club football team, which ended up being in violation of NCAA rules because it was no longer within his two-year grace period after graduating high school.
Hedelin was very tenacious on the football field, from high school through club, so much so that he earned an opportunity to play at the City College of San Francisco. He again packed his bags for a new country, on a new continent with another new language. He was moving halfway across the globe, so he could play his favorite sport in a country where it is very popular.
The transition wasn't as hard for Hedelin as it may have seemed.
"The weather in San Francisco was great," Hedelin says. "The summers don't get too hot, and the winters don't get too cold. I like the colder weather, so it was a welcomed change, especially from Argentina. I loved the football, too. It was nice to practice and play all the games."
He settled in immediately. Hedelin was a stud on the offensive line for two seasons and earned a reputation as the guy who would block through the whistle. He was tabbed a four-star prospect by several recruiting services and picked up college offers from more than 30 Division I schools.
Eventually, he decided on Purdue. But first, he relocated back to Sweden and finished schooling at City College before moving to his new home, West Lafayette, Ind., in June. He has played in seven games as a Boilermaker, including five starts.
Hedelin's experiences are unique, especially for a college football player. Yet, he manages to follow the success of his family's winery, one that he helped maintain, while becoming one of the most dominant players on Purdue's offensive line.