Bob Asmussen | Paddock's well-known Illini family fired up

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CHAMPAIGN — Listeners couldn't see John Wright Sr. on Monday morning during his appearance on WDWS' "Penny For Your Thoughts."

It was, after all, radio.

But you could hear the smile as Wright talked about his grandson/Illinois hero John Paddock.

The sixth-year senior and Ball State transfer came off the bench in the closing minutes Saturday at Minnesota. He hit all three passes, including a 46-yard touchdown strike to Isaiah Williams for a 27-26 victory.

Wright was watching the game with his wife, Deanna.

"She was really nervous," Wright said. "She said, 'Oh, my gosh, for him to have to go in in this time.' She said 'How terrible is that?'

"I said, 'Honey, he's ready.'"

How did he know?

"We have eight grandchildren, we have eight state championship medals with that group," Wright said. "It's a very interesting, successful young group.

"Two of them have what I call 'Delusional confidence.' Delusional confidence is a good thing as long as you're coachable. John leads the grandchildren in delusional confidence. He has amazing confidence."

His Illinois teammates seem to understand Paddock. After the game, Williams talked about how he handled the offense in the final minute.

"It's almost like he gets in the huddle and says 'OK guys, this is awesome. Let's go,'" Wright said. "That's his thinking."

And that led to the movie-like moment.

"Almost hard to describe," Wright said.

Paddock is from Bloomfield Hills, Mich. He left his high school as the winningest quarterback in program history and has the most touchdown passes and passing yards.

His mom, Ashley, is John Sr. and Deanna's daughter. Paddock is one of nine kids in his family, with four brothers and four sisters.

Paddock was a starter at Ball State and could have returned for another season. But his dream was to follow in the footsteps of his family. Sort of.

Great-grandfather Bob played end, grandpa John played receiver as did uncle John Jr. for the Illini.

The Wright family now has an Illinois quarterback to brag about.

Paddock and Wright Sr. are close, with the Illini player making frequent trips to the family home near St. Joseph.

"John has always been a super competitor," Wright said. "John is as good a competitor as I've ever seen. I'm not saying that in a cocky, braggadocious way."

Wright saw it a year ago when they were playing a game with blowguns.

"It's like shooting darts," Wright said. "The bullseye is the size of a quarter. He had to hit three darts in the middle of that to beat me. Bing, bing, bing, all three. That's kind of him."

Wright has heard from family and friends after his grandson's heroics.

"They've all said, 'He speaks as well as he plays.' That's really cool," Wright said.

Wright hasn't heard as much from Paddock.

"I called him (Sunday) night because I thought he'd be out there to the house," Wright said. "They're turned up the notch a little bit on meetings."

What's aheadIllinois coach Bret Bielema is hopeful injured starter Luke Altmyer will be ready to go for Saturday's home game against Indiana.

"I do expect him to bounce back this week and have him be involved with the game on Saturday," Bielema said during his Monday press conference at Memorial Stadium.

If not, Bielema has a veteran backup ready to go.

"This is a huge game Saturday," Wright said.

Wright shared the story about why his grandson wears No. 4 at Illinois after wearing No. 5 earlier in his career.

"When John came on campus, (Bielema) said, 'We're going to change your number,'" Wright said.

Paddock wore 5 at Ball State to honor his uncle, John Jr., who had it as an Illini.

"He loved being 5," Wright said, "Bielema said, 'We're going to change your number to 4. Because you're the fourth generation (to play at Illinois).'"

The other No. 4 on the team is superstar defensive tackle Johnny Newton. It's a a good number to have on campus this week.

Familiar territory

Wright sees similarities between the current Illini and John Jr.'s 1992 team.

In Lou Tepper's first season as head coach, Illinois was 3-4 after a close loss to Northwestern. But the team went 3-0-1 in its final four games to earn a bid to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego. John Jr. was a co-captain.

"Hadn't performed like the way they should have, would have, could have performed in the first part of the season," Wright said. "They turned the season around in the last half of the season.

The lone blemish in the late stretch was a 22-22 tie at Michigan, a game Illinois led until the final seconds.

Illinois won't have any ties in the final three weeks. The overtime rule guarantees that. But if Illinois wins just two of its final three, it will be bowl eligible for the second year in a row.

And that's more than enough, no matter what role Paddock has, to make Wright smile.