MADISON, Wis. — Upon reaching a crossroads in his football career, Jon Dietzen felt that it was in his best interests to take an exit ramp. Due to an accumulation of injuries that had taken some of the joy out of playing, he walked away from a final year of eligibility on the Wisconsin offensive line.

"At that point, I truly believed I was done with football," reflected Dietzen, who announced his retirement via Twitter on February 11, 2019. "I basically had been putting up with numerous injuries – kind of repetitive things – and I really just thought it wasn't the best thing for me.

"I can't say it was anything specifically, but it was a culmination of things that brought me to the point where I felt like I couldn't do it anymore … I took some time to myself to think about what I wanted at that time. And at that time, I didn't really think that I wanted to be playing ball."

Dietzen brought home his "W" helmet — "I imagine like most guys who finish up playing, they put it up on their shelf as a bit of a trophy" — and it would serve as a daily reminder of the risks and rewards of playing collegiately at the Big Ten level in 35 career games, including 32 starts.

As far as moving on with the rest of his life, he conceded, "Mentally, I was pretty close."

Pretty close? A signal, perhaps, that he hadn't completely shut the door on football which was understandable given all the physical sacrifices that he had made to compete in the sport. That was in the back of his mind while finishing up his undergrad degree and getting a small taste of the work force.

"The only job I was working was editing a podcast, which really was a fun thing to do and I was grateful for that job," said Dietzen, a life sciences communications major. "But it was nothing like a career-type thing. I was looking at different opportunities with social media and other types of media.

"I wouldn't say I ever got super removed (from football).

"I think a little part of me knew that there was something still yearning for the field, I guess."

During last Saturday's practice at Camp Randall, there was a bounce in the step of Dietzen, who was once again wearing No. 67 and lining up as a starting guard on the O-line. With his long hair flowing from under his "W" helmet, he was a welcomed sight to offensive coordinator Joe Rudolph.

"I've worked him as much on the second team as probably anybody out of that group that I consider a starter," said Rudolph, who also coaches the offensive line, "and he just works and really sets a great example for the whole group … "

That example, according to Rudolph is "about how you go about your business, how you handle things, how you're excited about the moment that you're in and not thinking that far ahead. He has bounced around from both guard positions to both tackle positions through these practices."

Dietzen's versatility has been invaluable when Rudolph's unit has been shorthanded.

"I'm really excited where he's at," he said, "and trying to be smart with him as he comes back."

Where he's at – back on the field playing football – excites and motivates Dietzen.

"I kind of realized," he said softly, "that I let it go too soon."

• • • •

About five months after retiring, Dietzen began thinking about returning.

"I'd say it was about June or July," he said, "and it was something that I was floating around between me and my family. It just started off as a random suggestion, 'Do you think you'd do that again?' And it kind of manifested after that."

The questions that Dietzen had to answer were about his health. Through the years, he had battled injuries to his ankles and hips to such an extent that Rudolph put Dietzen on a "pitch count" during practices and games in 2018 to maximize his production and ensure his availability.

"Once that thought (of returning) was actually brought up, it was, 'Yeah, I actually do feel better than I used to … Yeah, I'd think about that (playing again)," he said. "And once I kind of had that thought in my head, it started to grow. I woke up every morning feeling better than I had for the last three years."

As fall approached, the yearning to play again increased.

"Up until the season started, I had an out of sight, out of mind relationship with football," Dietzen said. "I wasn't trying to pay too much attention to it because I knew how much I would miss it."

And when he did watch the Badgers play, usually with his family or his girlfriend, he admitted, "Being an outsider looking in, it was kind of tough for me to do … it was really strange."

Although detached from the locker room — "I wouldn't say I was in contact with too many people on the team" — he did stay in touch with some of his former offensive line teammates who had moved on to the NFL: Michael Deiter, David Edwards and Beau Benzschawel.

They were supportive when formulating his comeback. As were his parents.

"In October, I reached an agreement with my family that I would start training again and they would help me out financially with that given that I was still doing school," he said. "So, I started training. But first I kind of took inventory on my body making sure things were actually better.

"Once I decided that they really were better, I went and talked to Rudy. That was probably late October, maybe early November. I just kind of talked to him about that (playing again) was something that I was open to and I would like to do."

It was just a matter then of applying for a sixth year of eligibility. Dietzen was prepared to wait. But he was unprepared for a pandemic. Who was? When the UW campus shut down in mid-March, he was commuting between Madison and Green Bay, where he was training at a sports performance center.

The travel seemed excessive and superfluous in light of the virus.

"I ended up moving back home," said Dietzen who's from Black Creek, a 25-mile drive from Green Bay and less than 10 minutes from Seymour where he went to high school. "I stayed there pretty much through most of that original lockdown. I want to say I was home for a couple of months."

Bruce and Karen Dietzen made sure their son had what he needed to train. They got him a weight rack so that he could lift in the garage. He also got a punching bag and "did some drills on that to make sure my O-Line specific-stuff was still holding up." Like a lineman's strike or punch in pass pro.

"I did everything I could to get myself in shape," he said.

That included pulling and pushing his Ford F-150 truck.

"Things were still up in the air, nothing was really official," he said of his sixth year. "But I had kind of made up my mind that regardless if things weren't necessarily going to happen here (UW), I was going to do my best to pursue my last shot at football and give it everything I've got.

"That way, I would not have that thought in my head, 'What could have been?"

By early August, everything seemed to be falling into place for Dietzen, who was granted another year of eligibility and was back practicing, however limited by virus protocols. After the second non-padded workout on August 11, the Big Ten postponed all fall sports for 2020, including football.

"When the news broke, it was discouraging and it made me upset that I couldn't end my time here on a good note," said Dietzen. "At the same time, I was into the mode I'm going to work my butt off and be the best football player I can be and again give it everything I've got for this last shot."

He just didn't know when — or maybe where — that shot would come.

On September 15, the Big Ten announced that it would play an abbreviated football schedule – eight regular-season games over eight weeks and a ninth game during "Champions Week" – beginning on the weekend of October 24. Wisconsin will play Illinois in its opener at Camp Randall Stadium.

"I was just thankful things turned around," said Dietzen, who's now pursuing a second undergraduate degree in history. "I stuck with the team. I stuck with the guys. I stuck with the learning. I kept up with the football IQ stuff as much as the football physicality stuff."

At age 23, the 6-foot-6, 319-pound Dietzen has found a peace of mind and body.

"I honestly feel better than I have in years," he said. "I had this thought the other day that I'm truly having fun out there practicing – not that I didn't have fun in previous years. But playing through what I was playing through wasn't necessarily fun all the time.

"Whereas now, and maybe my perspective has changed, but every time I get on the field, and every time I break the huddle, I'm having fun and I'm really enjoying my time out there ... I would say this is probably the best I've felt since my first year starting (2016)."

In retrospect, Dietzen wishes that he would have listened to his body more.

"I really never felt like I got back to where I needed to be," said Dietzen. "Granted, I'm not one to admit when something is bothering me. I probably didn't put myself in the best situation playing through things that I shouldn't have.

"The only way I can explain that is it meant too much to me to say, 'No, I can't do that.' It's tough for me to say that I'm not able to do something. I'm at fault for never letting myself get back to 100 percent. But that's just kind of the circumstance that it was."

With a wealth of playing experience, Dietzen is confident that he can be a contributor.

"Right now, I can definitely help out just being an older guy," he said. "I was thrown into the fire as a young guy and the best thing that you can have is someone to look up to and lean on – whether that's with playbook stuff or that's day-to-day. How can I deal with this?"

Dietzen recalled leaning on Deiter and Benzschawel.

"It helps to have someone," he said, "be an example every day of what you should be doing."

During his year away from football, Dietzen has learned to take nothing for granted.

"I remember bringing my game helmet back to get it reconditioned for the games coming up," he said, eyeing the opener which is less than two weeks away. "I remember grabbing it off my shelf and thinking, 'I can't believe I have the opportunity to put this back on again.'"

And he wants to make the most of it.