Matt Wixon

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Richardson linebacker Yusuf Kuzu's uncle was an Olympic wrestler, but most of his teammates don't know that. Even Richardson coach Brent Whitson didn't know it until a couple weeks ago.

"Yusuf is very shy. He never wants to talk about it," said Yusuf's father, Mustafa Kuzu. "I tell him, 'Your uncle worked hard for that. Be proud of that.' "

JUAN GARCIA/DMN

Yusuf Kuzu played soccer and wrestled when he was younger, but he developed a love for football.

Abdurrahim Kuzu, a former member of the Turkish national team, competed for Team USA at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He finished fourth in the 136.5-pound class in Greco-Roman wrestling.

Yusuf has heard about it from his father. A lot about it.

"He always brings him up every time we talk about sports," Yusuf said.

Mostly it's about how Abdurrahim, who now lives in Midland, trained to become an elite wrestler. The six hours of daily training on the mats. The hours of pushups, pullups and situps he would do at home.

Yusuf's training isn't quite that intense. But the 6-1, 210-pound senior is 20 pounds heavier than last season, and he's faster, too. He's getting recruiting letters, he said, and was invited to walk on at Nebraska.

"I've improved a lot over the off-season," Yusuf said. "I'm nowhere near the level I was at last year. It's really got me excited for this season."

It also has Mustafa Kuzu excited about the season, although American football is new to him. Mustafa was a semipro soccer player in Turkey before coming to the United States when he was 23.

So Yusuf's dad was a soccer player, and his uncle was a wrestler. So why football for Yusuf?

"I watched the Cowboys," he said.

So Yusuf, who was born in Dallas, convinced his dad to sign him up for football in fourth grade.

"The coach said, 'He has a nose for the ball,' " Mustafa said. "I had no idea what that meant."

It meant that Yusuf would have the aggressiveness and instincts to play football. That's fortunate for Whitson, who said he wishes he could clone Yusuf to get more help on defense.

"He's not a rah-rah leader," Whitson said, "but he understands what it means to be a senior. I think it just comes natural to him."

Which is how Yusuf feels about football. But what about wrestling and soccer?

"I played soccer and I wrestled a little bit in eighth grade," he said, "but I like football. I grew up with it."

mwixon@dallasnews.com

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