Port Made, A2 Grown: Hudson an Exemplary Viper, Friend and Teammate
12/30/2019 11:24:00 PM | Football, Features
By Steve Kornacki
ORLANDO, Fla. -- In this era of superheroes with superhuman abilities, the viper is a nice football fit for that genre. It's a defender who has to muscle past hulking linemen and run like the wind with receivers on pass routes.
University of Michigan defensive coordinator Don Brown coined the name for the hybrid position, using the venomous snake with large hinged fangs that typically has a broad head and stout body.
Khaleke Hudson has filled that role for the last three seasons after learning the ropes while playing behind Heisman Trophy finalist Jabrill Peppers as a freshman. However, the coming year will bring a new viper as Captain Hudson graduates with a general studies degree and departs for the NFL.
"It's going to be Michael Barrett and Anthony Solomon at viper," said Hudson. "They're playing their tails off right now in practice, and they're honing in on everything. They know what they're doing and are comfortable with the scheme and what Coach Brown asks them to do in playing the viper and the SAM (outside linebacker) positions.
"The future is going to be good with them. They're high-energy-type guys, and guys on the defense feed off their energy, feed off their playmaking."
Brown became the defensive coordinator in 2016 and originated the hybrid safety-linebacker position Peppers filled quite ferociously during an All-America season. Hudson, like Peppers, came in as a safety before expanding his capabilities.
"Coach Brown's biggest impact on me was just allowing me to show my whole package and show everything I can do," said Hudson. "He put me in the viper position and enabled me to play man-to-man, blitz on the interior and also on the outside."
Hudson's blocked punt against Michigan State was the school-record fifth of his career.
Hudson not only led Michigan with 97 tackles this season but added three pass breakups. His career totals of 232 tackles, 26 tackles for losses, 12 sacks, 16 pass breakups, two interceptions and a school-record five blocked punts exhibit what he can do on a football field -- which is everything.
"You need maximum focus on the field," said Hudson. "You have to be relentless, and Coach Camp (Wolverine assistant Anthony Campanile) stresses that. You can't be blocked; you have to finish unblocked and get to the ball. For me, it's gotten easy because I'm more comfortable now with coming off the edge and playing in the box. It definitely takes some time."
He had 14 tackles at Wisconsin this year, but his most memorable game came in 2017 against Minnesota, when he had 15 tackles and tied the NCAA record with eight tackles for loss among 12 solos and three sacks.
"My favorite game was the Minnesota game," said Hudson, smiling. "I was just in a zone. I played my game, I was free, and my teammates were doing their jobs, which was making my job easier.
"We have a tight brotherhood on the defense, and we are grinding all the time, through spring ball, preseason camp and throughout the year. We'll always keep the love that we have for each other and our willingness to fight for each other. We're going to fight, claw and scratch until there are zero seconds on the clock. We want to make plays with each other and for each other, our families, each other's families."
He's played on a unit ranking between No. 1 (2016) and No. 6 (2019) nationally in total defense in each of his four seasons. Coaches voted him second team All-Big Ten this year, when his teammates selected him Special Teams Player of the Year. Hudson also was a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award given to a football player who has demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
Hudson tied an NCAA record with eight tackles for loss against Minnesota during the 2017 season.
Khaleke has a heart as big as his talents, and it's a heart that's often been heavy.
Hudson usually plays with the name of someone special from his life written on the tape on his wrists. He had Tre Madden's names on his right and left wrists this year at Penn State.
"Tre was a friend of mine who passed away when he was 16 years old," said Hudson. "He was killed in gun violence, and just before that game I was thinking of him. I took a Sharpie and wrote his names on my wrists.
"Every game, I've got somebody on my wrist. It might be my dad (Carlos Hudson Sr., who was shot to death as a passenger in a car six years ago). Sometimes I wear, 'R.I.P. DAD' on my wrist. In the Wisconsin game, it was my friend, Austin Fagan, who passed away in a car accident days before that game. My oldest brother, Carlos, also was involved in that accident and almost lost his life. Or I might wear 'PORT MADE.'"
That's short for McKeesport, Pennsylvania, his hometown outside of Pittsburgh. Khaleke often wears a T-shirt with his town's or high school's name on it to practice. He played for McKeesport High.
"McKeesport means the world to me," said Hudson, the third oldest of seven siblings. "I just want to be an inspiration to the kids younger than me there, knowing how hard it is coming out of a city like that. I lost a lot of friends and family members through gun violence and other tough ways.
"Nobody knows how it is to grow up there except for the people there and myself. It's different than other cities because you hear of the gun violence and crimes, but it's also one of the most loving cities in the world. They care about sports, and they care about you. They care about people who are doing good, and everyone there's a family. Looking at it from the outside in, you would never know that or get that vibe."
Hudson took the Paul Bunyan Trophy into the student section following the Wolverines' 44-10 thumping of the Spartans this fall.
Wolverine outside linebacker Josh Uche, who grew up in Miami, went with his roommate to McKeesport during a bye week weekend this season.
"That's my boy," said Uche of Hudson, a smile and a warm glow crossing his face. "For somebody to go through the type of life Khaleke has had, statistics say that that person should be either dead or in jail. He lost his father at a very young age and was the man of the house with the help of his brothers. He could've easily turned to drugs or violence, but he showed discipline and faith instead.
"To stay on track, knowing what his dad wanted for him, especially coming out of a community like McKeesport, seeing where he's come from and the discipline he has to make it out of there, man, I'm just so proud of him. People don't understand what he goes through with constant tragedy, and he just embraces it. He takes it and puts it on his back and keeps carrying. I consider him like a blood brother."
Those two have lived with Wolverine tailback Chris Evans over the last four years, and tight end Nick Eubanks eventually joined them in the house they rent in the neighborhood immediately east of Schembechler Hall.
"What I've enjoyed most are the friendships that I've made," said Hudson. "I've got real tight friendships with Josh Uche and Chris Evans and Nick Eubanks. They're my best friends. We're always around each other, and our friendships will last forever. Nothing will break us apart, and that is something I'm real grateful for. Our memories together are endless."
Uche and Hudson will head for the NFL after Wednesday's (Jan. 1) Vrbo Citrus Bowl game with Alabama, which represents one more chance to make a memory with their teammates.
"I'm just trying to take it all in because I know this is my last game and last couple practices," said Hudson. "I'm thinking about being on the opening kickoff of the first game with Hawaii my freshman year to now, and it's incredible how much I've grown. I'm thinking about all my teammates and coaches who helped me these past four years.
"I'm proud of all the connections I've made and the relationships I've built. That's going to last forever with the coaches and fans. I'm very grateful and proud about that."
His family in McKeesport and his family in Ann Arbor are something he carries deep in his heart and soul. And their love is what's driven him to great success as the Wolverines' viper.
