DUDLEY, Mass. -- Certain physical traits can be inherited, but it takes a lot more than God-given ability to live up to a formidable legacy.
Shepherd Hill Regional senior lineman Alec Lindstrom is the latest in a long line of excellent football players. His father, Chris Lindstrom Sr., was a standout offensive lineman at Boston University before playing in the NFL over several years during the 1980s.
Alec has refined his understanding of offensive principles by watching pro games and working out with his older stepbrother Ryan Dugan, a former quarterback at Wesleyan University and the current offensive coordinator for the Rams.
Yet the biggest influence in his development might be the sibling that played offensive guard and wore No. 68 for two years while Alec learned the ropes at Shepherd Hill.
Much like his younger brother, Chris Lindstrom Jr. went through a huge growth spurt throughout his high school career.
With excellent technique and plenty of football acumen, Chris was voted the Southern Worcester County Player of the Year and named ESPNBoston Lineman of the Year in 2014 while leading the Rams to the Division 4 Central title during his senior year.
Now a starting guard at Boston College, Chris seems to have paved the way for recent BC commit Alec to make a seamless transition into the ranks of Division 1 football next year. But their father will tell you that their relationship is far from a one-way street.
“Personality-wise, Alec is Chris’ big brother,” said Chris Sr. “When those two are together, he takes care of his brother. Alec was a leader from day one in this program.”
An articulate young man, who chooses his words deliberately and seems to put a lot of emphasis on helping others, Alec Lindstrom now wears his brother’s old number (68) and happily shoulders the burden of leadership as a senior captain.
“When [Chris] graduated I felt like I wanted to take on that role and wear number 86, since I played the same position,” Alec explained. “I wanted to kind of keep it going for the reputation of that number at Shepherd Hill.”
With his guidance on the offensive line, the addition of a superb running back in All-State transfer Kevin Mensah, and the vast experience of a savvy coaching staff, the Rams are poised to rise to the challenge of a difficult regular season challenge and potentially make some noise during their first year as a Division 2 program.
Growing Into the Role
Standing 6-foot-7, Chris Lindstrom Sr. is a mountain of a man. Yet his sons were both late bloomers in terms of their physical development.
Chris Jr. started his high school career as a skinny lineman of about 200 pounds. Even in his decorated senior season, when he was having his way with any and all defenders in his path, he was tipping the scales at just a pedestrian 235. As an early enrollee at BC, Chris put on weight quickly upon his arrival; today, he stands 6-foot-5 and weighs nearly 300 pounds.
Similarly, Alec was less than six feet tall and weighed roughly 170 pounds when he first began playing organized football as a freshman. Their father didn’t want the Lindstrom brothers to play Pop Warner growing up, but taught them everything they needed to know about playing offensive line in home-school fashion, enabling them to hit the ground running once they began their careers at Shepherd Hill.
Alec played behind Chris Jr. as a backup at guard over his first two seasons, growing into a 6-foot-1, 200-pound frame by the time he was asked to take over for his brother.
Now he stands 6-foot-4, weighs 240 and continues to make the most of his superior technique, as he helped the Rams offense average 266.8 yards and score 28.5 points per game last season.
His continued improvement on the field allowed Alec to follow in his brother's footsteps once again by verbally committing to BC this past June. While the younger Lindstrom was a positive influence on his older brother, Chris Jr. also played a huge role in Alec’s transition from a skinny underclassman with little experience on the field to a recruit at a Power Five conference school.
“Christopher definitely had a big influence on Alec,” confirmed Chris Sr. “He was always positive with him and has always been his number one fan. When BC offered [Alec] that made him so happy because he really wanted to be with his brother and it’s great that they’ll be able to play together.”
Of course, before he moves on to prospectively play center in college, Alec will anchor the Rams' offensive line in what he hopes will be a successful senior campaign.
Like a true leader, Alec selflessly outlined his goals for the upcoming season when he said, “I want a chance to play in the playoffs and to try to win a state championship. I want to evolve as a player, but I also want to help the program evolve and teach the younger kids so that Shepherd Hill is still excelling after I graduate.”
Full Arsenal
The Rams struggled out of the gate last season while playing a brutal schedule. They dropped four consecutive games against power programs in St. John’s of Shrewsbury, Leominster, Shrewsbury, and eventual Division 2 State Champion Nashoba to begin the year; they will face all four teams once again in 2016.
Yet this time around, Shepherd Hill has the talent, experience, and potentially enough extra motivation to go toe-to-toe with these regional powers.
Alec is returning along with most of the rest of the offensive line. Senior quarterback Ryan Wong-Li is prepared to make good decisions in the face of a formidable pass rush.
Brendan Mckeon -- the younger brother of two-time All-State defensive end and current Michigan tight end Sean McKeon -- is ready to step up as a junior, but the program’s greatest strength lies in the backfield.
Junior Zack Magdis and senior Josh Gelb were already slated for huge years, as they prepared to run behind an elite offensive line, but the addition of Mensah from Holy Name could truly put the Rams offense over the top.
“We should be a lot better during the tougher part of our schedule because we have a great running back in Kevin [Mensah],” Alec said. “We’re also a lot more experienced and everyone is more prepared to face those great teams this year.”
For Mensah, the decision to move on from Holy Name was difficult after an outstanding junior campaign in which he rushed for 1,518 yards and 14 touchdowns while averaging over 10 yards per carry. Initially, Mensah had plans to re-classify to the 2018 class at burgeoning prep school power Cheshire Academy, in Connecticut, before ultimately deciding to stay home in 2017.
Still, with Shepherd Hill moving up a couple of divisions under the new MIAA alignment, the ambitious senior felt that he could earn more attention from Division 1 colleges by facing tougher competition in his final high school season.
“I really did like Holy Name, but it was a better opportunity to transfer to Shepherd Hill when you look at Sean McKeon, Chris [Lindstrom] and now Alec [Lindstrom] all going to D1 schools, it seemed like a better opportunity for me to do that as well,” said Mensah.
Assisting their athletes with the goal of playing high-level college football certainly brings joy to the Shepherd Hill coaching staff joy, while simultaneously affirming their own abilities to direct and motivate young men.
Lindstrom’s stepson, Ryan Dugan, has been coaching at Shepherd Hill since he graduated from Wesleyan in 2010. Now the offensive coordinator for the Rams, he explained how the Lindstrom family’s work ethic and focus is beginning to permeate the overall culture of the program.
Dugan said, “It’s a culture that we’ve built at home for a long time and it’s something that we’ve started to build here [at Shepherd Hill]. If you aspire to become a big-time football player, it takes a ton of work and it’s kind of a 365-day-a-year commitment.”
Along those lines, the young coach asserted that the burden is on players and coaches alike to make the most of all the talent that will be on the field for Shepherd Hill this season.
“Kevin [Mensah] is a great athlete, a great kid and he’s integrating here nicely. With a nice foundation on the offensive line and a veteran quarterback, the pressure is on me to make sure that we’re multiple and diverse on offense this year.”
Family Affair
Chris Sr. is tasked with the difficult job of balancing his roles as a coach and father. While he’s been teaching his sons since well before they began playing high school football, it was clearly a different story once they became members of a team.
As the eldest brother in the Lindstrom family, Dugan was privy to the duality that allowed Chris Sr. to mold his sons into great football players and great people.
“With a son on the team, you don’t want to treat him the worst, but you should treat him the hardest,” he began. “That helped me as a player and it’s helped me become a better coach.”
Dugan continued, “At times it’s uncomfortable for Alec and it’s hard. He got a tongue lashing when we watched scrimmage film the other week, but it’s all constructive and it’s all something that Christopher and I went through before him.”
Regardless of the methods, Lindstrom has clearly molded his sons into great players and his stepson into an innovative coach. Now that his youngest son is close to graduation, the coach can begin to reflect on his work as a parent and mentor.
“Me and my wife always say that we want our kids to be perfect gentlemen off the field, but tough as nails on the field,” Chris Sr. explained. “In that regard I think we’ve succeeded.”
Despite his friendly and unassuming demeanor off the field, Alec Lindstrom is an extremely physical football player. Chris Jr. is thriving at Boston College because of his ability to stand up to defensive linemen that might be bigger or slightly stronger than him and those traits may stem from their upbringing.
“They’re very much like their father,” Dugan said about the Lindstrom brothers. “They’re hard working, they love the sport, and they’re mean, mean, mean S.O.B’s on the field. Those things combined have allowed them to be successful.”
After the dust settles on this season, Chris Sr. will be able to transition to a different role.
He beamed while explaining that Alec followed his brother’s example by taking enough summer school courses this past year to graduate early, thus allowing him to spend extra time next spring to prepare for the rigors of playing collegiate football.
For now, the former pro is content to watch Chris Jr. compete down in Chestnut Hill, and he’s even learned a few things from his son via the Boston College coaching staff to add to the Lindstrom family handbook on offensive line play.
“When I’m coaching, I’m coach,” Chris Sr. asserted. “I lose the dad hat, but when I was able to go to watch Chris practice and just be dad, it really brought a smile to face to watch him and there’s really no words to describe how proud I am."