Seymour’s Waller breaking down barriers

Cayden Waller needed to muster up a tremendous amount of courage to get up and walk out of the classroom two years ago.

The Seymour senior recalls being at a fork in the road at that time.

Waller figured he was going to be miserable for the rest of high school if he stayed in his seat and kept on the same path he had been on. But if he decided to confront his fear by heading out that door, the three-sport athlete knew he would be able to become the person he wanted to see looking back at him in the mirror.

Dyslexia had got the best of him for long enough. Waller wasn’t going to let it push him around anymore.

“I told myself my sophomore year that you’re going to buckle down in school and you’re going to figure it out and accept walking out of classes to go in another room to read to yourself,” Waller said.

“You’re going to have to accept that you’re going to have to leave classes and not have classes with your friends year-round. You’re going to have to accept this different type of role that you have to become this better person and become a better student.”

You’re not going to find a better role model on any football field in the state this Friday night when the WIAA playoffs begin than Waller.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pounder is the epitome of the type of student-athlete you want representing your community.

Waller took dyslexia head on to become the first student in the Individual Education Program at Seymour to take Physics.

He’s on track to go to college at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse to accomplish his goal of becoming a special education teacher.

“He’s that proverbial player that everyone loves to coach,” Seymour coach Matt Molle said about Waller, a two-way starter and team captain. “It’s been a pleasure on my part.”

This will be the third year Waller will speak to the incoming IEP students about overcoming dyslexia, which is a condition that causes the brain to have trouble recognizing or processing certain types of information and can cause difficulty with reading, spelling, writing and speaking.

“I remember that nervous feeling of wondering will I stutter on a word when reading or what will this kid think of me?,” said Waller, who was diagnosed with dyslexia in fifth grade.

“I could read the word inside my head and understand what it was, but there was a part that was missing that would make the word come out a little bit different. If a teacher was writing notes up on the board, T’s would come out as B’s. It would just be flipped flopped differently. Dyslexia is very different for all kids. That’s what’s unique about it. But it can help you if you look at it from a different perspective.”

For Waller, he first found he could showcase his gift through athletics in the way he could process the field or court to make plays.

This marks his third season on the varsity football team, playing an important role at the line of scrimmage as a tight end and outside linebacker for the Thunder.

Waller feels sports gave him confidence to address his fears when he started to take the steps to combat dyslexia. He knows some of his peers don’t have that luxury, so he’s made every effort to try to break down stereotypes and stigmas surrounding individuals with dyslexia.

After being diagnosed in middle school, Waller didn’t want to be singled out or seen as being different by his classmates, so he regularly acted out in class to try to mask his fear.

“I started to make it a joke, like I can’t do this because of dyslexia,” Waller said. “I didn’t really know how to comprehend or make myself fit in that way. I tried to be a class clown a little bit, but it ended up not working and I didn’t like being that kid. Once middle school ended, I was just hiding it.”

Waller has gotten opportunities to work with middle school kids. He even got to be an aid for his fifth-grade teacher, who helped his parents discover the dyslexia.

His career goal is his way of paying it forward for everything his teachers and parents have done for him.

“Looking back at it, I am so very thankful that she had the time to sit down with my parents and think of me outside of the classroom,” Waller said. “She was like there is nothing wrong with Cayden, but he has this gift I need to address because at the end of the day this is not helping him doing these same book assignments and same tests. He needs some modification so he’ll actually be learning and not just going through the motions. I was very thankful for her.

“Right now, I’m just trying to give back to the community because I always wanted to have a good impact on Seymour.”

Waller is carrying on the Thunder’s legacy of producing great pass rushers and tight ends, which includes his freshman basketball coach, Josh Linsmeyer.

“When he picked No. 82,” Molle said, “I told him that was the number of one of the finest kids I have ever coached, Josh Linsmeyer. He was a tight end and defensive end and was just an animal. Cayden, personality-wise, he really jumped on that. He’s a hard worker, a great kid and was named a captain for a reason. But he’s well aware of the other guys that have played for us.”

Waller does tend to stick out sometimes at practice or in school. But that’s for being a Chicago Bears fan. The only jersey he’ll wear from his favorite NFL team is the No. 34 of Walter Payton, who was known just as much for his charitable and volunteer efforts off the field as being “Sweetness” on it with his running ability.

Nothing would be sweeter for Waller and his 18 fellow seniors than to pull an upset Friday over top-seeded West De Pere. The Thunder took the Bay Conference co-champion to the limit in a 13-6 loss on Sept. 22.

“It’s a very awesome feeling that I get to go under those lights with them every Friday,” Waller said. “It’s been a fun year so far. I’m excited to see if we can keep it going.”