During the New Mexico Lobos’ COVID-shortened 2020 football season, sophomore offensive right guard Isaak Gutierrez lined up shoe to shoe with senior right tackle Teton Saltes.
Gutierrez learned a lot from Saltes, and not just about footwork and pad level.
Isaak Gutierrez, UNM offensive lineman
“He was awesome,” Gutierrez, now a senior, said of Saltes in an interview this week. “He took me under his wing.”
It’s highly appropriate, then, that Gutierrez was this year’s UNM candidate for the Wuerffel Trophy — an award given annually since 2005 to an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision player who “best combines exemplary community service with leadership achievement on and off the field.”
It’s an award that Saltes won in 2020, largely for his service to his own Native American community.
As for Gutierrez’s chances of following suit, he’s not among the 12 semifinalists announced on Nov. 1.
But, hey, there’s this: of the 17 previous recipients, five have been O-linemen, as are two of this year’s semifinalists.
Gutierrez, meanwhile, just appreciates being nominated.
“I was surprised and happy,” he said, “because I really enjoy serving my community.”
Though Gutierrez hails from Eureka, California, he truly has made the Albuquerque community his own. Engaging with students at Dennis Chavez Elementary School, he said, has been a reward in itself.
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“We do this thing called the Jogathon,” he said, “where all the grades there at Dennis Chavez get to take, like 15 minutes and go jog laps for a cause, a little fund-raiser.
“All the O-linemen go, and we sit on each corner and cheer the kids on and just have them have a good time. It seems like we get a lot of smiles out of them.”
Gutierrez and his teammates also read to the kids, “or just hang out with them on their lunch break, go play with them and stuff like that. It seemed like they really enjoyed that. Good one on one time.”
There’s more. Gutierrez was among UNM players who participated in a recent clear-the-Bosque project, picking up leaves and branches.
“He’ll do whatever you ask him to do,” said UNM offensive line coach Jason Lenzmeier, who, as with Saltes, Gutierrez credits with encouraging his public service. “He’s always asking, ‘Hey, can we do this?’ So, yeah, he’s awesome.”
Senior offensive lineman Isaak Gutierrez is the University of New Mexico’s 2022 nominee for the Wuerffel Trophy, won two years ago by his former Lobo teammate Teton Saltes. COURTESY OF UNM ATHLETICS
It’s a given, of course, that college coaches want their athletes to give to their communities because it makes their programs look good. But, said UNM head coach Danny Gonzales, it’s a benefit and a life lesson for the players, too.
“I think (giving back is) really important,” Gonzales said, “because these guys are afforded an opportunity to go to school without having to accumulate debt. … If we can indoctrinate more people in our community (toward community service), Albuquerque’s gonna be that much better a place.”
Academic performance also carries weight with the Wuerffel Trophy committee. Saltes was a two-time Mountain West All-Academic selection and a and a three-time Lobo Scholar Athlete.
Gutierrez more than holds his own in the classroom. A business administration major, he’s a two-time Mountain West All-Academic choice and a Lobo Scholar Athlete.
On the field, Gutierrez has started 25 games for the Lobos and gave up just one sack in his first two seasons with a pass-blocking efficiency rating better than 98%. He has a COVID-related “super” senior season available for 2023 but hasn’t committed to using it.
Gutierrez would, of course, love to play football on Sundays after college. But, beyond football, he aspires to run his own business.
Wherever he winds up and whatever he winds up doing for a living, he expects to be active in his community.
“I feel like that’s just part of my personality,” he said. “…. Those times where you can serve your community, they don’t come up very often.
“So when they do come up, why not take advantage?”
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