Mount Union football standout Matt Lilja is named to Allstate Good Works Team
Matt Lilja is sitting in a meeting room in the Dom and Karen Capers Football Coaching Center on the University of Mount Union campus.
He is wearing a Fellowship of Christian Athletes T-shirt, a small cross around his neck, a semi-scraggily beard and a sheepish grin.
He is asked about being named to the prestigious Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team, an honor bestowed on a minimal number of college athletes who demonstrate top-notch leadership skills ― on and off the field ― and have helped make significant differences in their communities.
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Like the unsuspecting defender leveled by the undetected blind-side block, Lilja said he never saw the honor coming.
People like Matt Lilja never do.
They do not volunteer to be recognized or draw attention not themselves. They get involved because they believe it is the right thing to do. It tells you something about their character.
“I never thought about it, never once,” he said of the honor. “I was just trying to be of service, to be nice, you know what I mean?”
For Mount Union's Matt Lilja, community service has been a part of his life since growing up in Ashtabula
It’s nice when good things happen to good people and anyone will tell you that Matt Lilja is a good person.
“Matt represents and embodies the true spirit of what it means to be a Mount Union athlete, and on a broader scale, what it means to be a Division III athlete,” said Mount Union athletic director Mike Parnell. “Not only here on campus, but in the community. He makes Mount Union shine and we are very proud of him and very happy for him.”
Lilja, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound defensive end, is involved in more community service projects than most politicians. He said he has been that way since he was a kid growing up in Ashtabula and shoveling the snow of his neighbors.
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A team captain and an Ohio Athletic Conference academic and athletic honoree, Lilja was chosen from an initial field of 114 nominees.
A team captain and an Ohio Athletic Conference academic and athletic honoree, Lilja was chosen from an initial field of 114 nominees.
The final 22-man roster was announced three weeks ago. Chosen by a panel of former Good Works Team players, journalists and officials from Allstate and the AFC, it includes 11 players from the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision and 11 players from the combined NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, Division II, Division III and NAIA programs.
“It is really an honor,” he said. “I didn’t know about the award before, to be truthful, but it is really cool to be a part of something this big.”
Lilja’s venture into the world of community service began at an early age when most kids are thinking about Saturday morning cartoons.
It started when he began shoveling snow for his neighbors in Ashtabula, which traditionally gets more snow than Alaska. His parents, Mike and Dawn, were instrumental in getting the family involved.
“The first thing I remember about community service is a garage sale we had in our allotment,” he recalled. “It was in the summer and I was probably in the first or second grade. Me and my brother and sister had the idea of selling popsicles for 25 cents or a dollar donation. So, we went and got these push-pops and all the money we got we gave to the Animal Protective League.”
Matt Lilja of Mount Union takes part in many civic efforts in Alliance
Over the years Lilja, the youngest of three children, has been involved in numerous volunteer civic endeavors. They include:
The Alliance Raider Buddies, a group that works with youngsters in their first years in school.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand: A national foundation that fights childhood cancer.
Ashtabula’s Lakeshore Park Clean Up.
Kent State-Ashtabula American Red Cross.
The Alliance Clean Up Initiative
Mount Union’s Be The Match Program, which helps line up bone marrow donors.
The American Heart Association.
He spent over 100 hours helping coach youngsters in the Buckeye Community Football League, following in the coaching footsteps of his father, Mike, and mother, Dawn.
“My parents have always been involved in community service,” he said. “They always talked about me getting involved and instilled it in me.”
Lilja arrived on campus in the fall of 2018 from Edgewood High School and is in his second year as a starter along a defensive line that has helped post six shutouts and has held opponents to seven points in five other times over the last 17 games.
His freshman season was over almost before it began when he dislocated an elbow in a preseason practice. While surgery was not required he was told it would be a good idea to wait until 2019 before returning. He wears a brace that covers most of his left arm today.
Purple Raiders' coach Geoff Dartt tells this story:
“Our coaching offices were still in the Gulling Training Center at the time and I can remember coming in there every day after practice. Matt had done some rehabbing but he was in the Gulling Center every day, soaked with sweat from working out. That told us a lot about what Matt is like, what he is about. He was in there every day working out and grinding.”
Matt Lilja set to graduate from Mount Union with degree in civil engineering
The Good Works Team comes with some perks, such as an all-expenses-paid trip to the Peach Bowl and possibly some NIL (name, image, likeness) opportunities.
Lilja (pronounced Lil-ya) will graduate in June with a 3.78 grade-point average and a degree in civil engineering. He said he joined the FCA as a freshman and it helped get him through the tough times.
“I didn’t grow up in an over-religious atmosphere, but I’ve been trying to get closer to God ever since and so has my family,” he said. “And that’s pretty cool.”
With his beard and his 245 pounds, Lilja’s looks betray his demeanor. He speaks softly and chooses his words carefully before speaking. He laughs gently, sometimes at himself, and is self-deprecating at times. Egotistical is not a word you would associate with Lilja. Humble is.
When asked if his civil engineering degree suggests he would be happy building roads and bridges he agrees and says, “To be honest I’ve always thought bridges were cool.”
So far, he has built bridges of a different sort. The kind that make the lives of others a little easier.
This article originally appeared on The Alliance Review: Mount Union football star Matt Lilja named to Allstate Good Work Team
