CHICAGO -- Minnesota star Rodney Smith hesitated for a second before leaning into the microphone and revealing that he is diabetic.
It's been written before -- not widely -- about one of the Big Ten's five best running backs.
But it just seemed that Smith was encouraged to share the bit of personal information because of who he was discussing in the conversation: Former Minnesota coach turned Rutgers offensive coordinator Jerry Kill.
Kill's public battle with epilepsy led to him becoming a fundraiser -- he started the Chasing Dreams Fund -- and awareness-raiser for the cause.