Last week, three University of Wisconsin football players lost one of their best friends in a tragedy that has hurt each of them tremendously.

Joe Thomas, Ben Strickland, Steve Johnson and Luke Homan were teammates and friends at Brookfield Central High School, all four of them graduating together in 2003.

They played football together and remained very close throughout their college years — Thomas, Strickland and Johnson at UW-Madison and Homan at UW-La Crosse.

Homan's body was found in the Mississippi River on Oct. 2 after he reportedly fell in days earlier following a night of drinking and celebrating Oktoberfest.

Three days later, Thomas, Strickland and Johnson served as pallbearers at the funeral in Brookfield.

Johnson said it was unbelievably hard to try to see his friend's body lying in a casket at the front of the church.

"You know you want to see him, but it probably took me three times to actually do it," Johnson said. "When we saw all the people there — obviously, it doesn't make you feel good, but it really helped me out a lot to see how many people were there."

According to Strickland, a priest at Homan's wake said the line of people waiting was three times longer than that of the late legendary Marquette University basketball coach Al McGuire.

"I saw guys who were basketball refs in fifth grade and just people who we played against," Thomas said. "Everyone that he played against and reffed his games — [Luke] was just such a bubbly personality that they made friends with him and felt a connection enough to come to the funeral."

"He was supposed to be there"

Thomas, Strickland and Johnson all knew last Saturday's home football game against Northwestern would be a tough one.

"It was a game that Luke was supposed to be at and supposed to be up here enjoying with us in person," Thomas said. "But we knew that he wouldn't have wanted us to not play in the game. [We knew] that he was there with us even though he might not have been there physically."

Strickland shared the same sentiment, he said, as a lot of emotion came over him before the game started.

"It really hit me when we were walking out for the initial introduction and thinking that [Luke] was supposed to be there," Strickland said. "I had a feeling that he still was."

The three players said concentrating on the game was a tough feat, but added head coach Bret Bielema and the rest of the team were very supportive.

"We had only missed two practices, but my warm-up was bad," said Johnson, the team's long snapper. "There were times when my position coach was second guessing me — if I'd be able to do it."

A former college football player himself, Bielema lost his sister while he was at the University of Iowa, Johnson said. But the coach played that week, saying he knew his sister would have wanted him to.

Johnson said his mind was all over the place during the game.

"You think it's not going to be as tough as it is. You think that once you get out there you're going to be doing football and you're going to stop thinking about it," he said. "That definitely wasn't the case."

All three had emotions running strong but found solace in knowing the other two were on the field with them.

Strickland said he was able to smile seeing Johnson and Thomas out on the field, knowing the same thoughts were running through their minds.

"The fact that those two were out there with me is what got me through the game," he said. "I probably wouldn't have been able to get through the game without them. Seeing them made it easier."

A real competitor

Growing up in Brookfield, the four boys bonded over sports and soon became a tight-knit group of friends.

Homan was quarterback of their high school football team, a three-year starter on the basketball team and had a short stint on the baseball team.

Thomas recalled the group's senior year in high school, when Homan got sick before a big basketball game and was playing terribly until the end of the third quarter.

"Between the end of the third quarter and the end of the game he scored around 20 points, and we ended up coming back and winning by one," Thomas said. "That's the kind of competitor he was."

According to the three friends, basketball was Luke's life. He was willing to do anything to make himself a better player and a better person.

But Strickland said his favorite memories came when the four of them and the rest of their buddies were together, saying Homan "genuinely cared" for everyone.

"Although he wanted to be a manly man, he still had that sensitive side to him," Strickland said. "He understood people really well; people would warm up to his smile."

Lessons learned

Through the loss of their friend, the three said they have all gained a greater appreciation of the people who mean the most to them.

"You never know when someone close to you will pass," Johnson said, adding that close friends should not be taken for granted.

Strickland said that through Homan's tragic death, he will help his friends to value their friendships even more. And even through his life, he said, Homan made people better.

"You always think you'll live forever," Strickland said. "You never know when something like this will happen."

Thomas said he now realizes how important it is to tell the people close to him he loves them.

"Don't put off telling someone what they mean to you," Thomas said. "I wish I could say one more time what he meant to me and how he changed my life."