Little Brother Comes Up Big

Veteran leader Ibraheim Campbell brings lessons from football family to his senior campaign.

Ibraheim Campbell isn’t the type of little brother that gets pushed around.

For the 5-foot-11, 205-pound senior safety from Philadelphia, a tradition of athleticism and punishing hits runs in the family. Campbell’s three older brothers all played college football at some level, and while Aquil (Georgetown University) and Malik (Bloomsburg University) are a bit older, Rashad (Cornell University) served as a guiding figure for Campbell on his path toward Northwestern.

As Campbell prepares for his final season as a Wildcat, the value of Rashad’s mentoring isn’t lost on him. Inside the Northwestern locker room, Campbell tries to bring lessons he learned from his brother, lessons of hard work and dedication, to his teammates. As one of only two seniors who will likely see playing time in this year’s defensive backfield, he’s made it his goal to focus on more than just reeling in interceptions for himself.

“I’m constantly just trying to make sure that my teammates prepare the right way,” he says.

So while Campbell’s goals for the 2014 season include being an All–Big Ten player and preparing himself for the 2015 NFL Draft, the honor of serving as a team captain may be just as important. “That would be a definite plus if guys see me as a leader and someone that they want to represent them,” he says.

Campbell, who says he learned to lead by example from both his brothers and former Northwestern captain Brian Peters ’11, ’11 CERT, ’13 MA, has always been a playmaker on the field. He was named a Freshman All-American and has twice been selected as an honorable mention All–Big Ten honoree. Over the course of his career, he has consistently been one of the team’s top tacklers and is climbing Northwestern’s list of all-time interception leaders. Campbell, an economics major, is also a three-time Academic All–Big Ten selection and a member of Northwestern’s 12-player Leadership Council.