RELOCATION PROGRAM

The pact was made back when Montee Ball was just a pint-sized running back: If his dream of playing college football came true, his family would pack up and follow him wherever he ended up so it would be easier for them to be there for every carry and every touchdown run. But Melissa Ball was prepared to scrap that plan after her son capped off a whirlwind tour of unofficial visits to college campuses in the spring of 2008 by deciding the University of Wisconsin football program was the best fit for him. Nothing against the Badgers, Melissa was thinking, but they weren't the best fit for her . She was hoping her son would end up either A) somewhere closer to the family's home in Wentzville, Mo., which is about 40 miles northwest of St. Louis; or B) somewhere much warmer than Wisconsin. "I didn't want to come," she said. It's a good thing for UW coach Bret Bielema and his staff that Montee Ball Sr. was there to provide perspective. "It's a running team and he runs the football ," Montee Sr. told his wife. "This is a good place to go." On more than one level, Melissa has discovered. As Montee Ball has been putting together a productive freshman season at UW, his family has been settling into a new life in Middleton. The Balls feel right at home in Wisconsin - even Melissa. "I really like it a lot," she said. "Everyone's really nice here. I've never been in a community where so many people love football . We come from St. Louis and we have the Rams, but this is no comparison here." Stick together Montee Ball, who lives in a dormitory but sees his family three or four times a week, admits he's gotten some good-natured teasing about his parents following him to Madison. But eventually his teammates admit they're jealous of him because he has home-cooked meals and his own bed only a 10-minute drive away. The freshman tailback, who has rushed for 252 yards and three touchdowns in seven games and has become the primary backup to sophomore starter John Clay, said he doesn't feel like his parents are always looking over his shoulder. "I'm still getting the college experience," he said. "It's fun. I love it." Although he was onboard with the idea of his family joining in his new home from the start, Ball did have some reservations the closer it came to being time for the family to leave Missouri. He could tell his mother was already feeling homesick. He also knew how difficult it would be for his sister, 9-year-old Aireanna, to leave her friends in Missouri. "I kind of felt bad because they're doing this all for me," he said. But Melissa wasn't the only one to fall in love with the Madison area in a hurry. Aireanna met new friends and is looking forward to the first big snowfall. Montee Ball was happy to have his family nearby in September. He was at his parents' home when the family received the news that Norman Ray Ball - Montee Sr.'s father - had died unexpectedly after suffering an apparent heart attack. "I'm glad he wasn't by himself because that just would have been horrible to get news like that and not had any family here to go to," Melissa Ball said of her son. "It was a tough time, but we got through it." On the move The Balls aren't the first UW parents to move to the Madison area to be closer to their son, and it appears they won't be the last. Retired schoolteachers Tim and Kathy Monty rented a farmhouse between Barneveld and Hollandale for part of the year so they could be closer to Joe Monty during the defensive end's junior and senior seasons in 2005 and '06. And it's almost certain that Joe Brennan, a member of the 2010 recruiting class, will be joined in Madison by his mother at some point during his career with the Badgers. Victoria Brennan has been a single mother since going through a divorce while she was pregnant with Joe, the youngest of her three children. Like Melissa Ball, she doesn't want to miss a single snap of her son's collegiate career. "I've never missed one of his games," Victoria Brennan said of her son, a senior quarterback at Camden Catholic in Cherry Hill, N.J. "I've never missed a basketball game, a baseball game, a football game. "This is about being in the stands when my son throws his first (collegiate) touchdown pass. I don't want to miss that, so I'm hoping to relocate." The details still have to be worked out, but Victoria Brennan insists she will make it work. "If I have to sleep in my car, I will," she said. "I will not miss a game." 'It's awesome' Victoria Brennan had the same discussion with Joe that Melissa Ball had with Montee. Both mothers were worried about hovering and wanted to make sure that their respective sons truly approved of the move to the Madison area. Yes, the sons said, they really wanted their mothers there. Montee Ball said he couldn't imagine it any other way. "They love watching me play football and I'm grateful for that," Montee Ball said. "It's awesome. It's a great feeling to have my parents behind me."