Senior Feature: Charlie Volker - Goals Achieved, Garden State Proud

Somewhere in the Volker household, there is a small whiteboard that shows its age. It was once the spot where Charlie Volker would write down workouts for the brand new weight room in his new house.
At the bottom of the whiteboard, Volker wrote down one goal that would serve as constant motivation. It lived on that board so long that those five words are now impervious to any cleaning product:
Play Football At Princeton University.
Most develop that goal at some point during the recruiting process. Some figure it out as soon as their high school careers begin.
Volker was 12.
It would be the first of many goals realized in Orange and Black.

Volker's love for Princeton University began early in his childhood, when his grandfather would take him to Baker Rink to watch Tiger hockey games. One of four children in a sports-loving family, Volker played anything and everything, though football was always his first passion. He earned all-state honors at Rumson-Fair Haven after ranking second in New Jersey with 2,108 rushing yards on 278 carries, a career that brought more than a fair share of colleges knocking on his door.
Volker was, as he says, "polite" to them.
"I tried to be polite to the other schools, and my mom even got mad at me at one point for putting all my eggs in one basket, as she said," Volker said. "I was super confident that [Princeton] was the place for me. There was never a doubt in my mind. My mom would chalk that up as being naïve or immature, but as soon as I started writing that up as my goal … it just became clear that this was where I had to go."
Volker didn't just put his eggs in one basket; he chose one of the most selective baskets in the bunch. His pedigree in both the classroom and on the football field wasn't just enough to get him into that basket, but it also drew him even more interest than he may have anticipated.

Charlie Volker's 6th TD against Brown over the last 2 seasons gives Princeton a 42-3 lead in the 4th. Watch live: https://t.co/YyNtkxwgfv pic.twitter.com/yMoRcbIXqs
— Princeton Football (@PUTigerFootball) October 13, 2018

The all-everything athlete picked up a new sport in high school, and he naturally excelled at that as well. Volker would grow into the captain of the track team, and at the 2014 New Jersey Meet of Champions, he blew past a strong field to win the 100.
The most interested eyes in attendance belonged to Fred Samara, the ultra-successful head coach of track & field at Princeton. He made his own sprint to Volker and offered a spot on the Princeton track team, which Volker excitedly accepted. There are a number of highly successful two-sport athletes on the football team, including several who also compete in track & field. Volker ranks with any of them; he has won both individual and relay titles at the Ivy League Championships, and he has helped Princeton win five of a possible six indoor or outdoor titles during his career.
Put those with a 2016 Ivy League football title, when he led Princeton in rushing yards, and that's six championships in nine seasons, with three to go.
Winning gets addictive, especially when you see the end of your career coming.
And Volker has helped Princeton do some serious winning.

Volker gave a hint of his future production with a 62-yard touchdown sprint against Colgate — that would be small change two years later — during his freshman season, and he rushed for nearly 600 yards while helping Princeton win the Ivy League championship his sophomore
season. He saved the biggest game for the end, when he rushed for 111 yards in the title-clinching win over Dartmouth. He iced the game with a 39-yard burst down the Big Green sideline.
Years removed from writing down his whiteboard goal, you'd think he might have been celebrating every step along the way to that touchdown. That isn't how it works for Volker, who has tunnel vision when he steps on the field.
"On those touchdown runs, or even short-yardage runs, I tune everything that isn't important out of my head," he said. "The only thing I think about is, here is the line, there are a bunch of other guys on the other side trying to stop me from getting to the line, and with my teammates, we need to make sure we get across it. That's the only thing that gets in my mind. I'm so certain of my job at that point."
Volker has developed into one of the premier short-yardage rushers ever at Princeton, so much so that he could end up among the Top 4 in program history in all-time rushing touchdowns. That feat is even more amazing when you consider that teammate John Lovett broke a Princeton record with 20 ground scores in 2016; give Volker half of them, and he'd be Top 2.
Volker smiles and shrugs that thought off.
"We joke about that, but obviously at the end of the day, whoever gets the job done, it doesn't matter," he said. "Last year, Chad [Kanoff] threw us down to the goal line a bunch of times, and I just punched it in, so it goes both ways."

Charlie Volker breaks it outside and scores from 26 yards out! The offense is 3-for-3 so far today, and Princeton leads 21-9! Watch live: https://t.co/2AtTpoUPKc pic.twitter.com/x6m6zTqIEs
— Princeton Football (@PUTigerFootball) September 22, 2018

Volker has had some remarkable performances over his career, including a wild four-touchdown showing last season at Brown. His most memorable score stands as a Princeton record, a 96-yard untouched sprint in the middle of a 53-0 shutout in Providence.
"When you see green grass as a running back, it's such a good feeling," Volker said. "You can just turn on the jets. I remember making one cut, seeing the safety all the way over there, and thinking all I need to do is just run as fast as I can. You don't get that a lot as a running back, a free path on a full football field."
In truth, nothing has come free. Volker and his teammates earned this current historic start through tireless offseason dedication. The current senior class, desperate for that second taste at Ivy supremacy, put in countless hours during the summer and preseason to prepare for these four weeks.
"Coach Gleeson told us in the preseason that he wanted to work us so hard, we would become capable of doing things we couldn't imagine," he said. "That's sort of what has gone on. Nobody thought we would have done what we have done. The older guys set the example, and the younger guys have fed in."
That work has paid off in spades so far. Over the first five weeks, Princeton put on one offensive exhibition after another, and everybody shared in the statistical success. Last weekend, however, those extra workouts allowed Volker and company to hold off a Harvard comeback attempt. He finished the Crimson off by showing both strengths of his game; he scored on a one-yard burst through the line, and following a late Harvard score, he iced the win by sprinting down the Tiger sideline for a 49-yard touchdown.
That was the 29th rushing touchdown of his career, sixth most in program history. It also made him only the fourth Princeton player to record multiple seasons with double-digit rushing touchdowns, joining historic names like Keith Elias '94, Judd Garrett '90, and Ellis Moore '70. Volker has moved into the Top 10 in career rushing yards as well, and he needs only 132 more to become the seventh Princeton player to reach the 2,000-yard mark.
Not that those numbers mean much to him today. Maybe down the road, when he can take his grandchildren to Princeton games. The only number that matters to him now is "7" — the number of Ivy League titles he could own if these final four weeks go well.

It's not like Volker needs many more sources of inspiration this season, but he has one on reserve just in case, and he takes great pride in it. As the recruiting race picks up over the next few months, you'll see several familiar states — Texas, Florida, etc. — get the majority of attention. Volker and several key teammates feel their home state doesn't get its just due.
"I think if you ask any Jersey guy on the team where the best high school players come from — ask [Mark] Fossati, ask [Jackson] Simcox — they'll say 'Jersey.' We always bicker on the team about where the best players come from," Volker said. "The guys from Texas go on, the guys from Florida or down south, they claim their own right. But being from Jersey, being used to this on-again, off-again weather, it instills a mindset that it doesn't matter. It comes down to what's inside you. It's a chip on your shoulder."
It shouldn't surprise anybody that a runner who has the speed to burst past most defenders, but is just as happy to run through them, takes pride in this toughness. Watch him run; the long highlight runs are run, but watch him hit a hole on third-and-short, and that's where you will see the Jersey in him.
"It's a little slight to New Jersey guys, but it's something you carry," he said. "I'm trying to win the game for Princeton, but there's this praise for all the schools down south, so that's something you carry with you. If you need to pull a little extra anger out, that's a good source."
Like his white board almost a decade ago, Volker can use anything to help him reach his goal.
And it's made a big difference — for him, and for the University he fell for with his grandpa.

by Craig Sachson

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