Tommy Novotny, shown in the 2023 state championship game against Franklin, is entering his junior season as the starting running back for Marquette University High School, Milwaukee. (Submitted photo)
Tommy Novotny says he would like a career out of the spotlight when he gets older.
“I want to be a teacher,” said the junior running back at Marquette University High School, Milwaukee. “If I don’t do football, I’d like to be a history teacher. I just always thought it was cool. It’s not an overhyped thing. I don’t want to be anyone who’s high-powered or anything. I just want to be a normal person and teach kids what I learned.”
For now, the 5-foot-10, 175-pound Novotny can’t seem to shed the limelight.
In his third season as the Hilltoppers’ starting running back, Novotny has made a huge impact on the field and off the field.
Perhaps not more so than during the Hilltoppers’ 2023 state playoff run, including the state-championship victory over Franklin, when he capped a 1,500-yard season with 167 yards and two touchdowns on a grueling 38 carries.
But it would be hard to get Novotny to talk about his accolades.
His mother, Anne, on the other hand?
“He’s just very humble,” she said. “I wish I could say he learned that by example, but I brag about him all the time.”
Anne Novotny, who has fostered dozens of children through the years and adopted nine, is sometimes affectionately called “St. Anne” by those who know her.
“I take it as a huge compliment. I know I am far from the reality of that statement, but I aspire to be closer to like her every day. Jokingly, I always say I spell my name like Jesus’ grandmother — with the E. That’s the closest I get to St. Anne.”
When Tommy hears his mother, who adopted him around his first birthday, referred to that way, he can see why.
“There’s nothing bad about her. She’s caring, she’s loving, she’s outgoing. She prays for everything. Somebody needs a first down — she’ll probably be praying.”
Currently, Anne Novotny has six children in her home — “an all-time low” — including Tommy’s older sister, who has autism, and a younger brother who is confined to a wheelchair that Tommy dotes over.
“Those challenges at home have really made Tommy who he is,” Anne Novotny said. “He, at 16 years old … does not bat an eyelash (at helping with his siblings). This is life. He’s really not judgy. I think that’s a big part of who he is. They have brought out so many wonderful qualities in Tommy.”
Tommy Novotny has also been shaped by his faith life, one that strengthened considerably during his freshman retreat at MUHS, being with his peers and learning about service to others and finding God. Anne and Tommy can be seen in the front row at Mass on Sundays.
For him, service to others starts at home.
“Not many people my age are having to do as much with their sisters, or people with autism, as me, and it really helps with being at a mature level, more than my peers.”
That maturity certainly helped him acclimate to varsity football as a freshman, after wowing the Hilltoppers’ coaching staff by running a blistering time of 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash.
“It took a minute, because I was younger,” Novotny said of adjusting to being on the varsity team. “The seniors welcomed me in; everybody welcomed me in. It just felt like a home, like a family. It was easy to come out of my shell, to work with the guys.”
While college coaches have started reaching out to Novotny, he is trying to stay in the moment, knowing that ultimately his collegiate destination depends on which schools are looking for his package of speed, vision and toughness.
“When you’re focused in the moment, it will lead to more people coming to you, and the more focused you are on the process, the more the process gets easier and easier,” he said. “When you’re more focused on one specific thing, you kind of get away from the team and you’re just about yourself, and that’s when the team falls apart.”
Anne knows how fleeting athletic success can be, after her brother suffered a career-ending injury in the state semifinals of his senior year of football.
“We just have to take every day,” Anne Novotny said. “Athletics is great, but it can go like that (snapping her fingers). You’re very good, you’re very blessed. But we know this is a gift from God. This is a blessing, and he knows that.”
“You need to be a good person more than a good athlete.”
Tommy Novotny is off to a great start there.
