Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr is all talk and tackling

Jeff Potrykus
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON – Wisconsin’s leading tackler is arguably the team’s unrivaled talker.

Chris Orr is, by all accounts, a chatterbox during practices and games. 

Wisconsin linebacker Chris Orr (54) plays around with defensive end Alec James during training camp this summer.

He recognizes formations and plays quickly, the beneficiary of study habits honed during the 2016 season when he missed all but two plays because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

He is adept at communicating what he sees to his teammates, which is critical to the success of any defense.

Yet Orr’s teammates sometimes long for…silence. 

“Sometimes you’ve got to (say) to him: ‘Shut up,’ ” fellow inside linebacker T.J. Edwards said. 

Explain, please.

“It has nothing to do with the game,” Edwards explains of Orr’s gift for gab. 

Orr’s favorite topic? Food.

His favorite food?

Cheeseburgers. 

“He’ll say: ‘All I want is a double cheeseburger,’ ” Edwards said, laughing. “I’m like: ‘Dude, what are you talking about?’

“He is going to be talking all the time. So it’s never going to be quiet out there.”

Orr, a redshirt sophomore, acknowledges he can’t help himself. 

“I might be talking trash to somebody and it just builds,” he said. “I just go into my own little world. 

“It’s kind of just to help calm the guys down. I don’t really think about it. I’m just talking. I feel like if I was to change and be one way in practice and one way in the games, everybody would be uptight.”

Like fellow linebacker Jack Cichy, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in camp, Orr makes it impossible for those around him to feel uptight.

“He has phenomenal energy – all day,” safety D’Cota Dixon said. “That’s just the type of guy he is. 

“He makes everyone around him play better. He is a leader. He encourages guys and he leads by example. He is a playmaker.”

With UW (3-0) entering its bye week, Orr has recorded a team-best 18 tackles. His total of 11 solo stops is tied for the No. 2 mark on the team with Leon Jacobs. Dixon leads the way with 14. 

Orr opened the season as the No. 3 inside linebacker, behind Edwards and Ryan Connelly. Orr has started the last two games, however. He recorded seven tackles to tie for the team lead in the opener, recorded a team-high eight tackles in Week 2 against Florida Atlantic and last week recorded just two stops against BYU.

“It is fun to watch him play,” defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard said before the BYU game. “He plays at high speed. He is very intelligent, communicates well. So it is fun to see him back out there making plays and providing a lot of energy for this defense.”

Leonhard doesn’t have to listen to Orr’s nonstop diatribe, though.

Dixon paused and rolled his eyes when asked about Orr’s reputation for talking during practices and games.

“This man,” he said, “we might have had a conversation about burgers once. I’m not really sure, to be honest. 

“He is so funny. He is the type of guy – if you’re having a bad day or you don’t want to practice – and you just hear his voice, he’ll make you smile. He’ll bring the energy level up.”

As well as the calorie count.

Orr, from Texas, is a huge fan of Whataburger. 

“Greasy burgers, bacon,” he said. “You’ve got to go. You’ve got to go.

“Double meat, with cheese. Or the patty melt. They’ve got a lot of burgers.”

Edwards has heard it all before and he learned long ago the worst thing to do is to tell Orr to zip it.

“He actually gets louder for some reason,” Edwards said. “That’s just who he is.”

Orr concurred the last thing you want to do is order him to stop talking.

"It don’t work," he said. "That would make me talk more."