It was a struggle for University of Wisconsin sophomore defensive end Kirk DeCremer to make it through classes not too long ago and it had nothing to do with academics.

DeCremer is extremely bright, an Academic All-Big Ten Conference selection last season as a redshirt freshman.

But the former Verona High School product was in such pain from two herniated disks in his lower back, he could never get comfortable, especially in those power lectures that last an hour and 15 minutes.

"It gets really hard to sit like that," DeCremer said. "Your leg basically feels like it's on fire. It's really uncomfortable, you can't find a comfortable way to sit, you're squirming around and (always) moving."

Many Badgers fans might not know, given how well DeCremer played in his first season on the field, that he was on a modified practice schedule after suffering the injury in spring practice a year ago.

He took off Sundays, after games, and also Tuesdays, which were normally the practices in full pads. All of it was done to get the most playing time out of him.

DeCremer played in all 13 games and made the most of his snaps. He was 12th on the team with 30 tackles, but tied for fourth with nine tackles for loss and had a team-high 5.5 sacks. His ratio of one tackle for loss, for every 3.3 tackles, was tied with defensive end Matt Shaughnessy, who had 60 total tackles and 18 tackles for loss.

"I'm very happy with how everything turned out and how I got through the season," DeCremer said.

But when injuries hurt the defensive line, DeCremer was forced to play more snaps. He started the final two regular-season games, but the extra playing time only made his back worse.

"The more I had to play at the end of the season, it got really aggravated," he said. "It was pretty uncomfortable. I held off for such a long time and I was like, 'I'm going to keep doing this, surgery is the last resort.' "

Eventually, it became a quality-of-life issue, as much as a football issue. That's why DeCremer elected to undergo surgery about two months ago, at the start of the current semester.

"The reason I really had the surgery was so I could be comfortable sitting in class and kind of everyday life," he said.

The idea of back surgery, prior to DeCremer's 20th birthday March 28, was a little unsettling. When football players start experiencing back problems, alarm bells usually go off.

Yet, in this case, DeCremer felt better almost immediately following surgery. He knows it's going to be a long process, but he has a lot of confidence in the team's medical staff.

"I'm really confident this took care of the problem," DeCremer said. "I'm walking around now with a lot less pain -- I'm basically pain-free. It's just a slow process to recover from, because it is spinal surgery."

DeCremer won't practice this spring and there's no date yet for his return, but he hopes to be cleared at some point in the summer and be ready when camp starts in August.

"I think it's basically just how I feel and taking stuff day to day," he said. "But I'm really optimistic to start getting back this summer, that's what I hope. It's basically how I recover, like it is for any injury."