Quarterback has plenty of interests, hopes to coach
If I demanded you hand over your cellphone – which I would never do – what are the three things I would see the most photos or videos of?
Probably my family, my fiancee and my dog would be my guess.
What kind of dog?
So I have a black lab. He’s 3 years old. His name is Tars, like from “Interstellar.” Some people might have seen the movie. And he does spin. That’s a crowd pleaser.
So you like “Interstellar?”
Mmm hmm.
What do you like about it?
Well, first of all, it’s amazing because it’s like a space odyssey kind of movie, but it’s about the connection between a father and his children over the course of time and space and all these different cool things. I think Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors there is, too, so anything that he does is pretty awesome.
And you have a fiancee. How tough is it to maintain that kind of relationship when you are obviously such a busy guy?
The good news for me was that she was an athlete, too. She played soccer at Oregon State, and she was, I think, a fouryear starter, so she was kind of the athlete among the both of us. But she understands, and she has a job, too, that keeps her really busy. Also, I think what’s good about her is that she understands what I’m trying to accomplish. That’s amazing about her . ... Then, creating the time outside of football to make sure I spend time with her, going to the park with the dog, or going out to dinner and eating, making dinner at home and watching a movie – you know all those things – we do a lot of that, try to be very intentional with spending time together even though we’re both pretty busy.
Does she work in Columbus?
Yeah. She works mostly remote, but she goes in sometimes.
And what’s her name?
Kaillen.
You mentioned being intentional about making time with her special. Does that include playing guitar for her? Because I’ve heard you can play.
Uh, yeah. Sometimes I do. She likes it. ... But I have a couple core songs that I’ll play, and I think she’s been around for so long that she’s like, ‘I’ve heard this song 20 times. I don’t need to hear you play it again.’ Which I don’t blame her.
So what are the songs in your repertoire?
I like playing “Hotel California” by the Eagles. What’s some other ones? “Stay with Me” by Sam Smith, “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.” That’s one that most people really like when I play it. There’s a couple others, but those are probably the best ones that I have.
You take football seriously. You want to go into coaching someday. But you also have a lot of other interests, it sounds like.
Honestly, I think it’s just a passion about a lot of different things. I find that watching talented people in music or in movies or in sports, all kinds of sports, something about it inspires me, I think. So I can kind of take that inspiration and apply it to a bunch of different topics. Like, I love history, too. And one of the things – right now the guys are making fun of me in the locker room because I’m reading on a Kindle. They’re like, ‘You’re so old. You’re reading on a Kindle.’ But I’ve been trying to read this book, “Empire of the Summer Moon,” which is about the Comanche Native American tribe. It’s pretty amazing just to learn about the old western frontier. But, yeah, I just think there are so many things in life that are incredible if you look at it the right way, and you can take inspiration from a lot of different sources.
You got your undergrad degree in sociology, correct?
Mmm hmm.
And now you’re studying ...
I’m in the coaching master’s program. So that’s been really interesting. You get to hear a lot of great coaches from Ohio State and different interviews with coaches across the country and kind of reflect on what they think and how you can apply it to what I ultimately want to do, which is coach. But the graduate coaching program here is amazing. There are really a bunch of good professors. Dr. Li, Dr. Ward are the only ones I’ve had so far, but they’re both incredible and very smart, and I’m learning every day in those classes.
You have a Wikipedia page. Were you aware of this?
Oh, no. I didn’t.
If you wrote your own Wikipedia bio, what would the first line be?
First would be Christian athlete. Football player, obviously.
Well, that’s pretty much what it says.
Oh, it is? OK. That’s good. Yeah. And as far as accomplishments go, being a captain three times at Oregon State was something that was super humbling and amazing for me, just to have those guys see me as somebody who’s a leader. But I think I want it to say I’m a great teammate above anything else.
If I gave you permission to brag, what would you say is your greatest accomplishment away from the field?
Away from the field. That’s a good question. I think that I’m very close with my family still. I have been living away from them for seven years now, and still talk to my brother and sister regularly and talk to my mom and dad all the time. That’s such a good question because for so long you just focus on in between the lines, and you don’t really reflect on what you are accomplishing off the field. I think obviously graduating manga cum laude was great at Oregon State. That was a lot of time and effort. Having the fiancee that I have – that she decided to pick me. Not very smart on her part, but she’s amazing. I had buddies that told me if I messed it up, I was the biggest idiot alive, and I haven’t so far.
With as busy as you are, have you had time to get involved in a cause you’re passionate about?
I would say I haven’t been as involved here yet, just because I’m kind of new. But at Oregon State, I did “A Night to Shine” from The Tim Tebow Foundation. It’s like a prom for special needs individuals. It’s actually funny, my fiancee was doing that, and I didn’t even know who she was at the time. Never even saw her at the event, but she was there, too, doing it. I still keep in touch with one of the guys that I would go to the events with. That’s something that was great for me. I also love spending time coaching kids at the youth camps. And I’ve done book readings for elementary schools in the past, because I just remember when I was a young kid and seeing a college or professional athlete come to school was like the coolest thing ever. The way that they treated me made me feel like I could go and do it, too. So I just wanted to inspire others the same way, I guess. Other than that...
Other than that? That’s quite a bit.
Yeah, but I would like to get more into it and probably volunteer at the church.
Who is it you still keep in touch with from “A Night to Shine?”
His name is Jonathan. We text once in a while. He used to text me a lot after Oregon State games. I go to Ohio State now, so I don’t think he cares as much. And it was funny, he liked basketball more than he liked football, but the relationship that we developed over three years, I guess, was he would come to football games, or he would come to the “Beaver Combine,” they called it. They let fans run the 40yard dash and all those things, he came out to that. And it was really great. He’s such a nice guy. His mom was really nice as well. Doing stuff like that gives you great perspective, just how joyful he is. I love being around that kind of energy. It’s great for me.