5. Where did his passion for bass fishing start?
“My dad always took me. Every spring we would go crappie fishing. We would go once or twice in the spring. Then we ended up getting a boat when I was 14 and we went on a fishing trip to Canada, and I just had so much fun. Then I came back home and there wasn’t any walleye in the Midwest, so we figured out that we could go bass fishing and that I could compete at it, so from there I was hooked. We started a team at the high school, we did tournaments, and it was awesome.”
6. What was your favorite moment while bass fishing?
“My first high school tournament, we drove down to Truman Lake in Missouri. We ended up fifth in the whole tournament, which was out of around 250 teams, with just three fish. All three of them were six and a half pounders, which is pretty rare in bass fishing, especially in the Midwest. Those are extremely big fish, and to only have three fish was pretty rare.”
7. What was the biggest culture shock from moving from the Midwest to the West Coast?
“We had some neighbors that brought us cookies, so we felt right at home when we moved in. Right before OTAs, we got a new place. In our neighborhood, we pretty much had everyone in our neighborhood came by our house, said hi, and introduced themselves. It felt pretty familiar.”
8. How has becoming a father this year changed your perspective as a person and as a player?
“There is a different sense of responsibility now being a father. Being held responsible for one of God’s children and being able to raise her in the faith that we believe in is a unique responsibility and a different purpose for us now.”
9. If you could bring one fast food place to Seattle, which one would it be?
“Probably Freddy’s. Freddy’s makes the best burgers and shakes. It is probably a good thing that it is not here.”
10. If you could bring three people, past present or future to sit with you at a lunch table, who would it be?
“My wife, my daughter, and the good man upstairs, Jesus Christ.”