How'd you get into umpiring and, and what's the backstory there?

Yeah, it was a ball.

So I mean, I grew up playing football, basketball, baseball, and so travel baseball, you kinda...

My dad was a coach, so he kind of, uh, was, I guess buddies with, you know, the site directors and umpire officials, whatever, whatever you wanna call that, the umpire higher-ups.

Um, and so it, I get to high school, I think, uh, after freshman year, and they're, my parents are like, "Look, you gotta get a job, all right? It's freshman summer, get a job." And I was like, "Well, I don't really wanna go like work at a supermarket or like do anything like that." And I was like, "Hey, Dad, you think you got that guy's phone number at the, you know, the umpire agency?" He was like, "Yeah, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll hit him up for you." And you end up, uh, they call me back and they're like, "Yeah, we just need you to do like a, a couple training weekends." And then I did those, and for my four years of high school, I was a travel baseball umpire.

I mean, so many great offensive linemen have, have come through this program and, um, just seeing those guys come back and seeing those guys' success in the league, how does that make you feel knowing that those guys were in the same shoes you are, right? What type of weight does that carry?

Yeah, I mean it, it should give you a kind of like a confidence and, um, and a belief that like you're, you're probably in a pretty good place if you're an offensive lineman.

I mean, all you have to do is go in Shields Hall and walk down the, the hallway there and look to the left at all the draft picks.