Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and Mark Grace

Walter Payton, Michael Jordan and Mark Grace, 3 of my idols growing up and 3 men who I worked very hard to emulate through my athletic career and now, my adult life.

Below I'll lay out how I discovered these athletes, what I learned from them and how my desire to be like them helped shape my athletic career.

Walter Payton

In the 80's and early 90's Sports Illustrated was in every home. In those days the magazine wasn't the politicized, dramatic clickbait it is today. It was written by old sports writers who communicated with flair and told stories of our heroes from a masculine, all-American angle. The athletes respected the writers and the writers honored the athletes through their coverage of them. One of the perks of being a subscriber was receiving VHS tapes throughout the year.

These videos would tell the stories of athletes, teams and the history of individual sports.

One of the tapes they sent to 703 Cedar St. in Tillamook, OR in 1988 was called Crunch Course and it changed my life. Crunch course told the history of the NFL from the players' perspective (you can find it on Youtube for free today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D832ZdTjcU4). Crunch Course had features and interviews with men like Deacon Jones, Howie Long, Larry Csonka and my guy: Walter Payton. The highlights of him driving through the linebackers, jumping over the goal line and cutting past the defense were mesmerizing but the scene that changed my life was Walter running what he called "The Hill."

Walter running "The Hill"

Walter's strength, power and determination were shining examples of everything I wanted to be. The slow motion footage of him in his Roos headband, shorts and shoes, (https://www.kangaroos.com/us.aspx) inspired me. It was the simple idea that running up a hill over and over would make you a better football player. Just a man and his work, doing what's necessary to get stronger, that resonated deeply with me as a young man.

We spent many summer days in Barview, OR playing on the Barview sand hill and I used imagine I was Walter Payton when I was struggling to the top to roll down again.

The sand hill at Barview, OR

Fast-forward 10 years and I was 3-sport high school athlete running Carmichael Hill in Richland, WA, 2 years later I was a 2-sport community college kid running hills at Franklin Middle School in Yakima, WA. 3 years later I was running stairs in Martin Stadium in Pullman, WA to get ready to join the Rose Bowl runner-up Cougar football team and finally, from 2003-2008, you would have found me running offseason hills in Issaquah and Spokane, WA.

I always ran hills by myself and I did it because it was hard. I ran in the heat and I ran in the snow. I'd put my headphones on and go into my own world. It improved my speed, kept my legs strong and empowered my mind. It wasn't fancy, it didn't involve bungees and physio balls and kettle bells. I was the simple activity of driving my legs uphill repeatedly, and it worked.

Michael Jordan

In 1990, Sports Illustrated sent out Michael Jordan, "Come Fly With Me," and I couldn't get enough. I watched it daily and had the narration memorized. Michael Jordan was bigger than life in the 90's. His blend of class and athleticism does not exist today. Off the court, he wore the finest suit and was always clean shaven and professional. On the court he was a killer, he never gave an inch and he moved in god-given way that will never be replicated.

Although my family couldn't afford his shoes, I had the posters, the VHS tapes and the front yard hoop I needed to dunk like my idol. I spent countless hours in my driveway listening to Michael Jackson or MC Hammer, throwing alley-oops to myself and hammering them home on my 7-foot hoop. I would imagine I was MJ, floating around the rim with grace and dunking on my opponent with intensity. Running and jumping, running and jumping, determined to be able to dunk on a big hoop someday. After a run at the hoop I'd walk back to my starting spot bobbing my head, hanging my arms and chewing my gum like MJ. I always had a deep desire to be known as a guy who could jump.

Nobody will ever fly like MJ

By my freshman year of high school I was able to grab the rim with ease, we had moved between that and my sophomore year and I came on the scene at my new, much larger high school as a strong rebounder and creative left-handed scorer. I played basketball with aggression and loved running the floor.

After a difficult football camp prior to my junior year (I was a 165 lb. linebacker), I decided not to play football. My dad had an open talk with me that I better have a plan for what to do the fall of 1998, that sitting around wasn't an option. I ensured him I did. The plan from August to November was to increase my speed and vertical jump to make a run at the varsity basketball team that winter and I knew exactly what contraption to use in order to accomplish that goal: Jump Soles.

Jump soles

I did my research, put together a 3-night/week workout plan and went to work. I ran sprints, did calf raises, jump squats, hurdle jumps and ran stairs with these strapped to my shoes.

3 months later, in a pre-season game against the Hermiston Bulldogs I got the ball on a break, went down the left side of the court, launched off my right leg and hammered down a thunderous dunk for the first time in a game. Once that happened, I started dunking in practices and games routinely. My leaping ability helped me become an all-league basketball player and eventually earn a scholarship to Yakima Valley to play basketball (and baseball). I never had the height or shooting ability to be great, but being honest, I cared more about being able to get around the rim than I did about my free throw percentage. From 1998 to 2018 I dunked as much as I could. Alley-oops, 360's, reverses and my patented left hand tomahawk. I used to love seeing the look of shock on people's faces at random gyms when I would rise up and hammer down big dunks with ease. There were a few moments in pick-up games where I dunked on people that I almost felt bad about. I took advantage of my athletic prime from 20-30 years old and had moments where it felt like I was floating when I would go up, just like I had dreamed about as a kid in my driveway.

When I was playing Pac-10 baseball, I was also playing intramural basketball, and after baseball practice and weights I'd go to the rec center to play more hoops. During my professional baseball career, I'd play hoops for cardio in the offseason, I just always loved the running and jumping.

Michael Jordan made me want to fly and I did everything in my power to be able to dunk like him. MJ gave me that vision when I was just 8 years old and I put in the time over a decade to achieve my dream. In the process I learned how to plan and execute my own workouts and made myself faster and more explosive. This helped me in sports and in life.

Mark Grace

Any West Coast boy raised in the 80's will tell you they grew up on the Chicago Cubs. In those days, they only played day games at Wrigley Field so the games would start in the early evening in Chicago and they'd be on after school and all summer long on the West Coast. WGN showed every single game. We grew up Ryne Sandberg, Shawn Dunston, Andre "The Hawk" Dawson, Luis Salazar and a young Sammy Sosa. Steve Stone and Harry Carry were always on the call, it almost makes me emotional to think about it. The left-handed first baseman for the cubs in those years was Mark Grace. Mark played everyday, he was handsome, looked good in the uniform and so smooth in everything he did.

Mark Grace, the man.

My grandma loved Mark Grace and all three of us were lefties. Being so, I was already spending the bulk of my time at first base, doing the splits and saving as many outs as I could. Man, I wanted to be like Mark Grace.

My strategy for wanting to be a hitter like Mark Grace was to throw a wiffle ball up into the valley of my roof and hit it against the house, my parents never told me no, and in the winter the ball bounced off the wood pile, no harm no foul. I did this so much I wore a batter's box into the grass. There I was, in my own world with my walkman playing Whitney Houston or Boys II Men tossing and hitting, tossing and hitting.

Me wearing Mark Grace's #17 in rookie ball in 2004

For defense I found a tennis ball was the perfect solution. It had enough weight that I could feel it hit my glove, enough bounce to ricochet with speed and the soft texture that wouldn't damage a wall. Over the course of my career, bouncing a tennis ball against a wall became cathartic for me in times of stress or struggle. I would work my back hand, fielding down the middle, and picking the ball like I did at first base. The simple activity of a ball against a wall and fielding it over and over makes you a smooth fielder, you have to move your feet, you work up a sweat and improve your throwing accuracy by aiming for spots on the wall. From my childhood up through college and the pros, I used local school walls, walls in gyms and garages from Tillamook, OR, Richland, WA, Seattle, WA clear to Vermont, USA and Barranquilla, Colombia.

A fielder's best friend

My ability to field, throw and handle the ball was direct result of the thousands of reps I got on my own with a simple tennis ball and it helped me extend my career.

I wanted to be like my favorite athletes and I spent all my free time finding repetitive ways to get better. As a result I was able to create a unique athletic life spanning 3 sports and 20 years. I got to see the country, travel internationally, make hundreds of life long connections, find out what I was capable of physically and create memories for myself and others.

Work on your own!