GEE SCOTT

Gee: Seahawks’ Jermaine Kearse talks last season, fatherhood, and drags me to spin class

Feb 24, 2017, 6:00 AM | Updated: 12:14 pm

Jermaine Kearse's storybook end to his career? "Seahawks win another Super Bowl and I retire a Seah...

Jermaine Kearse's storybook end to his career? "Seahawks win another Super Bowl and I retire a Seahawk." (AP)

(AP)

I hadn’t talked to Jermaine Kearse in a while, so I decided to reach out to him see what he’s been up to. I called him and we talked for about three or four minutes. When I got off the phone, all I could do was ask myself what I got myself into.

You see, Jermaine has added a new twist to his workouts: spin class.

During the conversation, he asked me if I wanted to come with him. I took about three seconds to respond, but during that time, I thought of about 10 excuses as to why I couldn’t go. Eventually, though, I said, “Sure, count me in.”

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The first thing Jermaine, who brings his awesome wife Marisa with him to the class, asked me was, “You ready?” I should have known to leave then. I mean, I was ready, but I knew this was going to be tough since I’d never done it before.

Inside the room, we headed towards the back to get on stationary bikes. I’m so glad we chose the back because I knew I’d have to take a break or two. A few things that stood out to me during the class:

• I see why Jermaine is a professional athlete. He was a monster of that bike.
• Marisa was way better than I was, and she’s expecting their first child this year.
• I drank all of my water within the first five minutes of class. Oops!

Finally, after the 45 minutes of spin was finally over, I felt a sense of accomplishment. Out in the hallway, when we were getting ready to leave, a couple ladies asked Jermaine for a picture. Yes, he was sweaty, and no, they didn’t seem to have a problem with it. After those pics, I asked Jermaine a couple questions about football and life.

Gee Scott: What’s your plans this offseason?

Jermaine Kearse: About to have a kid, so preparing everything for having a baby. Gonna take a couple trips. At the end of March we’re gonna go to Hawaii. It’s going to be a babymoon like we discussed during the season. (Note: The babymoon concept, which is a vacation to celebrate the upcoming birth of a child, came from Seahawks fullback Marcel Reece.) Going to meet up with Max Unger while we’re out there.

GS: As you’re doing all this preparing for the birth of your child, what’s the process been like?

JK: It’s been pretty relaxing. Marisa already had a vision for how the nursery will look like. She sees it all before it even happens; I’m just the guy that puts things together. Honestly, I think she just asks for my help to make me feel involved. Sometimes she will say, “Do you like this crib or that crib?” Basically it’s between those two, and she doesn’t mind which one I choose.

GS: What did you learn last season?

JK: I learned to be mentally tough this season. I wouldn’t say this was my best season, or I wouldn’t say it’s my worst. You would think statistically it was a bad season, but I felt throughout the season there were some things that I did really well to help contribute to what we as an offense were trying to do, whether that was catching footballs, blocking or something different. I think for me going into the offseason, I’m always trying to have the best offseason that I can possibly have. I’m always trying to come back the next year and have my best season. I don’t sit back and think, “Oh, I had a bad season, so I need to build on that.” If I have a good season or bad season, I’m still trying to come back the next season and do it better than I do before. That’s the mindset I have. I can’t dwell on last year right now. My focus right now is to have the best possible season this year and that starts right now in the offseason.

GS: What are some things you will do to prepare to have the best possible season?

JK: I have group of young guys that I’m working out with at UW. It’s a great group, actually. It’s a group with a similar mentality that I have, guys that are hungry. Jake Heaps comes over and throws for us. It’s great having him because we receivers get work on our routes and work on our route running and other things that we want to do. It’s a motivated group, and it’s beneficial to be surrounded by a bunch of guys with the same mentality ’cause ultimately we’re going to push each other to the max.

GS: When you hear the doubt from the outside, how do you feel?

JK: When you go to back-to-back Super Bowls, win one out of two them, there is a standard that is set. There’s a standard that’s been set that fans want to hold on to. I totally understand. We have passionate fans. We have fans that care. They care when we win, and they care when we lose. That’s exactly why I love them. Could you imagine having fans that didn’t care? I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t want that. Even when negative is said, you have to understand that it comes with the territory. You’re put on stage in front of thousands of people, and you’re gonna be praised when you do well, criticized heavily when you don’t. If you’re trying to be a professional, you have to be a professional. You have to know that it isn’t personal.

GS: If you could write the story for the rest of your career, what would it say?

JK: Oh, that’s easy. Seahawks win another Super Bowl and I retire a Seahawk.

After talking to Jermaine, I realized how awesome it must be to be him. I mean, could you imagine? He attended grade school here, high school here, college here, plays for the professional football team here, and he helped bring the only Super Bowl trophy in franchise history here. This is the most ideal situation: being able to play in front of his friends and family, and ultimately being able to take advantage of the opportunity the Seahawks afforded him. The Seahawks opened the door for him, and he took advantage of that. It’s a pretty cool story.

Whether he’s your favorite wide receiver or not, you can’t deny he will go down as one of the most memorable. The touchdown he caught in Super Bowl XLVIII, the catch in the NFC championship game against Green Bay the next year, and the miraculous catch he made during Super Bowl XLIX. He’s a husband, a son, a brother, about to be a father, but ultimately he’s a damn good man. And guess what? He’s a product of the state of Washington.

Appreciate you for reading. Love ya for that. Until next time.

– Gee Scott

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