Locked On Hawkeyes - Daily Podcast On Iowa Hawkeyes Football & Basketball - Pt 3 - Hawkeye and NFL player Julian Vandervelde joins the show for part 3 of his interview series

Episode Date: August 1, 2019

We wrap up our interview with Julian Vandervelde on today's show, and it's a doozy, arguably my favorite portion of the interview.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are listening to the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast, your daily podcast covering the Iowa Hawkeyes for the Locked On Sports Network, hosted by Andrew Wade, editor at dearoldgold.com. Hey everybody, welcome to a Thursday morning episode of the Locked On Hawkeyes podcast. I am your host, Andrew Wade, editor over at dearoldgold.com, and as we have done the last two days, we've been bringing you some interview pieces with Julian Vanderbilt, the former Iowa Hawkeye offensive lineman, Davenport native, and NFL player. We had part one and part two on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, so yesterday morning, Vander Velde, the former Iowa Hawkeye offensive lineman, Davenport native, and NFL player. We had part one and part two on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, so yesterday morning.

And this morning, we're going to be bringing you part three of our interview today. There are no other segments on today's episode, just part three of our interview with Julian Vander Velde, a little bit longer than the other two days, so I wanted to make sure I just gave you the time to listen to that and didn't go over time too much on your morning commute, on your afternoon commute, whatever it may be. That way you can listen to it in one full swoop. Today's episode, though, I'm a really big fan of it. Like I said, the Julian Vander Velde interview was fantastic, but this is arguably my favorite piece of the three pieces. I really enjoyed yesterday's part where we're talking a little bit about the NFL. I also really enjoyed yesterday's part where we're talking a little bit about the NFL. I also really enjoyed the first part. We just kind of jumped into some of the basic stuff,

talking about the Iowa Hawkeyes. But today's episode is more about his personal life, talking about the Little League World Series. And I would say probably the funniest piece of the interview is on today. So I hope you all enjoyed the interview today. I definitely did. And I hope you all enjoyed the interview series we had the past couple of days. Just a quick reminder that we do have Matthew Crawford, the general manager of the Iowa United coming on the show tomorrow morning to talk about how the Iowa United did this past week, kind of what the future beholds for them. So if you have any questions or had any questions about the Iowa United, those are likely answered on tomorrow's episode, including kind of

what happened with Peter Jock, how it's difficult to create these teams and kind of what the improvements, you know, the tournament is looking at doing to alleviate some of those roster creation issues. Also talk a little bit about some of the funny stories, you know, Matt heard and has to tell from the Iowa United. Then talking also about what Des Moines is doing to bring you all, the state of Iowa, the tournament, bringing you a regional for the Iowa United to play in. Also, if you are tuning in for the very first time, I would really appreciate you to go like, download, and review wherever you download this podcast at. So Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or the Himalaya Podcast app.

I preach this every single time we have an episode. But the more you like, subscribe, and download, that really helps other viewers find or other listeners find our podcast. And the more listeners that find our podcast, the more listeners that have the opportunity to listen to a fantastic Hawkeye podcast. Also, we have some great stuff coming up, some t-shirt giveaways that we're going to be doing. So if you follow us on Twitter at LockedOnI or Facebook at Locked on Hawkeyes, you're going to be in the know about what's going on with those giveaways. Want to make sure you all have the opportunity to take advantage of some of our awesome giveaways. Some exciting news coming up as well, looking at doing some partnerships with some athletes to have them come on the show

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All right, let's jump into our interview with Julian Vander Velde right now, and then we'll close out the show. I want to touch on a few personal things in this Iowa Hawkeye stuff in general. So I did notice when doing some research before this call that your Davenport baseball team went to the Little League World Series as a 12-year-old. Was that just one of the coolest experiences of your life at that time? It was.

It was one of those things where, your life at that time it was i didn't you know and it was one of those things where again i'm incredibly dense i never i don't think i ever really realized how cool something is in the moment um you know i'm just kind of living it in that moment i can look back and see how cool it was so like you know to to be a 12 year old and and go to little league world series like we were just a bunch of kids having fun but like we got to meet kevin costner and we were playing on TV and stuff, and it was awesome. It was a great time, and looking back now, I really, really appreciate it, I think, more than I did at the moment.

But it was really exciting, and that's still something that a lot of people around here, when they hear my name, instead of, you know, Julian, the guy who played in the NFL, or Julian, the guy who played for Iowa, or Julian, the guy who sells solar, a lot of times I get, oh, weren't you that big kid in the Little League World Series back in the day? Like, yeah, yeah, that was me. So how big were you as a 12-year-old? Are you one of those kids where you see that on TV and you're just like,

holy crap, how can a 12-year-old be this size? Yeah, so I was 6'2", 235 as a 12-year-old. And at the time, I was the largest kid to ever play in the Little League World Series. There was some kid from, like, Serbia two years later or something who was, like, 6'7". But, yeah, it was just weird. I guess I was on a different podcast with my buddy Nick Harkson, who actually played on that team as well, and is now living in California the other day, and the first thing that he brought up was the time that I ate the team's entire allotment of McDonald's gift certificates

that they gave us, which anybody who's heard of my eating exploits during my official visit to Iowa will not find this surprising, but I guess I ate like three Big Macs and like four cheeseburgers and like three containers of chicken nuggets and two large fries or something that were left over from everybody else's food, but nobody else would eat it. So it was, you know, my legend lives on, I guess. Yeah, so I just looked up, I just typed in, you know, Julian Vanderbilt-Davenport baseball, right?

And a picture pops up of these, I'm assuming, kids that you played with that are the same age as you, and they are literally coming up to your armpit. Yeah, they basically took the two smallest kids at the time who both played for New York, and then me, and they had me stand in between them, and basically I just kind of took my hands and put them on their heads, and yeah, they were at like, I don't know, what, belly button height or something like that? Yeah, this is insane.

I will have to, I'm going to share this picture on our Twitter account, because this is just too rich. By chance, did they ever question your birth certificate at all? Oh, all the time. And did they ever question your birth certificate at all? Oh, all the time. That's my favorite memory from the League World Series. They had a rule or something where if you questioned the age of a kid before a game and there was a reasonable doubt as to his age,

that that kid couldn't play until you produced his birth certificate. So very rarely was it used because, you know, most of the kids are around the right size and skill level and whatnot. And it's kind of, you know, a cheap thing to try and take somebody who's, like, a star player out of a game, you know, by questioning their birth certificate. And sometimes the ref would just throw it out for the umpire.

But I remember, so we'd been called out once before in, like, a smaller tournament for me being too big. And we didn't have my birth certificate, and so we didn't, and we weren't carrying it around. So, like, I couldn't play in the game, and we ended up winning the game and then winning the tournament anyway. But we were at, I think it was the regional tournament. It was, like, us versus Chicago for the championship. And we had played them once before, and they didn't question my age the first time around, and so we got to the championship game, and before the game started, their coach came

out and was like, we don't think he's actually 12 years old, he's way too big to be 12, we're going to need to see some proof or he can't play in this game. And both coaches came out to the home plate, and my coach listened to the guy for a minute, and then he motioned to my mom. So she came down with like this, I mean, you've never seen a Little League mom with this much swagger before. They'll saunter down the bleachers and come down through the dugout, whip my birth certificate out of her purse

and like shoved it in the other coach's face, showed it to the umpire, stuffed it back in there, and I mean just strutted back up the bleachers. And yeah, she carried it on her since that first time it ever happened. So I got to play and we won the game, went to the World Series.

Man, that's some good stuff, I would love to see kind of like a video of that, I feel like that'd be like a meme in today's world the meme of your mom kind of shoving up in a facial like walking down the bleachers, that'd be great Oh yeah, I don't think she's ever had quite that much swagger before or since

At least she had it one time at least she had that one time Awesome man so just I want to wrap up more sense at least she had it one time at least she had that one time awesome man so just I want to wrap up there's five questions I usually do at the end of every show

just to get to know you type of thing what is your favorite superhero do you have a favorite superhero I do and it's

so it's not a very well known superhero which I am I'm an anime nerd I'm a comic director I play video games I play Dungeons anime nerd, I'm a comic nerd, I've played Dungeons and Dragons. I've been a big nerd for a lot longer than I've been an athlete.

And my favorite superhero, who tragically will never make her way into any sort of cinematic universe, is Colossus the X-Man has a little sister who not a lot of people know about. And I always feel bad because I'm not sure if you pronounce her name Magic or Magic, because they're Russian, so I feel like you should throw a little accent onto it. But I don't think that's right.

But, I mean, she's got this teleportation disc powers that take her to alternate dimensions. She gets stuck in the Marvel Universe's version of hell and becomes a sorceress and gets this sweet magic armor and a sword and ends up overthrowing the Marvel

Universe's version of the devil and becoming the Dark Lord of the Underworld basically and then comes back to our realm to join the X-Men. She's crazy, but that's my favorite superhero. So how, I guess how, how did she become your favorite superhero? Just reading the comics, somebody bought me as a present for something.

I can't remember what it was, but somebody got me, like they have like the anthologies, right, where they stick a bunch of comics together. It's like a book. So somebody got me as a gift this anthology of essentially her origin story, of her getting lost and going through all this stuff, you know, and taking over basically. And I just thought it was awesome, the way that it it was put together the way that her story was presented and then her power set I thought was incredible so I don't you know there's all the traditional powers like you know flight and super strength and laser vision or heat vision or whatever and all these

you know things that kind of come up, super speed again and again. And I just think that her power set is very unique and her backstory creates some scenarios that are potentially, I guess, more difficult, less cliche than you run into a lot of times. Yeah, I think that 100% takes the cake for the most unique superhero and also the best story for how that became your favorite superhero. So I love that.

Next question is favorite memory at Iowa. It can be football or non-football. I get this sometimes, and I don't really have one. It's hard to pick one favorite memory. There's been a lot of great games. There's been a lot of great moments that we went through. There's been a lot of great teams and teammates that I've had the pleasure of playing with. But now being done with football, the thing that really gets me excited is the photos and the videos from these preseason workouts.

is the photos and the videos from these preseason workouts. From, you know, that time before camp starts when everybody is just cranking, when the strength conditioning program is going crazy, you know, the speed and conditioning stuff and the strength stuff in the weight room, like Tristan's video and the pictures that Coach Doyle puts out. You know, and when I really think back on it, those moments of everybody in the weight room

working and struggling together and getting stronger and getting better, those are my favorite memories, is being in there and everybody just taking each other to the next level. I love it. Those videos are really inspiring and they get me pumped up. I mean, heck, I was listening to Back in Black the next level. I love it. Those videos are really inspiring and they get me pumped up. I mean, heck, I was listening to Back in Black the other day.

It just kind of came on and I just couldn't wait for football season. So I can't even imagine not having, you know, been a part of the football team, what that kind of stuff does for you. Yeah, it's pretty nuts. Okay, man. Well, next question.

Favorite place to eat or drink at in Iowa City? Oh, man. Well, next question, favorite place to eat or drink at in Iowa City? Man, I think to, see it used to be Baldi's. I loved Baldi's back when Baldi's was a thing, and now Baldi's is Shorts. And I love Shorts, Murray's and Shine, but I think I like their other restaurant better. There's a place right over by Kinnick Stadium called Stella. right over by Kinnick Stadium called Stella. And my now wife, then girlfriend, Paula, worked at Stella when we were going to college.

And we didn't really have the money to go eat at Stella because it's a little bit higher end of a place. But since then, since my playing days have been over, it's hard for me to go to Iowa City and leave without stopping by Stella. Like Stella and then Molly's Cupcakes. Those are the two things that I have a hard time leaving Iowa City without. Okay, I can respect that. Mine is, without a doubt, Vine Wings. I can't get enough of their wings.

They're so good. Well, it's like how do you – so you've got Vine, you you got the Wings, you got anything at the Wig and Pen. You know, Shorts and Stellar are two of the places that I really enjoy. And every time I go back, it seems like there's a new restaurant. Like, I haven't tried, oh, what is it? It's like Bratwurst Beer. It's right by the Vine and the Wig and Pen now on that stretch as you're leaving town. Let me check.

I'm looking it up right now to see if I can figure it out. It's like the, not the clubhouse, but, oh, man. I've never been there, so I don't remember the name of the place, but every time I drive by it, I'm like, I've got to stop by that place. Iowa City's got some good food, man.

It is a great place to eat and drink and really just have a good time. So last two questions for you, man. Favorite non-football activity? Probably some tabletop RPGs. I fell in love with with dungeons and dragons um when i was in college uh with uh with my guys jay ripper krieger and dave sutton if they ever listened to this uh they were my best friends uh from from my anime or from my japanese class and we would watch anime and play dnd together. So now I listen to like three or four different podcasts,

or actual play podcasts of like Pathfinder and D&D, like the Glass Cannon podcast and not another D&D podcast. Me, I got a group of friends that plays every Friday, and we've been playing every Friday for the last two or three years now. You know, it's just I jump into any game if you gave me the chance. I've run a couple of campaigns. There's just so many different scenarios. And it's always a different story.

And, you know, with the variables of the dice, you know, deciding to a certain extent the way that the story goes, you're never going to tell the same story twice. If you're really willing to kind of let yourself go and get into the mindset of the character that you're playing and really kind of dig into the story, man, you can really lose yourself and find yourself in a different world that's just a lot of fun.

That's pretty cool. For me, I play a lot of board games, but the most I go is like a Settlers of Catan. So I think I have to try it sometime. I just don't know if I have any friends who would want to play D&D with me, I play a lot of board games, but the most I go is like a Settlers of Catan. So I think I have to try it sometime. I just don't know if I have any friends who would want to play D&D with me, but I think it would be pretty fun. Well, now you've got me. Heck yeah.

I'll let you know when I'm Davenport. You can show me what's up. There you go. I'm down for it. Heck yeah, man. Better not offer up what you can't do. So I will let you know when I'm in Davenport. I'll hit you up and we can play some D&D and get a beer or two.

Sounds like a plan. I found a place, Guild. Guild Worst Tavern Home. Heck yeah, man. I'm on board. I'm in Iowa about once a year. I got a lot of family back there. So you never know, man.

It could be two years from now. I'm going to hit you up. Hit me up, man. I'm around. Hell yeah, dude. Well, then last question I want to end on uh this has been a fantastic conversation i've really enjoyed your stories um you were an english major i just want to know kind of what the thought process wasn't that typically you see a lot of you know football players not you know based on

the fact that you know our conversation so far i have a i understand you're you know you're you're not a traditional type of football player in that sense. So I just want to get your sense of what brought you to be an English major. Convenience. I started out doing pre-med. My grandpa was a radiologist, and he was kind of my first hero, and I wanted to be like him. And I found out pretty quickly that I am not physically gifted enough to be both a pre-med guy and a football guy.

Like, if I was going to make it at Iowa football, I had to put more focus into football. And so, just, you know, I dropped the pre-med thing. I was only through my gen eds. So, I picked up English major because I figured I'd take the writing track uh and go through the Iowa Writers Workshop because Iowa Writers Workshop best writing workshop um you know in the world um and and so I thought I'd get into that and uh so I wound up on the English major track but then I started uh taking religious classes because I'm a big religious scholar kind of buff. I love that stuff.

So I wound up with English and Religious Studies. And by the time I was graduating with the degrees in English and Religious Studies, I was like one class away from having my Japanese minor. So I took one extra class and wound up with English and Religious Studies majors and then a Japanese minor, none of which I had planned to do when i came to college uh you know i thought i might major in japanese but then you had to take like you had to spend so much time in the country and do the study abroad stuff and i just didn't have time with football um so i wound up minoring in that but uh yeah it was never my intention to be an english major or religious studies major uh but you know that's kind of what college is for is learning about yourself and figuring out

what you want to do with your life and i still enjoy the you know taking the things that i learned from those classes and and putting some practical application to them um but uh you know there's not necessarily like a sales class early. It's not one that I took. Um, so I am back at Iowa now. I'm, I'm, I'm doing the professional MBA program. So I'm gonna get my, my, uh, my MBA through, uh, through, um, the Tippie School of Business, uh, program out here in, in, uh, in Davenport or in Bettendorf, I guess it is. So when does that program end?

For me, it'll probably be like three years. Awesome, man. Well, congratulations on taking that next step. I think I would love to see all the college football players in the past 15 years and see how many were English majors with Japanese minors. I think it'd be a very small subset.

So I just think that speaks to how interesting you are, man. It's been a great conversation talking to you. I've learned a lot. I think the people listening to the Locked on Hawkeyes podcast are going to really appreciate this conversation and some really fantastic stories. And I really cannot wait to tweet out that picture of you, man. You were tall. I've grown one inch and about 100 pounds since then.

That's nuts. I'll never be that tall, so I just can't imagine being 12 years old and being 6'2", 6'3". So, Julian, any last words before we jump off the call for today? Just go Hawks. Hell yeah, man. I love it. That's a great ending. Julian, have a great day, and I will absolutely be

hitting you up next time I'm in Davenport. Sounds like a plan. Awesome. Talk to you later, buddy. See you. Bye. Alright, and that concludes our episode for today. I really hope you enjoyed the interview with Julian Van Der Velde. Again, he took an hour out of his day to talk to us about literally anything we felt like asking, and I can't state this enough how appreciative I am of his time and how appreciative I am of all these athletes' time to join the show.

I really hope you all enjoy these interviews because I personally just enjoy talking to these guys and making sure you get an opportunity to listen to them. I think sometimes we forget that these, like as Julian said, these, these people are just, they're, they're people, you know, they put their pants on the same way they do. They do the things the exact same way you do. They also happen to be really fricking good at a sport. So sometimes we hold them on a pedestal and I think that's absolutely fair. They're really talented. They're highly paid, that kind of thing. But also sometimes I think it's fair to kind of take a step back and think, wow, these people just do the exact same stuff we do. They're people just like us. I think

something I realized during these interviews is exactly that you realize how normal they can be as a human. So I hope you did enjoy this. We do have some more interviews coming up over the coming weeks. And we do have an interview with Matthew Crawford tomorrow to talk about the Iowa United. So if you were a fan of the tournament, you were a fan of the compilation of those four schools coming together, you're going to really enjoy tomorrow's episode as we dig into how this team was created and really get into the nitty-gritty of this season and kind of what to expect for the teams to come. He even drops a few players' names that you may want to be interested in.

You may like to see again for next year. So he talks a little bit about some of the players that are on his bucket list of getting on this Iowa United team. So stay tuned for that as well. Again, make sure to go like, subscribe, and download wherever you got this podcast at, Apple, Google, Spotify, Himalaya. And also follow us on Twitter at LockedOnIowa,

LockedOnHawkeyes on Facebook. And again, I appreciate you all tuning in for this episode of the LockedOnHawkeyes podcast. Appreciate the love and support. Hope you all have a fantastic Thursday. And go Hawks! We'll see you next time. you