November 22, 2023 • 12 mins
In this episode of the Packers POV podcast, tight end Tucker Kraft shares how he proposed to his fiancée, details his interest in coaching and explains the origin of Tucker Kraft day.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hello, and welcome to Packers POV, a podcast that aims
to shine a light on the human behind the helmet.
I'm your host, Taylor Rodgers, and we are here inside
historic lambeau Field. Today's guest is a third round draft
pick from South Dakota State who earned All American honors twice,
reeling in nine scores, eclipsing one thousand yards and helping
(00:27):
the jack Rabbits win their first FCS national championship. I'm
pleased to introduce Tucker Craft. How's it going, man, good?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Yeah, happy to have you, and thanks for making time
on a busy week.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah. No, it's every week's a busy week, but this
is the best day to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Okay, good. This all happened pretty quickly, so let's start
at the beginning. You're the youngest of three brothers growing
up in Timberlake, South Dakota, and your mom had this
to say about you. He was so naughty when he
was little. Oh my god, he was naughty.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
It took me until about just a few months ago
to realize that all of my educators, all of my
like peers, my older brothers and their friends, like they
had a lot on their plate dealing with me. I
was super high strung moving around, you know, never deliberately naughty,
ever went out of my way.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But yeah, very high energy child for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Is there a story that you can call back that
sort of speaks to that nature?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean doesn't It could be you know, my
parents wanted to go do something with their friends, and
you know, I would have been just a toddler at
the time, and they had distracted me. They were leaving
me in my brother's care, and I heard the car
start and they were leaving, and I feel like I
remember this, but I was told that all I had
was my blanket and my poll up and I was
(01:48):
booking it down the road after him, just chasing them.
Just things like that, like you couldn't get me to
sit still.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No, it sounds like so a lot of energy growing up.
And your brother Actually, Tanner said this about you. He's
earned everything that's come to him, and he went through
a lot to get there. What do you think of
when you hear that?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's no secret A lot of people know my story
in my background, me and my brothers, my mom, you know,
other family members, like we've dealt with the impact of
my father's death and our family, and that was just
that was hard. I was twelve years old and that happened,
and like, I still remember the last moment I got
to spend with him.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He was coming to see me, really late at night.
He woke me up.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I was having a sleepover at my cousin's house. This
is the heat of spraying season in June, so the
hours are really long. It's sun up to sundown. I
mean you're beating the sun up. So it was probably midnight.
He woke me up off the couch, gave me a hug,
you know, said he wasn't gonna see me for a
few days, and then I was the last time I
ever saw him, And like putting that into perspective and
(02:48):
like you never know, like which moment is your last
with your loved ones, and that it's always just obviously
a huge surprise.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
His death was very.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Sudden, but you know, all the qualities I remember of
my father me into the person the athlete I am today.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And then dealing with that, did you and your brothers
get a bit closer together as a result.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, My oldest brother was nineteen years old, and it
happened my second brother was sixteen, so it was me
and my my middle brother in the home with each other,
and he had to play dad for me. You know,
my mom was a mess for at least a year.
There was like three year span. Everything was just really difficult.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I had to grow up a lot faster than the
rest of the kids my age. And then I got
to be about a sophomore senior in high school. My
mom developed an autoimmune disease. You know, she spent a
lot of time in Rochester. She probably get indicated almost
half a dozen times.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Like life flight.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So that was that was also hard on me, and
spent a lot of times in my house alone. I'd
always invite friends over and you know, they hang out
till they had to go home. So, you know, I
learned how to take on a lot of responsibility. Hamburger helper,
you know, a whole pound of sausage with like a dozen.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Eggs, eat it again in the morning.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
But in that time, I spent so much time just
at the school working out, like learning. Like after my
junior season of football, I realized, like, this is a
very good circumstance I found myself in. I'm the biggest
kid in my grade, just way more athletic than anyone
in the area. You know, my dad played college football,
my brother was playing college football, and I knew.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Like that that was my path.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
But I just I fell in love with strength conditioning
and also a lot of self reflection at that time,
realizing like that if I wanted to go to college,
I had good grades in high school, but I didn't
want anyone else to have to pay.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
For my college.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
So I took that as a chance to, you know,
earn a scholarship. And that's what happened. I had a
full ride all throughout college. And that's what my brother
says when he said that I earned every bit of it.
I didn't have anyone pushing me. That doesn't exist in
rural South Dakota nine man football. You know, there's no
real strength coach, there's no sports medicine staff. So one
I'm lucky too. I just I put my nose at grindstone.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And when you reflect back on that grind what accomplishment
are you most proud of?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Off the f My school was kindergarten through twelfth grade,
so I spent a lot of time student teaching. So
I spent a lot of time with a lot of
the kids in that area, and it's really cheesy, but
to this day, like if I do anything out of significance, they.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Like in my school, they'll host a Tucker Craft Day.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So and this year we won the national championship at
my school and like surrounding schools, they had Tucker Craft Day.
And then they did it again when I got drafted,
and then they did it again like for the Red
Ribbon Week, which is like a kind of like a.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Day like staying away from drugs and alcohol.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
And they dressed up in South Dakota State or Green
Bay or eighty five apparel.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So that's something I can hang my hat on. Is
I was just I was.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I felt like I was a good member of my
community at a young age, and I was involved in
several things, wore many hats, and now I got a
great support system and I love I love it all.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Your twenty twenty three is out of control. You win
a national championship, drafted, and you get engaged.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, I don't talk about my fiance enough. Honestly, she's
she's grounded me so much as a human being, you know,
brought me closer to my faith. She honestly is like
a mental strength coach too. She's incredible, And my mom's
gonna be mad if I don't say that she's awesome too.
But yeah, honestly, I lucked out in the family category
as much adversity as I faced my life, people close
to me, you know, leaving this earth, and I have
(06:24):
an incredible circle of trust in the people that I
that I care for.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Was your mom pretty excited about the news.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, and a lot of people knew when I was
gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Actually, I'm so surprised that my fiance and then no earlier,
but yeah, so many people knew.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It's actually really funny. We pulled into this.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We're in Lake Havisu, Arizona, and we pull into this
canyon thing. I don't know what you would call it,
but there's cliffs everywhere. There's people jumping off of these
cliffs into the water. And she goes, Tucker, don't even
think about it. I don't want to be wiping your
butt for the rest of your life. And I look
at my brother because I took the ring on the boat.
Look at my brother, I'm like, I'm doing it right now.
So I grab the ring, I go up to there's
(07:03):
two levels this both that we rented. And I get
down on a knee and I said, speaking about wiping
my butt for the rest of our life, like will
you marry me? And she she couldn't believe if she
was shaking. I was shaken. It was just like a
sudden move of mine. Like I don't even know if
anybody really had their cameras out at the time, but
it was the decision I made so far.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Pretty cute story. And you're improvising on the fly and
literally jumping into the deep end.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, that's kind of that's how I roll.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I like to go, like I have a problem with
slowing down, Like I said in my childhood, I just
I have I move so much.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I'm always on the run.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Now, are any of your teammates present or past going
to be part of this?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, several, and we left it. It's not going to
be a huge wedding. We're going to have, you know,
the people that we want there. We might have to
cross some people off the list, but that's just the
way it goes, just how every wedding goes.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Well, congratulations man, thank you. Now one event. I'm sure
a lot of your teammates attended. Was your draft party.
When you look back on that night and getting that
call from the Packers, what comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I was just so surprised, and then we partied to
break it dawn. Seriously.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, I had so much fun that night, so many memories.
But the Packers I had no idea. So I saw
Luke get drafted. I think I texted him as soon
as it happened and said, like, congrats, because you know,
we were Combine together and then we went on a
thirty visit to Cincinnati together, so you know, I texted
him and I was like, congrats, man, like that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And then an hour and a half later, I get
the phone call says Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm like, no way, but yeah, it's ben a ride
so far, and I'm thankful every morning, thank God every
night that I wake up.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I got the greatest job on Earth.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And did Luke hit you back when you got selected?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Oh of course, yeah, yeah, I mean a lot of guys.
I texted Sean Cleff for the next day. Jordan Love
texted me that night. It's just you spend a lot
of time on your phone after you get drafted, because
of like the media interviews and stuff like that. It
was definitely one of the most memorable nights ever.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Sounded like a full circle moment for you and your
coach at South Dakota State coach Stigg said that you
have an unbelievable foundation. Who do you think of when
you hear that?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Honestly, over the last few years, I've grown really close
to my brothers and they're molded in the same way
that I am. You know, I can talk to them
about anything. And like I told you about how you know,
like a lot of people stepped up and played dad
for me, and it was definitely those two for sure.
If I want them to tell me to shut up
and deflate my ego, I'll call them. If I want
(09:32):
them to hype me up about something, you know, I'll
call them like they're the ultimate check down.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, they're going to be completely honest with me.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I mean, when all three of us are together, we
feel invincible. I don't know, personally a tougher guy than
my brother Tanner. I don't know a more like passionate
or kinder person than my brother Cody.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
One of them is already an incredible.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Father, and then the other one is, like I said,
like one of the nicest guys I know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You've had so such a unique journey. We've talked about
some of the people that have come to your side
over the course of that journey. Is there anyone out
there you would like to say anything too.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
The reason I'm in the place I am right now
is because of my high school football coach. Every kid
that comes across the path of my old high school coach,
Ryan Gimble, he's still there Timberlake. They're better because of it.
He's got two kids, his wife's a teacher. He played
college football, did college track. He could have been forty
miles away fishing on the Missouri River, and I would
call him and ask him if he could unlock the
(10:32):
doors for me to the gym, And if he couldn't
do it, he would call someone else to unlock the
doors for me to get into the gym. I know
he's proud of me, and I know he's one of
the best things that has ever happened to Timberlake Athletics.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
This is a bit of a full circle situation because
I've read about your interest in possibly paying it forward
down the line after football getting into coaching. What kind
of coach would you want to be as coach Craft.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I definitely think I'd be a hard ass for sure,
but only because as the coaches I've had in the past,
the best ones are always the ones that they ever
just threw you into the fire. They let you go
out there and figure things out for yourself. And I
want to be the kind of coach that equips my
players with everything. You know, the things that I've learned
through football. I don't think there was ever a single
(11:17):
combo block on the line of scrimmage on Doug Craft
Field and Timberlake that didn't exist. But being able to
break it down to its fundamentals and have my background.
When you roll into a town to go coach and
you have x NFL player that attracts a lot of attention,
So I think being able to use that as well
as all the things I've picked up along the way,
(11:39):
I think I could I could definitely be could coach someday.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You mentioned Doug Kraft Field, the field and Timberlake named
after your father. Is there one guiding principle that he
taught you that you still carry to this day.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Be the guy and not that guy.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
The guys everyone wants to fist, bump them, slap, and
they look at him in the in the third manageable
situation and know that they can get him the ball.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
They can trust him. He's going to eliminate the bad
in his play and just be a good person.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Well, thank you for being the guy on this podcast,
Tucker Craft. Thank you so much for taking the time
to join us. Many thank you and thank you for
listening to Packers POV. To learn more about Tucker, visit
his instagram Craft Underscore eight five, Take care and see
you next time.
Hello, and welcome to Packers POV, a podcast that aims
to shine a light on the human behind the helmet.
I'm your host, Taylor Rodgers, and we are here inside
historic lambeau Field. Today's guest is a third round draft
pick from South Dakota State who earned All American honors twice,
reeling in nine scores, eclipsing one thousand yards and helping
(00:27):
the jack Rabbits win their first FCS national championship. I'm
pleased to introduce Tucker Craft. How's it going, man, good?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Yeah, happy to have you, and thanks for making time
on a busy week.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Yeah. No, it's every week's a busy week, but this
is the best day to do it.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Okay, good. This all happened pretty quickly, so let's start
at the beginning. You're the youngest of three brothers growing
up in Timberlake, South Dakota, and your mom had this
to say about you. He was so naughty when he
was little. Oh my god, he was naughty.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
It took me until about just a few months ago
to realize that all of my educators, all of my
like peers, my older brothers and their friends, like they
had a lot on their plate dealing with me. I
was super high strung moving around, you know, never deliberately naughty,
ever went out of my way.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
But yeah, very high energy child for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Is there a story that you can call back that
sort of speaks to that nature?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Yeah, I mean doesn't It could be you know, my
parents wanted to go do something with their friends, and
you know, I would have been just a toddler at
the time, and they had distracted me. They were leaving
me in my brother's care, and I heard the car
start and they were leaving, and I feel like I
remember this, but I was told that all I had
was my blanket and my poll up and I was
(01:48):
booking it down the road after him, just chasing them.
Just things like that, like you couldn't get me to
sit still.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No, it sounds like so a lot of energy growing up.
And your brother Actually, Tanner said this about you. He's
earned everything that's come to him, and he went through
a lot to get there. What do you think of
when you hear that?
Speaker 3 (02:05):
It's no secret A lot of people know my story
in my background, me and my brothers, my mom, you know,
other family members, like we've dealt with the impact of
my father's death and our family, and that was just
that was hard. I was twelve years old and that happened,
and like, I still remember the last moment I got
to spend with him.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
He was coming to see me, really late at night.
He woke me up.
Speaker 3 (02:27):
I was having a sleepover at my cousin's house. This
is the heat of spraying season in June, so the
hours are really long. It's sun up to sundown. I
mean you're beating the sun up. So it was probably midnight.
He woke me up off the couch, gave me a hug,
you know, said he wasn't gonna see me for a
few days, and then I was the last time I
ever saw him, And like putting that into perspective and
(02:48):
like you never know, like which moment is your last
with your loved ones, and that it's always just obviously
a huge surprise.
Speaker 2 (02:54):
His death was very.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Sudden, but you know, all the qualities I remember of
my father me into the person the athlete I am today.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
And then dealing with that, did you and your brothers
get a bit closer together as a result.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Yeah, My oldest brother was nineteen years old, and it
happened my second brother was sixteen, so it was me
and my my middle brother in the home with each other,
and he had to play dad for me. You know,
my mom was a mess for at least a year.
There was like three year span. Everything was just really difficult.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
You know.
Speaker 3 (03:27):
I had to grow up a lot faster than the
rest of the kids my age. And then I got
to be about a sophomore senior in high school. My
mom developed an autoimmune disease. You know, she spent a
lot of time in Rochester. She probably get indicated almost
half a dozen times.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Like life flight.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
So that was that was also hard on me, and
spent a lot of times in my house alone. I'd
always invite friends over and you know, they hang out
till they had to go home. So, you know, I
learned how to take on a lot of responsibility. Hamburger helper,
you know, a whole pound of sausage with like a dozen.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Eggs, eat it again in the morning.
Speaker 3 (03:58):
But in that time, I spent so much time just
at the school working out, like learning. Like after my
junior season of football, I realized, like, this is a
very good circumstance I found myself in. I'm the biggest
kid in my grade, just way more athletic than anyone
in the area. You know, my dad played college football,
my brother was playing college football, and I knew.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Like that that was my path.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
But I just I fell in love with strength conditioning
and also a lot of self reflection at that time,
realizing like that if I wanted to go to college,
I had good grades in high school, but I didn't
want anyone else to have to pay.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
For my college.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
So I took that as a chance to, you know,
earn a scholarship. And that's what happened. I had a
full ride all throughout college. And that's what my brother
says when he said that I earned every bit of it.
I didn't have anyone pushing me. That doesn't exist in
rural South Dakota nine man football. You know, there's no
real strength coach, there's no sports medicine staff. So one
I'm lucky too. I just I put my nose at grindstone.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And when you reflect back on that grind what accomplishment
are you most proud of?
Speaker 3 (04:59):
Off the f My school was kindergarten through twelfth grade,
so I spent a lot of time student teaching. So
I spent a lot of time with a lot of
the kids in that area, and it's really cheesy, but
to this day, like if I do anything out of significance, they.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
Like in my school, they'll host a Tucker Craft Day.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
So and this year we won the national championship at
my school and like surrounding schools, they had Tucker Craft Day.
And then they did it again when I got drafted,
and then they did it again like for the Red
Ribbon Week, which is like a kind of like a.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Day like staying away from drugs and alcohol.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
And they dressed up in South Dakota State or Green
Bay or eighty five apparel.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So that's something I can hang my hat on. Is
I was just I was.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I felt like I was a good member of my
community at a young age, and I was involved in
several things, wore many hats, and now I got a
great support system and I love I love it all.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Your twenty twenty three is out of control. You win
a national championship, drafted, and you get engaged.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Yes, I don't talk about my fiance enough. Honestly, she's
she's grounded me so much as a human being, you know,
brought me closer to my faith. She honestly is like
a mental strength coach too. She's incredible, And my mom's
gonna be mad if I don't say that she's awesome too.
But yeah, honestly, I lucked out in the family category
as much adversity as I faced my life, people close
to me, you know, leaving this earth, and I have
(06:24):
an incredible circle of trust in the people that I
that I care for.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Was your mom pretty excited about the news.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah, and a lot of people knew when I was
gonna do it.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
Actually, I'm so surprised that my fiance and then no earlier,
but yeah, so many people knew.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
It's actually really funny. We pulled into this.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We're in Lake Havisu, Arizona, and we pull into this
canyon thing. I don't know what you would call it,
but there's cliffs everywhere. There's people jumping off of these
cliffs into the water. And she goes, Tucker, don't even
think about it. I don't want to be wiping your
butt for the rest of your life. And I look
at my brother because I took the ring on the boat.
Look at my brother, I'm like, I'm doing it right now.
So I grab the ring, I go up to there's
(07:03):
two levels this both that we rented. And I get
down on a knee and I said, speaking about wiping
my butt for the rest of our life, like will
you marry me? And she she couldn't believe if she
was shaking. I was shaken. It was just like a
sudden move of mine. Like I don't even know if
anybody really had their cameras out at the time, but
it was the decision I made so far.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Pretty cute story. And you're improvising on the fly and
literally jumping into the deep end.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, that's kind of that's how I roll.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
I like to go, like I have a problem with
slowing down, Like I said in my childhood, I just
I have I move so much.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
I'm always on the run.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
Now, are any of your teammates present or past going
to be part of this?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, several, and we left it. It's not going to
be a huge wedding. We're going to have, you know,
the people that we want there. We might have to
cross some people off the list, but that's just the
way it goes, just how every wedding goes.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Well, congratulations man, thank you. Now one event. I'm sure
a lot of your teammates attended. Was your draft party.
When you look back on that night and getting that
call from the Packers, what comes to mind.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
I was just so surprised, and then we partied to
break it dawn. Seriously.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Well, I had so much fun that night, so many memories.
But the Packers I had no idea. So I saw
Luke get drafted. I think I texted him as soon
as it happened and said, like, congrats, because you know,
we were Combine together and then we went on a
thirty visit to Cincinnati together, so you know, I texted
him and I was like, congrats, man, like that's awesome.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
And then an hour and a half later, I get
the phone call says Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm like, no way, but yeah, it's ben a ride
so far, and I'm thankful every morning, thank God every
night that I wake up.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
I got the greatest job on Earth.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
And did Luke hit you back when you got selected?
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Oh of course, yeah, yeah, I mean a lot of guys.
I texted Sean Cleff for the next day. Jordan Love
texted me that night. It's just you spend a lot
of time on your phone after you get drafted, because
of like the media interviews and stuff like that. It
was definitely one of the most memorable nights ever.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
For sure.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Sounded like a full circle moment for you and your
coach at South Dakota State coach Stigg said that you
have an unbelievable foundation. Who do you think of when
you hear that?
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Honestly, over the last few years, I've grown really close
to my brothers and they're molded in the same way
that I am. You know, I can talk to them
about anything. And like I told you about how you know,
like a lot of people stepped up and played dad
for me, and it was definitely those two for sure.
If I want them to tell me to shut up
and deflate my ego, I'll call them. If I want
(09:32):
them to hype me up about something, you know, I'll
call them like they're the ultimate check down.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, they're going to be completely honest with me.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
I mean, when all three of us are together, we
feel invincible. I don't know, personally a tougher guy than
my brother Tanner. I don't know a more like passionate
or kinder person than my brother Cody.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
One of them is already an incredible.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Father, and then the other one is, like I said,
like one of the nicest guys I know.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
You've had so such a unique journey. We've talked about
some of the people that have come to your side
over the course of that journey. Is there anyone out
there you would like to say anything too.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
The reason I'm in the place I am right now
is because of my high school football coach. Every kid
that comes across the path of my old high school coach,
Ryan Gimble, he's still there Timberlake. They're better because of it.
He's got two kids, his wife's a teacher. He played
college football, did college track. He could have been forty
miles away fishing on the Missouri River, and I would
call him and ask him if he could unlock the
(10:32):
doors for me to the gym, And if he couldn't
do it, he would call someone else to unlock the
doors for me to get into the gym. I know
he's proud of me, and I know he's one of
the best things that has ever happened to Timberlake Athletics.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
This is a bit of a full circle situation because
I've read about your interest in possibly paying it forward
down the line after football getting into coaching. What kind
of coach would you want to be as coach Craft.
Speaker 3 (10:56):
I definitely think I'd be a hard ass for sure,
but only because as the coaches I've had in the past,
the best ones are always the ones that they ever
just threw you into the fire. They let you go
out there and figure things out for yourself. And I
want to be the kind of coach that equips my
players with everything. You know, the things that I've learned
through football. I don't think there was ever a single
(11:17):
combo block on the line of scrimmage on Doug Craft
Field and Timberlake that didn't exist. But being able to
break it down to its fundamentals and have my background.
When you roll into a town to go coach and
you have x NFL player that attracts a lot of attention,
So I think being able to use that as well
as all the things I've picked up along the way,
(11:39):
I think I could I could definitely be could coach someday.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
You mentioned Doug Kraft Field, the field and Timberlake named
after your father. Is there one guiding principle that he
taught you that you still carry to this day.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Be the guy and not that guy.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
The guys everyone wants to fist, bump them, slap, and
they look at him in the in the third manageable
situation and know that they can get him the ball.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
They can trust him. He's going to eliminate the bad
in his play and just be a good person.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Well, thank you for being the guy on this podcast,
Tucker Craft. Thank you so much for taking the time
to join us. Many thank you and thank you for
listening to Packers POV. To learn more about Tucker, visit
his instagram Craft Underscore eight five, Take care and see
you next time.
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