David Schoettler, a former defensive tackle on the Mankato West High School football team in Mankato, Minnesota, shared his experience of being benched by Tim Walz, who is now the governor of Minnesota and the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Schoettler described Walz as a tough but fair coach who held his players accountable. He mentioned that Walz was not one to yell and scream at his players but rather acted like a disappointed father when he benched him for failing to make a tackle during a game in 1999.
Another memory Schoettler recalled was when Walz came to practice feeling down because his wife had taken away his video game console for playing on it too much. Before entering politics, Walz was a teacher and coached school sports. He coached basketball and track and field at Alliance High School in Nebraska before settling in Mankato with his wife in 1996.
However, since Vice President Kamala Harris chose Walz as her running mate, most sports fans have been interested in his time at Mankato West High School. There, he helped lead the football team to a national title in 1999 after they had gone an entire season without winning a game.
At the Democratic National Convention on August 21st, Ben Ingman introduced Governor Walz and shared an inspiring story about how he helped pay off the lunch debt of a student who couldn’t afford it. Ingman also mentioned that Walz led their seventh-grade track team to win a state title.
Lance Resner, another former player from the 1999 football team, praised Governor Walz as “a fantastic human being” and “a great leader.” Resner highlighted how Walz’s positive attitude and inspiration made an impact on him as well as others fortunate enough to be coached by him.
From high school hallways to Congress halls, Tim Walz represented Minnesota’s First Congressional District from 2007 to 2019 before becoming the governor of Minnesota on January 7th, 2019. During his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Governor Walz used sports terms from his playing days to deliver what he called a pep talk to the nation.
In conclusion of his speech, Governor Tim Walt emphasized that this election is crucial and compared it to being down by three points in the fourth quarter of a football game. He urged everyone watching to get involved by making phone calls or knocking on doors one step at a time.
David Schoettler expressed support for Harris-Walz ticket stating that while he generally dislikes politicians; however; he knows Governor Tim Walt personally as someone relatable whom he will be voting for come November.