Growing up, Kai Stidham had a passion in one particular sport — wakeboarding.
It was his dream to maybe one day compete at a professional level. After all, he was ranked third in the world at wakeboarding his eighth-grade year. But Stidham ultimately decided that his academics were much more important and gave up the sport.
Once he started high school, Stidham decided to get his feet wet at trying a different sport. He tried soccer his freshman year, but didn’t feel it was the right fit for him.
Then, football came along. The summer heading into his sophomore year, Stidham approached Columbus East football coach Bob Gaddis in the offseason about wanting to play football.
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After playing mostly at the junior varsity level last season, Stidham has won the starting linebacker job for the Olympian varsity and hopes to make several strides throughout the season.
“He’s made a contribution and kind of picked up on the game last year playing a lot of JV, but now he is caught up,” Gaddis said.
Stidham is not the only member in the family to play football. His cousin, Jarrett Stidham, was a quarterback at Auburn and is beginning his rookie season in a battle to back up Tom Brady at the quarterback spot with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. In his first preseason game, Jarrett Stidham threw his first career touchdown pass, which happened to be on his 23rd birthday.
Although Kai Stidham says he is not very close with his cousin, he says he hopes that he succeeds at making the roster.
Kai Stidham begins his junior campaign with East with a tough road matchup against Whiteland on Friday night. The Olympians hope to avenge a 26-20 home loss to the Warriors in last year’s opener.
“I just want to get better and to be a very important part of our defense,” Stidham said. “To make all the calls and have fun and get everybody wild and moving fast.
“Coach Gaddis has helped me throughout everything,” Stidham said. “I said that I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I want to be out on the field. He’s always been positive and never negative and always tries to help me get better.”
Stidham will have to play a big role if East is to start the season 1-0.
“He brings a lot of enthusiasm and intensity to the field. He is a good leader by example. He’s done a great job with that,” Gaddis said. “He works hard and doesn’t make any excuses. He just gets out there and gets after it. He wants to be coached, and he is going to keep getting better.”
