| School: Lincoln | Graduation Year: 2007 |
Year Inducted: 2017
Sports Played: Football, Basketball, Track and Field
Featured Member of the Month ~ July 2023
High School Honors: 3-year Football letterman. 1st Team All-PIL (Player of the Year) and All-State as a Junior and Senior; Oregonian Offensive Player of the Year as a Junior. MVP award in the Schwab All-Star Bowl Game as a Senior. Oregon Gatorade Player of the Year as a Senior. Threw for 6,821 yards and 72 touchdowns in High School career.
4-year Basketball letterman. 1st Team All-PIL as a Senior.
2-year Track & Field letterman; on State Championship Team as a Senior.
Post High School Career: Graduate of PSU with a Business/Finance degree. 4-year Football letterman, QB starter 22 games. All-Big Sky Conference Honorable Mention as a Junior and Senior, and record holder for career rushing yards as a QB. Founder and Special Needs Planner for the Palladio Group in Portland, a financial planning firm for special needs families.
Commentary:
I was lucky to learn at a young age that you can only control two things in sports—how hard you work and your attitude. Everything else is outside your control. This allowed me to focus on the aspects that I could control and then let the chips fall where they may. I never worried about what call the referee missed, why the coach didn’t play me enough or why I’m not suiting up for the Friday night varsity game. I focused internally on what I could be doing to make sure that whatever happened, would never happen again. There was always something that I could change in my preparation for next time.
As I found more success in athletics, I began to realize how much of what I accomplished could never have happened without the mentors, coaches, staff and teammates around me. Never once did I throw the football to myself, tape my own ankles, schedule a bus to an away game. The list goes on and on of the support that I received throughout my time at Lincoln. As I get older and “zoom out” on my past athletic achievements, nothing could have been done without the constant support from these people. This concept alone inspires me to give back so the student athletes at Lincoln could have the same positive experience that I did.