I thought it was really interesting that his entire family had either graduated from, or was attending, the University of Oklahoma and he was at Oklahoma State University. So I set up an interview.
I was supposed to meet him half an hour before Cowboy basketball practice was to start.
I showed up at the old Gallagher-Iba and waited. And waited. He didn’t show up until about five minutes before practice.
When he did get there, he came over to talk to me and was very apologetic.
He told me he was sorry he had forgotten about our interview, and he went so far as to give me his home phone number and say I could call him that night to do the interview over the phone.
When I called that night, I got his answering machine, so I left my number.
At that point, I started thinking of excuses I could give my editor for why I had no story. After all, big-time athletes don’t call reporters back.
Nate Fleming did.
We had a great interview. He was open and enthusiastic.
It was an honor to talk to him.
Nate Fleming didn’t think of himself as anything more or less than who he was — a proud member of the OSU family.
Nate only wanted to play basketball at OSU. It wasn’t even his best sport. He wasn’t getting a scholarship.
He just wanted to be a part of the team.
He told me it didn’t matter whether he played or not — he just wanted to bust his tail and enjoy his time with the guys.
How refreshing this was.
We see athletes on television every day. They are often sullen and withdrawn. The media and the general public should consider themselves lucky to hear mere words uttered from their multi-million dollar mouths.
So what a breath of fresh air it is when an athlete will call back.
When an athlete will talk openly and honestly.
When an athlete sees himself as a person, not as a glorified demigod.
In a perfect world, all athletes would be like that.
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