How did you go from Division 1 football player at Iowa State University to bobsled push athlete?
Jesse: In the summer of 2002, while pursuing a master’s degree at Iowa State University, I received a phone call from one of my football coaches — Charlie Partridge, or “Coach P” — asking what I thought about the sport of bobsledding. Of course, growing up in Chicago, I didn’t know a thing about the sport. It turns out that Coach P had just met Travis Bell, a Team USA bobsled driver. Travis was in town meeting with a sponsor and was also looking for athletes who might be interested in bobsledding. Coach told him about my stats. Travis thought I might be a good fit for the sport. Considering that this was an opportunity to compete in races around the world, and possibly represent the United States in the Olympics, I readily accepted Coach P’s offer to give Travis my phone number. Later that day I received a call from Travis inviting me to a tryout camp in Lake Placid, New York. That was how my bobsledding career got started. Q: How do collegiate football and World Cup bobsledding compar
