Tuesday, January 27, 2015 10:49:25 AM
Great story of HARD WORK paying off!
Gee Scott's long road to Super Bowl started with washing Seahawks' cars
BY JOSH KERNS, MyNorthwest.com | January 27, 2015 @ 7:11 am
Gee Scott (l) is shown with Seahawks' DE Michael Bennett and fellow Barbershop founders Terry Holliman (center) and Marcus Trufant. (Photo courtesy The Barbershop)
When Gee Scott got the call asking him to cover the Super Bowl this week, the co-host of The Barbershop on 710 ESPN Seattle broke into tears.
"I couldn't even gather myself. I was going crazy and bawling and crying," admits Scott.
His reaction might seem surprising, considering he's friends with a number of players and a fixture on the Seattle sports radio scene. But the emotion is understandable when you learn the hard and roundabout road Scott took to get there.
The Chicago-native ended up in Seattle in the late 80's for a job selling electronics and educational products door-to-door. But one day, in 2003, he got the inspiration to start a mobile car washing business.
"I went and got an old beat-up van for $500. I outfitted the whole van and started going door-to-door, and I asked people if I could clean their cars," says Scott.
Some said OK, but far more said no. One of those rejections, though, would bring some of the best advice Scott would ever get.
"This woman wouldn't let me wash her car, but she said, 'You should go up to Seahawks headquarters and see if they'll let you wash their cars.'"
Emboldened, Scott headed for the old Seahawks headquarters at Northwest College in Kirkland. But he quickly realized if he just tried walking up to the office, he'd be laughed at and escorted by security off the grounds.
So Scott stood outside the entry gate and waited for someone to stop. The first car that pulled up was a silver Lexus SUV.
"I figured it had to be a player," he says. Instead, it was longtime equipment manager Erik Kennedy, who rolled down his window. "I just introduced myself and said, 'How about if I clean your vehicle for free and maybe you can just tell some of the guys how I did if you like it?'"
Scott gave the car the cleaning of a lifetime. After Kennedy inspected his work, he told Scott to wait a minute.
"He comes back from the office and this time he's driving a Mercedes. He says, 'Hey, this is Coach Holmgren's car. I'm like, OK!" Scott nervously cleaned the Super Bowl winning coach's car, knowing it could be a life changer.
It was.
"They came back and even paid me a whopping $40, and then asked me to come back," says Scott.
Soon, he was washing cars for players, coaches, and staff alike.
"It was a one-in-a million opportunity," he says.
Over the years, Scott became more than just the guy who washes their cars. He's built lasting friendships with a number of them.
"These guys aren't just the greatest athletes and deepest minds. So many of them are genuinely wonderful people I am so blessed to know," he says.
Among them is fellow Barbershop co-host and Seahawks great Marcus Trufant, who befriended Scott as a rookie out of Washington State University.
"He showed up with dreadlocks and a big smile, and we just hit it off."
Scott became a part of the ever-growing Trufant clan, which only became problematic when it came to cleaning Trufant's cars.
"He's always been a family guy so the kids would get in there and go nuts. So in the back seat they'd spray milk, soda everything all over. We'd always laugh about what a disaster zone all his cars were."
While most players and coaches have welcomed Scott's care for their cars, his first encounter with Seahawks defensive back Earl Thomas could have been the beginning of the end.
"I didn't know him at all when he first got here," says Scott. "We went to go pressure wash his Range Rover and we were too close and we zapped the wheel cap right off. And I'm like, 'Oh my goodness.'"
Scott approached Thomas to admit he'd damaged the car.
"I said, 'Listen man, I'm really sorry. I'm going to make sure I take care of this.'"
But Thomas, known for his intensity on the field, wasn't very forgiving of it. "He had the most stern look on his face and he just looks at me and didn't say a word, and just walks away."
Luckily, Scott would soon learn Thomas was just that way, and eventually they became friends.
"I thought to myself, 'He's not very nice.' Then I realized the dude is just really competitive and he's always on," says Scott.
After years of washing cars, Scott realized he wanted to do far more. He dreamed of breaking into sports broadcasting, and convinced Trufant and their friend, former UW running back Terry Holliman, to start a podcast they'd dub "The Barbershop."
They launched it last summer and it quickly took off. They amassed over 12,000 friends and followers on Facebook, and within months went from an online show to a slot on 710 ESPN Seattle weeknights from 9-11 p.m.
The show has been an unqualified success. With its frank, humorous take on sports and life and thanks to the unparalleled access to players, The Barbershop has taken off.
Scott was instrumental in convincing his buddy Marshawn Lynch to join the show for one of the only interviews the normally reticent running back has granted all season.
Now, he's decided to give up washing cars to pursue his broadcast dream full time. So when he got the call to broadcast from the Super Bowl, it's understandable why the emotion was so overwhelming.
His first call, in tears, was to his father back in Chicago. "Here's somebody who has supported me throughout the years, good or bad. When my mom told me, 'I can't believe you went to school to clean cars,' a lot of people thought it was stupid. My dad told me like he's always told me, 'Champ, just be all you can be.'"
"Sometimes you just want to be able to say, 'You've done a great job as a dad,'" Scott continues. "To be able to make that phone call and tell him first has to be one of the top three things I've done in my life."
A week later, Scott admits he's still overcome with emotion.
"I've been thinking of how many mornings I've been out at the Seahawks facility over the past decade and dreaming. It's unreal. To send a text to the guy whose vehicle I cleaned in 2003 and say, 'See you in Arizona.' How crazy is that, to come full circle?"
Gee Scott's long road to Super Bowl started with washing Seahawks' cars
BY JOSH KERNS, MyNorthwest.com | January 27, 2015 @ 7:11 am
Gee Scott (l) is shown with Seahawks' DE Michael Bennett and fellow Barbershop founders Terry Holliman (center) and Marcus Trufant. (Photo courtesy The Barbershop)
When Gee Scott got the call asking him to cover the Super Bowl this week, the co-host of The Barbershop on 710 ESPN Seattle broke into tears.
"I couldn't even gather myself. I was going crazy and bawling and crying," admits Scott.
His reaction might seem surprising, considering he's friends with a number of players and a fixture on the Seattle sports radio scene. But the emotion is understandable when you learn the hard and roundabout road Scott took to get there.
The Chicago-native ended up in Seattle in the late 80's for a job selling electronics and educational products door-to-door. But one day, in 2003, he got the inspiration to start a mobile car washing business.
"I went and got an old beat-up van for $500. I outfitted the whole van and started going door-to-door, and I asked people if I could clean their cars," says Scott.
Some said OK, but far more said no. One of those rejections, though, would bring some of the best advice Scott would ever get.
"This woman wouldn't let me wash her car, but she said, 'You should go up to Seahawks headquarters and see if they'll let you wash their cars.'"
Emboldened, Scott headed for the old Seahawks headquarters at Northwest College in Kirkland. But he quickly realized if he just tried walking up to the office, he'd be laughed at and escorted by security off the grounds.
So Scott stood outside the entry gate and waited for someone to stop. The first car that pulled up was a silver Lexus SUV.
"I figured it had to be a player," he says. Instead, it was longtime equipment manager Erik Kennedy, who rolled down his window. "I just introduced myself and said, 'How about if I clean your vehicle for free and maybe you can just tell some of the guys how I did if you like it?'"
Scott gave the car the cleaning of a lifetime. After Kennedy inspected his work, he told Scott to wait a minute.
"He comes back from the office and this time he's driving a Mercedes. He says, 'Hey, this is Coach Holmgren's car. I'm like, OK!" Scott nervously cleaned the Super Bowl winning coach's car, knowing it could be a life changer.
It was.
"They came back and even paid me a whopping $40, and then asked me to come back," says Scott.
Soon, he was washing cars for players, coaches, and staff alike.
"It was a one-in-a million opportunity," he says.
Over the years, Scott became more than just the guy who washes their cars. He's built lasting friendships with a number of them.
"These guys aren't just the greatest athletes and deepest minds. So many of them are genuinely wonderful people I am so blessed to know," he says.
Among them is fellow Barbershop co-host and Seahawks great Marcus Trufant, who befriended Scott as a rookie out of Washington State University.
"He showed up with dreadlocks and a big smile, and we just hit it off."
Scott became a part of the ever-growing Trufant clan, which only became problematic when it came to cleaning Trufant's cars.
"He's always been a family guy so the kids would get in there and go nuts. So in the back seat they'd spray milk, soda everything all over. We'd always laugh about what a disaster zone all his cars were."
While most players and coaches have welcomed Scott's care for their cars, his first encounter with Seahawks defensive back Earl Thomas could have been the beginning of the end.
"I didn't know him at all when he first got here," says Scott. "We went to go pressure wash his Range Rover and we were too close and we zapped the wheel cap right off. And I'm like, 'Oh my goodness.'"
Scott approached Thomas to admit he'd damaged the car.
"I said, 'Listen man, I'm really sorry. I'm going to make sure I take care of this.'"
But Thomas, known for his intensity on the field, wasn't very forgiving of it. "He had the most stern look on his face and he just looks at me and didn't say a word, and just walks away."
Luckily, Scott would soon learn Thomas was just that way, and eventually they became friends.
"I thought to myself, 'He's not very nice.' Then I realized the dude is just really competitive and he's always on," says Scott.
After years of washing cars, Scott realized he wanted to do far more. He dreamed of breaking into sports broadcasting, and convinced Trufant and their friend, former UW running back Terry Holliman, to start a podcast they'd dub "The Barbershop."
They launched it last summer and it quickly took off. They amassed over 12,000 friends and followers on Facebook, and within months went from an online show to a slot on 710 ESPN Seattle weeknights from 9-11 p.m.
The show has been an unqualified success. With its frank, humorous take on sports and life and thanks to the unparalleled access to players, The Barbershop has taken off.
Scott was instrumental in convincing his buddy Marshawn Lynch to join the show for one of the only interviews the normally reticent running back has granted all season.
Now, he's decided to give up washing cars to pursue his broadcast dream full time. So when he got the call to broadcast from the Super Bowl, it's understandable why the emotion was so overwhelming.
His first call, in tears, was to his father back in Chicago. "Here's somebody who has supported me throughout the years, good or bad. When my mom told me, 'I can't believe you went to school to clean cars,' a lot of people thought it was stupid. My dad told me like he's always told me, 'Champ, just be all you can be.'"
"Sometimes you just want to be able to say, 'You've done a great job as a dad,'" Scott continues. "To be able to make that phone call and tell him first has to be one of the top three things I've done in my life."
A week later, Scott admits he's still overcome with emotion.
"I've been thinking of how many mornings I've been out at the Seahawks facility over the past decade and dreaming. It's unreal. To send a text to the guy whose vehicle I cleaned in 2003 and say, 'See you in Arizona.' How crazy is that, to come full circle?"
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