From BMX to BMOC
PULLMAN — Steve Dildine isn’t the most polished player in the world, his coaches at WSU will tell you. But they’re OK with that, because the outside linebacker didn’t take up football on a competitive level until his last year of high school.
It’s almost unprecedented, but Dildine, in his one year of high school football, racked up 2,265 yards rushing and 45 touchdowns as the running back for Bethel High School in Spanaway, Wash.
Before he got into football, Dildine had another, certainly off-the-beaten-path, hobby. He took a moment this week to talk about that and his transition to football with The Spokesman-Review.
S-R: So are you still a BMX biker?
SD: No, no. … I used to do that back when I was 14 or 15, right at the end of junior high and the beginning of high school.
S-R: What is it about it that’s so much fun?
SD: It’s just really competitive. I got into it because my grandparents had taken me down to the track one day. I started doing it and I liked it. I was winning — that made it fun. It was just something I was interested in at the time.
S-R: You didn’t get into any trouble doing it, did you?
SD: I was OK, yeah. It’s really safe. You have helmets and stuff on. There are a lot of people that come out from all different age groups from little kids that are 5 years old to older guys in their 50s. It’s fun for the family.
S-R: Sounds like you’d be a perfect PR guy there. What kinds of competitions were you in?
SD: It was just racing down at the local track. It wasn’t anything national or like that.
S-R: What hurts more, then, falling off a bike or a collision on the football field?
SD: It all depends on who you’re hitting. Sometimes there are some big guys that will ring your bell a little bit. I don’t know. It’s a give and take.
S-R: OK, which is more fun for you?
SD: Football. Football’s a lot more fun.
S-R: But you didn’t get back into the sport until later on, right?
SD: My senior year of high school.
S-R: How’d that come about? Did someone just tap you on the shoulder and say go?
SD: My best friend got me out there. The coaches wanted me out there when I was a sophomore or a junior. But I just wasn’t seeing it. My last year, I was like, ‘Ah, what the heck.’ I went out there and then …
S-R: …had a pretty amazing season.
SD: You can say that again. It worked out. It worked out.
S-R: Forty-five touchdowns? You know that’s not supposed to happen, right?
SD: Yeah, I just had a good team and they helped me out. Made me look good.
S-R: When football is over and done with, any chance you’ll hop back on the bike?
SD: No, I’m done. Football is enough of a beating on your body.