Red Lake Football Visits Nike Headquarters, Seahawks Practice

Before the season started, the Red Lake football team was invited to visit Nike’s headquarters in Oregon to see the Kickoff Classic. (Credit: Red Lake Youth Sports)

Before the season started in Minnesota, Red Lake football was invited by Nike to make a special trip to their headquarters in Oregon to watch the Nike Kickoff Classic. Inspired by a documentary film during the 2023 season about the struggles of the Warrior program and its players both on and off the field, the execs at Nike wanted to give the Warriors a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

It was an all-expense paid trip that took the team to the home of Just Do It, where the boys were swagged out in Swoosh gear. They also got to spend time as a team doing recreational activities and then got to watch a high school football game between Massillon of Ohio and the NFL Academy from the UK.

“It was cool, you know, it was a nice experience,” said junior TE Dimitrius Harris. “We had, like, a hunt, a scavenger hunt. We got to explore around there. They got us custom shoes, a sweater. It’s nice, I love the shoes.”

“You know, it was a pretty fun experience with my brothers, man, it was different,” said senior RB Izaiah Villiard. “And then we got to watch a game, NFL Academy versus Massillon. That was a pretty fun game. Pretty competitive, you know? I learned, picked up a few things from their running back. Like, he’s just patient, just patient, runs through every hole.”

“It was pretty nice,” added sophomore WR Jacob Andersen. “I never got to experience something like that before and it’s like, pretty cool because not many people can go watch that from Red Lake.”

Before the Warriors returned home to Red Lake, they drove north to visit the Seattle Seahawks practice facility, where they spent time talking with the players and coaches after watching them practice.

“Pretty nice just to watch the practice and how they go about their practice,” said senior QB Ty Beaulieu. “They just know how to play football very well and it’s pretty calm. It was a fun experience. Spend time with the teams to bond and experience what they do out there and how they do it.”

“It’s just really inspiring seeing these guys I grew up with struggle so hard, just trying to get a win out a football, you know, in a game they love,” stated senior RB Travis Juarez. “Some of the NFL players there talked about winning in life and not just winning on the field. And I really thought about that, and I’m doing good with my education and I am winning at life. But that doesn’t mean I can’t help people win at life, too, and win on the field.”

After seeing the documentary on Red Lake football, Scott Henson, the brand marketing director of Nike, said, “We thought that we could inspire Red Lake, but instead Red Lake inspired us.”

The Warriors are still searching for their first win since 1999, but they’ll have another shot Thursday at home against Red Lake County.