Exclusive interview with Iowa State TE Charlie Kolar: Senior Bowl, spaghetti controversy, and more

Charlie Kolar was teammates with Trae Young in high school

JF: "Right, and you mentioned you played basketball a lot growing up. You were actually teammates with Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young in high school. What was it like playing on the same basketball team as him, and are you guys still in contact at all?"

CK: "Yeah, we still keep in touch. He's a great dude. It's amazing every level he goes to, he takes it to a new level where I'm like 'I didn't even know he could do that.' When he made that jump from high school to college and then college to the NBA, it's amazing how fast he did it. Every time people think he's plateauing, he just gets better. It's incredible to see him work. Our high school basketball team was [really good]. We had like two NBA players, myself, a couple of guys who played in college at Kansas and Boise State. We had like six or seven Division I players on our team. There were some pretty competitive practices." [laughs]

Extra motivation against Oklahoma?

JF: "Wow. I can only imagine. Sometimes you don't even realize how good these guys are until they get to the next level. Anyway, so you grew up in Norman and spent pretty much the first 18 years of your life there. Both your mom and your dad work at Oklahoma University, yet you never actually received an offer from them. Now I promise there's a positive spin on this, I'm not just laying into you for no reason. [laughs] When I was going over your stats and watching some tape, I couldn't help but realize that you seemed to play your best games against Oklahoma. In fact, your senior year you guys play in Norman, at Oklahoma, and you had the best statistical game of your college career. Were you playing with any extra motivation in that game? What did that mean to you, to be able to have that type of game in Norman?"

CK: "Well, my mom doesn't work there anymore, she works at a different university now. My dad still does. But like you said, it's exciting to play them, they're my hometown team, but it's hard to say you have extra motivation in some games because that implies you're not trying as hard in other games. I just think it was the way this game worked out. I didn't do much for three quarters, and then when we got in the two-minute drill, we had a lot of favorable coverages and it just worked out. Obviously, you're a little more excited, but in terms of preparation and effort, I try to give the same every week."