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Friday Marks The Six-Year Anniversary Of My Wild Ride In Washington D.C. Beginning

OPINION
David Hookstead (Credit: David Hookstead)

David Hookstead (Credit: David Hookstead)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Friday is the six-year anniversary of the biggest gamble of my life.

I’ve made a lot of wild wagers and I’ve taken some absurd risks in my life. As a mentor once told me, I like to live with the mentality of a gunslinger with no regard for whether or not I’m making it to tomorrow.

I took it as a compliment. I don’t think he meant it as one.

However, no gambler was bigger than the one I took August 27, 2015. On that fateful day, I boarded an airplane bound for Washington, D.C., and I haven’t looked back since.

With literally no guarantees at all or any promise of success, I left Madison, Wisconsin and everyone I knew back home behind to come to our nation’s capital.

Why? To this day, I’m not sure I really know the answer to that question. I guess it was something to do in the moment, and I felt like I was in the mood for a fun adventure.

What has happened over the past six years hasn’t just exceeded expectations. The experience has blown expectations away.

You see, I come from a small town in Wisconsin with a population that could easily fit inside of one Washington D.C. high school. We’re simple people, but we’re also very happy people. We love our families, our friends, college football, the NFL and a few too many cold light beers from time to time.

Washington D.C. and where I come from have virtually nothing in common. In fact, we’d look at D.C. people like aliens much like they looked at me when I first arrived.

However, like any great quarterback, you have to learn how to move the ball and put points on the scoreboard. So, I did what all Hooksteads do. I went to work.

Slowly but surely, I started building an empire unlike anything I could previously have dreamed of. I went from drinking beers at Churchkey in Madison on a Tuesday night with my friends to becoming one of the most prolific and most-read writers in America.

While this city schmoozed each other at cocktail hours wearing overpriced suits, I threw on blue jeans and a Badgers shirt, sat down at my computer and laid the foundation that’s been used to see the Goliath in front of you.

In 2017, I was handed the internet equivalent of keys to the nuclear codes and that’s where things really took off. Since then, I truly believe nobody on the web has done better comprehensive sports, culture and entertainment than I have.

One minute, I’m talking about how the Badgers are a lock to win the national title (you guys always let me know when I’m wrong), and the next, I’m interviewing the stars of “Yellowstone.”

I’m pretty confident I’m the only person from my hometown who can say that.

Now, we’re more than 50 episodes into “The David Hookstead Show,” and we’re just getting started. If you would have told me when I was 18 that I’d be getting paid money to talk about football and movies and tens of thousands of people would be tuning in every single day, I’m not sure I would have believed you.

Yet, here we are!

Along the way, I’ve interviewed some great people, written a lot of fun stories and most importantly, I answered the call when the morons in this country tried to steal football from us.

When they declared war on the soul of this nation, I did what any great American would have done. I fought like hell to save it. Together, we marched and beat back those attempting to take it away.

As for the personal side of this journey, I’ve met a lot of great people and a lot of people I wouldn’t save if they were in a house fire and I had 10,000 gallons of water.

Focusing on the clowns in Washington D.C. is a waste of time. Although, understanding them is a good way of understanding why our country is so fractured and divided.

Since August 27, 2015, I’ve made some friends that will last for a lifetime, and nothing brings me more joy than watching them succeed. People I used to sit at the office and at the bar drinking beers with are now TV stars. Guys I spent Saturdays watching football with have started companies and are now big movers and shakers.

It’s amazing how much has changed in six years, and I wouldn’t have it any other.

We’ve also managed to help a lot of people along the way with our platform, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. For that, I’m forever proud and grateful.

Where do we go from here? I honestly have no idea. With my gunslinger mentality, I never expected to see my 25th birthday, and I damn sure didn’t expect to become a young media titan of industry.

So, I guess I’ll keep doing what I do best. I’ll throw for the end zone on every play and see what happens. All I ask from the loyal readers and fans is that you enjoy the journey with me.

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Neil Patel