Three Minute Tryst: A Conversation with David Bakhtiari, All Pro Tackle and Settlers of Catan Maniac
Welcome to the 3 Minute Tryst, a 3-minute conversation series exploring sports, music, business and culture in a fun, playful and light atmosphere. This is something that's been in the works for a couple of months now and I'm pumped to be able to finally start sharing it! Today's episode is with David Bakhtiari, the man responsible for protecting Aaron Rodgers on the blind side and the #1 ranked tackle in the NFL. He is one hell of an interesting guy, and we discussed everything from being the best at his position in the league, how pre-draft criticism still motivates him, his 68 year old dad who not only ranks and critiquing other tackles in the league but regularly wants to pass rush his son at family events when he gets a little buzzed, to his story getting the Packers onto Pitch Perfect 2.
Check out the Rapid Fire Questions, sponsored by the Bussin' With the Boys podcast. David was a guest on Bussin' and it's WELL worth checking out the interview as a whole!
Of course, not everything in my conversation with David made the final vid. Highlights of what got left on the cutting room floor are below in text form.
When you saw the ranking come out today, knowing what the pre-draft scouts said, what were you thinking?
I'm so over it. Yeah, I mean, it's people's opinions. People are going to love me and love the way I play. They love my game, love my career. And then people are going to say, you know he wasn't that good. I mean, when I was younger, I used to freaking love all of that. I was pumped up about it any time I see it. And now I'm at the point, like whatever, I'm just going to go out there, I'm going to ball, and do me and you're going to either love it or you gonna hate it.
How did you end up getting the Packers a role in Pitch Perfect 2?
I was a huge fan of the first movie. There's just something about acapella that I just really enjoy. So I just kept tweeting about it and a couple of beat writers for the Packers wrote articles about it and it went mainstream. Elizabeth Banks' husband DMd me from her account. I responded back saying that I was a huge fan and just shot my shot. I said "what do I have to do to get me and my buddies in the sequel? We'll be extras, whatever. Before I knew it we were exchanging texts and phone calls and I was playing agent for Clay Matthews, TJ Lang, Josh Sitten, Jordan Rodgers and Donnie Barkley. They said, "if we're going to go through all of this trouble, we might as well give you a legit part. It was a riot. Just 4 straight days, from what I rem/ember of it, just partying in Louisiana.
The vocals were amazing! Did you guys record in a studio or how did that go?
So I can say it was authentic. We actually did sing it in a studio and then they just I think they matched up like we would sing it out loud. But I don't think they took our actual voice when we were singing.
I know you're a huge Settlers of Catan fan with a love for Lacrosse and romantic comedies, what else do you enjoy doing or are passionate about?
Man, you're basically asking what? Who am I? Yeah, that's a very deep question. I'm just simple basic kid from Northern California that, me and most my close friends are a bunch of nerds that we grew up playing Halo, and playing board games. I always loved sports. So when I got into that, I loved it. I love any type of competition. Pretty much if there's something on the line I'm in. And pretty much when I start getting really good at football, my biggest goal not to sound like too cliche, was I just want to make sure I could stay grounded, stay who I am, not really kind of get caught up in the idea of myself in the NFL
Watch the full version of the Bussin Interview below:
