A Day In The Life: Tree Gelbman – Day of the NSFL Draft
By: Anastasia Firestone
As part of my work for the Jim Phillips News, one of the things we have the opportunity to do is hang out with draft interview candidates for the National Simulation Football League Draft the day of the affair and just see how they go about the entire ordeal. I’ve done it a few years past, but I’ve never really been attached to a prospect that I thought had the chance to become a true legend of the sport. This year, I feel like that’s going to finally change. I was given the opportunity to shadow one of the top tight end prospects in this years draft, Tree Gelbman. Gelbman interested me, coming from the little known University of Bayfield and made herself noticed lurking around with the other rookies before Kansas City took a chance on her in the 12th round. She would go on to finish 2nd in DSFL TE of the Year voting and be considered one of the top tight end prospects in the entire draft. And now I got to spend an entire day with her.
I arrived at Gelbman’s house promptly at 9:30AM as per our email chain and knocked on the door. When she opened the door at 10:15AM it was a pleasant surprise as I figured I would likely have been out there for another 45 minutes before she finally woke up. After exchanging pleasantries we had a brief interview over breakfast:
Anastasia: So Tree, how do you feel about potentially getting drafted into the National Simulation Football League?”
Tree: It’s alright, I guess. I did pretty well in the DSFL so far, I’m ready to show the big boys what I can do.
A: You finished second in voting for Tight End of the Year in the DSFL, do you think you’ll be able to achieve similar results in the next level?
T: Yeah I guess I can, I don’t know. I’m going to try and do my best to achieve these results but I can’t exactly make any promises cause like, if my quarterback doesn’t throw my way I can’t, but I think I’ve got the talent to become an amazing player.
A: So, say you make the league out of the draft, what’s the first thing you’re buying?
T: Probably more cereal, considering I *long burp* just ran out of this stuff and this was my last box. I guess like, a nice car or something. Can we pause this interview I kinda need a nap I just woke up.
A: Absolutely. We can continue later.
I plunk myself down on Gelbman’s couch and starting writing down my notes about this person. In my head I was thinking “This is one of the top tight end prospects in the draft?” It didn’t make sense to me, but then again I’m not a NSFL scout so I can only comment so much. Taking a look around the house, I get a sense of her lifestyle. Empty cereal boxes pile in the garbage that have yet to be taken to the curb, a gym set in the house that has nothing but laundry and various hats hung on them, showcasing that the slacker lifestyle can yield positive results I guess.
Gelbman wakes up from her nap at roughly 2:00PM and heads back into the kitchen to grab more cereal for herself and after about five minutes she beckons me over to continue the interview
Tree: Sorry about that one, wound up partying super hard last night and I’m still feeling it this morning. Sometimes it feels like I’m reliving the same day over and over again.
Anastasia: Not a problem at all Tree, so I guess I want to know, what’s your day to day routine like?
T: Well, you’re kinda seeing it. I’ll party most nights until like, 5AM. After I’m done partying I’ll come home and sleep until about 2PM. I’ll sit on my couch and watch Netflix in my pajamas most of the day and eat cereal until it’s time to go out and party again. Occasionally my boyfriend Carter comes over but then all that changes is that I add another person to that daily routine.
A: I see. What sort of activities are you doing to stay in shape? Do you work out in the gym with the team or something along those lines?
T: *long burp* Working out with my teammates in the gym oh man that’s a good one. I needed to laugh and that made my day. I keep in shape through partying and playing dancing games on my XBOX, and my rigid diet of cereal and vodka keeps me in tip top shape so that I can keep playing well. Oh man, working out, that’s a great one.
A: So what’s your pregame ritual? I’m curious about that at least since you seem to be so laid back and more sedentary.
T: You can say “lazy” or “slacker”, I’m used to those terms and they don’t really affect me anymore to be fair. I mean nothing overly crazy like some of my teammates, like have you seen Chip Otle? That dude is a psycho. Basically I take a nice nap pre-game to make sure I’m rested up for the affair. My teammates know not to wake me up before then otherwise it’s going to get ugly. I’ll wake up from my nap like 5 minutes before game time and I’ll do some stretches and then usually run out onto the field and just do my thing.
A: What about post game rituals?
T: I’ll shower like right after the game, I’m lazy not gross. Usually post-shower I’ll do my round of mandatory post game interviews and then I’ll eat some cereal in the meal prep area of the locker room. After that usually it’s checking twitter and catching up on messages and then going out and partying after the game with my teammates.
A: Alright so let’s talk about your rivalry with Myrtle Beach tight end Leon McDavid. You two are pretty well linked together and I’m curious to see if that’s actually true that you’re rivals or if the relationship is more dynamic than that.
T: Leon is pretty cool, I like him a lot. As for the rivalry thing, it’s more friendly than anything. Like how you compete with your best friends in Madden or FIFA or something. We motivate each other to keep going and trying to improve even if we go about it in different ways. He’s more based on fundamentals and I’m more based around having fun, different strokes for different folks, ya know? But he’s a great guy, whoever drafts him will be lucky to have him. I’m not used to talking this long, can we watch Netflix or something?
A: If that’s what you want to do we can do it.
Placing ourselves on the couch we sit down to binge the entire first season of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and after the third episode Tree gets a call from her GM in Kansas City. Starboy asks her how the workouts are going and if she’s staying in shape to which Gelbman assures she is (accompanied by some fake heavy breathing to sell the effect) after which she hangs up the phone, throws the phone on the couch and winks at me and goes “Hook, line and sinker baby. Hook, line, and sinker.” One season of Netflix later Gelbman looks at the time and suggests that we probably leave for the draft now to beat the traffic.
I brought one of my nicest dresses for this occasion and Gelbman comes down from her room in a long sleeve Dumpstaphunk shirt and leggings and pauses to examine both of our outfits and shrugging. We pile into the limo sent by Kansas City to bring us to the draft and we depart for the draft hall, surrounded by Gelbman’s friends and family, all of whom seem to be the polar opposite of her personality wise. The entire limo is bumping up and down save for Gelbman who is just sitting in the corner by herself on her phone tweeting the entire time. After our commute we get to the draft hall where everyone climbs out and heads inside to await the results.
As the rounds tick on, Gelbman’s family seems to be panicking as her name has not been called just yet, but if Gelbman is bothered she is not showcasing that fact. She remains stoic as ever as she eats the cereal that she smuggled into the draft in her purse while players all around her get taken and go up to take their photos and celebrate. Finally, at the end of the 5th round, the Austin Copperheads get up on stage and make their announcement, “With the 50th overall pick in the NSFL Entry Draft, the Austin Copperheads select Tree Gelbman, Tight End from the Kansas City Coyotes.” Gelbman looks up from her bowl of cereal and sighs, almost as if annoyed she has to leave the cereal behind and go take a photo, and she gets up and walks on stage to go greet her new team for the first time.
After the excitement of the draft winds down and I do a few short interviews with a bunch of random players that happen to walk by, Gelbman finally exits after her forced media interactions that I know that she loves so much. She looks at me and waves, then sees another reporter coming at her to ask her a few questions and she starts sprinting towards me and out the door into the limo while shouting “FOLLOW ME.”
One harrowing dive into a limo later and one normal limo ride back to her house, we depart in for our final round of interviews for the night. Gelbman pours herself another bowl of cereal and a glass of vodka and sits down at the kitchen table.
Anastasia: So, you’ve finally be drafted and this day is all over. How are you feeling now?
Tree: Feels pretty good I guess, wasn’t a high draft pick that I don’t really care too much about to be honest. I’m just happy that I’m making the league. Austin just won the title so the allure of competing for another title fairly soon is pretty interesting.
A: Your friend Leon McDavid went in the 2nd round, 12th overall to the San Jose Sabercats, any thoughts or comments on that?
T: Leon is a stud player, San Jose got a real threat for that offense and that’s going to be huge for them for years to come. Going to be exciting to see how much damage he can cause at the next level.
A: So, from what initial reports say, you’ll likely be spending another season down in the DSFL. What are your thoughts on that?
T: I’m not opposed to it. It makes sense since I can definitely improve more on my game and I’m looking forward to it. Kansas City has a solid group of players and I’ve heard that some of the rookies they’re looking at are seriously impactful.
A: So what now Tree? You going to party now? Staying in for the night? What’s next now that you’ve been drafted and the night is all over?
T: Hell yeah I’m gonna go party right now, that’s what I live for. I don’t know if I’m going to go balls to the wall crazy tonight, but I’m going to be going hard. Feel free to tag along, if you can keep up.
A: Let’s go then.
And party we did, but I don’t know if Tree would want those details public. And that’s a day in the life of Tree Gelbman on her pre-draft day affairs. Hopefully you all enjoyed it, and thanks for reading.
(1992 Words)
By: Anastasia Firestone
As part of my work for the Jim Phillips News, one of the things we have the opportunity to do is hang out with draft interview candidates for the National Simulation Football League Draft the day of the affair and just see how they go about the entire ordeal. I’ve done it a few years past, but I’ve never really been attached to a prospect that I thought had the chance to become a true legend of the sport. This year, I feel like that’s going to finally change. I was given the opportunity to shadow one of the top tight end prospects in this years draft, Tree Gelbman. Gelbman interested me, coming from the little known University of Bayfield and made herself noticed lurking around with the other rookies before Kansas City took a chance on her in the 12th round. She would go on to finish 2nd in DSFL TE of the Year voting and be considered one of the top tight end prospects in the entire draft. And now I got to spend an entire day with her.
I arrived at Gelbman’s house promptly at 9:30AM as per our email chain and knocked on the door. When she opened the door at 10:15AM it was a pleasant surprise as I figured I would likely have been out there for another 45 minutes before she finally woke up. After exchanging pleasantries we had a brief interview over breakfast:
Anastasia: So Tree, how do you feel about potentially getting drafted into the National Simulation Football League?”
Tree: It’s alright, I guess. I did pretty well in the DSFL so far, I’m ready to show the big boys what I can do.
A: You finished second in voting for Tight End of the Year in the DSFL, do you think you’ll be able to achieve similar results in the next level?
T: Yeah I guess I can, I don’t know. I’m going to try and do my best to achieve these results but I can’t exactly make any promises cause like, if my quarterback doesn’t throw my way I can’t, but I think I’ve got the talent to become an amazing player.
A: So, say you make the league out of the draft, what’s the first thing you’re buying?
T: Probably more cereal, considering I *long burp* just ran out of this stuff and this was my last box. I guess like, a nice car or something. Can we pause this interview I kinda need a nap I just woke up.
A: Absolutely. We can continue later.
I plunk myself down on Gelbman’s couch and starting writing down my notes about this person. In my head I was thinking “This is one of the top tight end prospects in the draft?” It didn’t make sense to me, but then again I’m not a NSFL scout so I can only comment so much. Taking a look around the house, I get a sense of her lifestyle. Empty cereal boxes pile in the garbage that have yet to be taken to the curb, a gym set in the house that has nothing but laundry and various hats hung on them, showcasing that the slacker lifestyle can yield positive results I guess.
Gelbman wakes up from her nap at roughly 2:00PM and heads back into the kitchen to grab more cereal for herself and after about five minutes she beckons me over to continue the interview
Tree: Sorry about that one, wound up partying super hard last night and I’m still feeling it this morning. Sometimes it feels like I’m reliving the same day over and over again.
Anastasia: Not a problem at all Tree, so I guess I want to know, what’s your day to day routine like?
T: Well, you’re kinda seeing it. I’ll party most nights until like, 5AM. After I’m done partying I’ll come home and sleep until about 2PM. I’ll sit on my couch and watch Netflix in my pajamas most of the day and eat cereal until it’s time to go out and party again. Occasionally my boyfriend Carter comes over but then all that changes is that I add another person to that daily routine.
A: I see. What sort of activities are you doing to stay in shape? Do you work out in the gym with the team or something along those lines?
T: *long burp* Working out with my teammates in the gym oh man that’s a good one. I needed to laugh and that made my day. I keep in shape through partying and playing dancing games on my XBOX, and my rigid diet of cereal and vodka keeps me in tip top shape so that I can keep playing well. Oh man, working out, that’s a great one.
A: So what’s your pregame ritual? I’m curious about that at least since you seem to be so laid back and more sedentary.
T: You can say “lazy” or “slacker”, I’m used to those terms and they don’t really affect me anymore to be fair. I mean nothing overly crazy like some of my teammates, like have you seen Chip Otle? That dude is a psycho. Basically I take a nice nap pre-game to make sure I’m rested up for the affair. My teammates know not to wake me up before then otherwise it’s going to get ugly. I’ll wake up from my nap like 5 minutes before game time and I’ll do some stretches and then usually run out onto the field and just do my thing.
A: What about post game rituals?
T: I’ll shower like right after the game, I’m lazy not gross. Usually post-shower I’ll do my round of mandatory post game interviews and then I’ll eat some cereal in the meal prep area of the locker room. After that usually it’s checking twitter and catching up on messages and then going out and partying after the game with my teammates.
A: Alright so let’s talk about your rivalry with Myrtle Beach tight end Leon McDavid. You two are pretty well linked together and I’m curious to see if that’s actually true that you’re rivals or if the relationship is more dynamic than that.
T: Leon is pretty cool, I like him a lot. As for the rivalry thing, it’s more friendly than anything. Like how you compete with your best friends in Madden or FIFA or something. We motivate each other to keep going and trying to improve even if we go about it in different ways. He’s more based on fundamentals and I’m more based around having fun, different strokes for different folks, ya know? But he’s a great guy, whoever drafts him will be lucky to have him. I’m not used to talking this long, can we watch Netflix or something?
A: If that’s what you want to do we can do it.
Placing ourselves on the couch we sit down to binge the entire first season of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and after the third episode Tree gets a call from her GM in Kansas City. Starboy asks her how the workouts are going and if she’s staying in shape to which Gelbman assures she is (accompanied by some fake heavy breathing to sell the effect) after which she hangs up the phone, throws the phone on the couch and winks at me and goes “Hook, line and sinker baby. Hook, line, and sinker.” One season of Netflix later Gelbman looks at the time and suggests that we probably leave for the draft now to beat the traffic.
I brought one of my nicest dresses for this occasion and Gelbman comes down from her room in a long sleeve Dumpstaphunk shirt and leggings and pauses to examine both of our outfits and shrugging. We pile into the limo sent by Kansas City to bring us to the draft and we depart for the draft hall, surrounded by Gelbman’s friends and family, all of whom seem to be the polar opposite of her personality wise. The entire limo is bumping up and down save for Gelbman who is just sitting in the corner by herself on her phone tweeting the entire time. After our commute we get to the draft hall where everyone climbs out and heads inside to await the results.
As the rounds tick on, Gelbman’s family seems to be panicking as her name has not been called just yet, but if Gelbman is bothered she is not showcasing that fact. She remains stoic as ever as she eats the cereal that she smuggled into the draft in her purse while players all around her get taken and go up to take their photos and celebrate. Finally, at the end of the 5th round, the Austin Copperheads get up on stage and make their announcement, “With the 50th overall pick in the NSFL Entry Draft, the Austin Copperheads select Tree Gelbman, Tight End from the Kansas City Coyotes.” Gelbman looks up from her bowl of cereal and sighs, almost as if annoyed she has to leave the cereal behind and go take a photo, and she gets up and walks on stage to go greet her new team for the first time.
After the excitement of the draft winds down and I do a few short interviews with a bunch of random players that happen to walk by, Gelbman finally exits after her forced media interactions that I know that she loves so much. She looks at me and waves, then sees another reporter coming at her to ask her a few questions and she starts sprinting towards me and out the door into the limo while shouting “FOLLOW ME.”
One harrowing dive into a limo later and one normal limo ride back to her house, we depart in for our final round of interviews for the night. Gelbman pours herself another bowl of cereal and a glass of vodka and sits down at the kitchen table.
Anastasia: So, you’ve finally be drafted and this day is all over. How are you feeling now?
Tree: Feels pretty good I guess, wasn’t a high draft pick that I don’t really care too much about to be honest. I’m just happy that I’m making the league. Austin just won the title so the allure of competing for another title fairly soon is pretty interesting.
A: Your friend Leon McDavid went in the 2nd round, 12th overall to the San Jose Sabercats, any thoughts or comments on that?
T: Leon is a stud player, San Jose got a real threat for that offense and that’s going to be huge for them for years to come. Going to be exciting to see how much damage he can cause at the next level.
A: So, from what initial reports say, you’ll likely be spending another season down in the DSFL. What are your thoughts on that?
T: I’m not opposed to it. It makes sense since I can definitely improve more on my game and I’m looking forward to it. Kansas City has a solid group of players and I’ve heard that some of the rookies they’re looking at are seriously impactful.
A: So what now Tree? You going to party now? Staying in for the night? What’s next now that you’ve been drafted and the night is all over?
T: Hell yeah I’m gonna go party right now, that’s what I live for. I don’t know if I’m going to go balls to the wall crazy tonight, but I’m going to be going hard. Feel free to tag along, if you can keep up.
A: Let’s go then.
And party we did, but I don’t know if Tree would want those details public. And that’s a day in the life of Tree Gelbman on her pre-draft day affairs. Hopefully you all enjoyed it, and thanks for reading.
(1992 Words)
"You relieve the same day over and over again, you kind of start to see who you really are."