Tanner Kurtzweg '17 Recruiting Profile

    I would love to play college football. I don't want to hang up the pads in a couple years when my high school career is over. I have a 3.8 cumulative GPA. I am the leader for the line at my school and I am a two-year starter on varsity at my high school. I have been in basketball and baseball as well, but this year I am not in basketball because of an injury I had in football. I chose to miss out on a month of basketball so I could recover fully to be able to get into the weight room again for football, but now I'm back playing. Once I did get back in the weight room I broke all my lifting maxes and have continued to grow. Before my injury I could only squat 405 and bench 205; now that has changed. I have played everywhere on the defensive line and offensive line, except center. I enjoy playing defense more than offense, but I think I'm more capable of being an offensive lineman. I have been trained more as an offensive lineman and it is enjoyable for me. I am in the weight room Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings, also every day after school. The days I can't go in to the weight room after school, I'm outside doing sprints up my hill in my backyard or going for a 2-mile run out to my grandparents' and back. I try to stay very active all day. 
    I'm planning to help my dad, Gary, with construction jobs this summer. He wants me to learn what a manual labor job is like, so I learn if I study hard and use my education, I can get a better job. My dad didn't play college ball so he is very supportive of my playing college ball. My mom, Karen, supports me in the academic field. She is an accountant and knows how important computers are. She encourages me towards a major as a computer engineer and programming fields because she knows how much that knowledge is needed within companies. That is the reason I want to major in computer engineering and programming, and I also enjoy a good video game every now and then.
    I would be dedicated to playing football year 'round if I could. I play other sports because some aspects of the other sports help with football, whether that be the short sprints from running up and down the basketball court or running the bases in baseball. Baseball also helps by catching a fly ball in the outfield in a dead sprint or keeping a low center of gravity to pitch the ball faster. All these help me with my stance and stamina for football. Football is my favorite sport to play and I don't want to hang up the pads forever when high school is over.