Energetic. Impulsive. Loving. When Gabe Roloff was asked for three words to describe himself these are the three he said. To understand these words we have to dive deeper into what Roloff likes to do beyond the jersey. Photography is a massive passion that he has, a passion instilled into him by his grandpa. He reminiscenced on the moment of his grandpa showing him photos of the Himalayans and how it was at the moment he knew he too wanted to capture beauty like that. Roloff's graduation present was a camera and there would be the starting point of his photography journey. What he loves to capture specifically is people's rawness. He mentioned his favorite pictures he ever took being the ones he did at his brother and sister-in-laws engagement. He talked about how it was in a snowy environment and just the beauty he was able to capture in the image of two people.




The first word he used was energetic when it came to describing himself. Roloff mentioned how he had always been a big ball of energy ever since he was a small child. He then stated something that was practically profound. When asked about why he might be so energetic he said, "I just love to live life and I am always just excited to try new things and meet new people, since I have always been really relational."



Roloff then used the word Impulsive, and that was a bit of surprise since usually that word is talked about most commonly in a negative light for the most part. It was interesting however because he really talked about it both in a good and in a bad light. This impulsive attitude definitely goes alongside energetic and he mentioned how sometimes he tends to do too much before thinking. 



The last word he gave was loving. He had always been a loving person weather that is to his friends, family, teammates, teachers, or even strangers he sees in his day to day life. Roloff has always been a relational person who is very down to earth and just wants to be friends with all sorts of people.



I ended this interview by asking Roloff, "Who are you beyond the jersey?" He smiled and said, "Dang, that's a hard question." After a moment of silence he answered by talking about how many people tend to have these expectations or pre-notions on athletes and whether or not they are true or realistic. One that he mentioned he often hears is how athletes are cocky, he thinks they are just more confident in their sport than cocky. He then concluded our interview by saying how he wants others to know how much he loves people and wants to learn about others. Roloff also wants others to know how seriously he takes his faith with God and how Christ is very important especially when in times of hardships. He mentioned the time during his freshman year when he broke his leg and it was at that moment he said, "You realize how quickly things can be given, and taken away from you." Despite all of these hardships in life, he keeps his eyes on God and always seeks to grow meaningful relationships beyond the jersey.