How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
"I like to have some beverages, and I'm more of a pie guy than ice cream or cake. My favorite is probably apple pie. Although, things will be tamer now that I have a kid so it might be a little more muted than normal. I'm getting old so there's nothing much to celebrate at this point."
Where are you originally from?
"I lived there for the first five or six years of my life, and I remember there would be four or five feet of snow for Halloween so I would say, 'Merry Christmas' to everyone instead of 'Trick or Treat' which is always a fond memory every time I go back. I lived in Wisconsin the rest of my childhood and I live in Illinois in the offseason, so I'm used to cold weather, but I forget it gets exponentially colder in the winter in Minnesota than those other states, at least where we grew up."
Who was your favorite athlete when your growing up?
"Growing up I was a big Barry Sanders fan. I don't know why. There's nothing I could really learn from him, there's nothing I could do athletically that he could do, so it was kind of pointless, but my family grew up in that area so we would always watch him. We've also got about six or seven guys on our team that are pretty exciting to watch. I think it's pretty fun watching Tyler Lockett. You first see him, and you play against him for a couple years and you're like 'He's a smaller guy, I don't know how he does it,' and you see him out on the field and you're thinking 'This is incredible.' It's just the stuff that he's able to do and the catches he makes that look pretty routine. He amazes you on an everyday basis, but you could fill that with DK or any of those guys."
Do you have any teammates that you admire or look up to?
"I would say what's really incredible is Russ's focus and how locked in and dialed in he is at all times to be the best quarterback, best leader, and best player he can be for the team. It's pretty astonishing how consistent he is and every day you know exactly what you're going to get from him."
What is one of your favorite football memories?
"It was really fun coming here and getting into the playoffs for the first time. I had barely been on winning teams before coming here, so that was awesome. It was pretty cool when Marshawn (Lynch) came back and hearing the crowd the first time a couple years back. Just being in the stadium when he came out was pretty incredible because I knew it would be wild, but I didn't anticipate it would be quite like it was."
What do you want people to remember about Nick Bellore?
"I think the biggest thing I want is the respect of my peers that I played with. I think all of us play the game for different reasons, but at the end of the day, we want the guys that we line up with to appreciate what we do and value us not only in the locker room but on the field. As long as I have my teammates respect, that's all I really care about."
Do you have any hobbies?
"I would say golfing but I'm pretty terrible at it. But I try to attempt it every once in a while. And it's not much of a hobby but having a little one at home is a full-time gig. He's at the age where he's moving around the house so it's basically just grabbing him and trying to prevent him from putting his finger in a socket or jumping off of something. It keeps me agile because I have to jump and run after him all the time."
What would you be doing if you didn't play in the NFL?
"I played a little hockey growing up. I wish I could've been a better skater, but I always enjoyed that sport growing up. I think if I could have played in the NHL that would have been pretty cool, but I'll take this gig. This has worked out all right."
What is one of your favorite vacation spots?
"My in-laws have a lake house up north in Michigan and that's always nice to get up there and relax. I'd say that. It's just nice, relaxing, lake-living so that's always fun."
What's something you enjoy doing during the off season?
"I try to hop on with people that have boats. That's the way to do it. I won't get one myself, but I will freeload as much as I can."
What are you playing on your gameday playlist?
"I'm a big Led Zeppelin fan, but I like it all really. Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Black Sabbath, all that kind of stuff."
What is your go to meal?
"I've been trying to lay off it but I'm a pizza guy. I live in Chicago in the offseason and my neighbors just sent me a Lou Malnati's pizza so after the game I had to eat that, but I'm getting old, and the metabolism is slowing down so I have to limit that when I can."
