Triple threat: Seeman is active in football, dance and skateboarding

Published 6:16 pm Wednesday, September 20, 2017

You never know just where you might find Joe Seeman.

You might see him on stage at the Mower County Fair performing an award winning tap dance to routine to the music  of Elvis Presley, or you could see him at the Austin skate park shredding some pavement. This fall, you can find Seeman on the football field with the Austin Packers and if you do, it probably won’t take very long for you to hear his name called on the loud speaker.

Seeman, a junior, took a year of from football last season, but he’s back with the Packers this fall and he’s had a huge impact with his speed and physicality for a team that is off to a 2-1 overall start.

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“He’s a great athlete and everything he does, he’s good at,” Austin head football coach Brett Vesel said. “It would’ve been nice to have him last year, but I was happy to have him back out this year.”

Austin running back Joe Seeman breaks around a block during the second quarter against Rochester Mayo during the season opener at Art Hass Stadium. Herald file photo

Seeman has been a hard-hitting force at linebacker as he’s stepped up as one of Austin’s leading tacklers and he’s also ran for 234 yards (6.3 per carry) and three touchdowns as a running back.

“I just like to hit people,” Seeman said. “I’ve enjoyed [this season] a lot. We have a lot of things to clean up after the Owatonna game, but we’ll get better. We’re more experienced than last year and I joined a great team. I think we’re going to have a winning season this year.”

When Seeman is lighting up opponents on the football field, it’s unlikely that they know anything about his background in dance or skateboarding.

Seeman has skateboarded for nine years and he’s been involved in dance for 11 years. He performs his routines with his brother Levi for the Jane Taylor Dance Academy. The brothers also have routines that include a dance line of female dancers on stage with them.

“Dancing is really fun and we’ll probably keep doing that until our senior year,” Seeman said. “It’s exciting and sometimes people are surprised to see guys in dance.”

Seeman is highly passionate about sports and he said he’d like to be an athletic trainer in the future. He likes being a well-rounded athlete and said he’s gained some quickness from staying active in dance and skateboarding.

Austin running back Joe Seeman rumbles through the Owatonna defense in the first quarter last week.
Herald file photo

“I think both have helped me with my agility for football,” Seeman said. “The basic mind sets of all of these things are great attributes to have in life.“

Seeman was quiet and he mostly kept to himself in his freshman season with the Packer football team, but he’s starting to open up and make a few more friends on the squad this season. Austin senior linebacker Kaden Igou said Seeman has earned his respect on and off the field.

“He’s a really nice kid, he’s a great player and he’s a nice teammate to have. We feed off each other and we’re pushing each other to get better,” Igou said. “I think it’s cool that he’s more than just [a football player] and he’s involved in more than just one sport. He’s out there doing dance, football, skateboarding and parkour. He does all of that stuff and he’s an active guy. He doesn’t just sit around.”

Vesel said that Seeman stood out on the football field ever since he showed up at a summer camp right before his freshman season.

“I knew when he was in ninth grade that he was a great athlete. He’s athletic, competitive, he’s a really nice kid and he’s really coachable. You could tell as a ninth grader that he was special,” Vesel said. “He’s like a truck. He’s as physical of a kid that we’ve ever had and he’s starting to pick it up.”

Seeman has played very confidently this season and he said it didn’t take him very long to get back in the groove when he got back on the football field this fall.

“I think in the first day of practice I was rusty, but it’s kind of like riding a bicycle,” Seeman said.

The Packers will play at Faribault (0-3 overall) Friday at 7 p.m. and they will host Northfield for their homecoming game Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.