Blake Bortles Caves In, Shaves Head
2018 “Blake of the Year” winner Blake Bortles has made a monumental decision before the NFL season gets started.
He shaved his head.
First reports of this news came on last Friday’s episode, when Bortles’ Los Angeles Rams quarterback counterpart, Jared Goff, alerted Pardon My Take hosts Big Cat and PFT Commenter of the news.
“Blake shaved his head,” said Goff, who is coming off a Super Bowl appearance in which the Rams fell to the Patriots 13-3. “It’s like baby peach fuzz right now. He looks like young Jason Statham.”
Mr. Cat, who along with Mr. Commenter were ranked No. 2 on “The Big Lead’s 40 Under 40: Sports Media Talents 2019” list, had no choice but to follow up with the BOAT on today’s episode.
“This is jarring,” Mr. Cat said. “We’ve kind of pushed you towards this for years now, and then all of a sudden, what happened? You just woke up and you’re like ‘today’s the day, I embrace being a bald guy?’”
The former UCF Knight (a team coming off its second straight National Championship) gunslinger admitted opinions from others had some influence on his decision.
“I never thought me shaving my head would attract so much attention, but it was kind of like a combination of things,” said Bortles, who conducted the interview live from his Tesla, Tatiana. “I’ve been getting some peer pressure from [Andrew Whitworth] and some fellow baldies.”
People forget Bortles took the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game just two years ago and was a mere drive away from leading the team to a Super Bowl appearance.
So, what has the reaction been since making the move and how does Bortles himself feel? He’s adjusting and feeling things are moving in the right direction.
“It’s been kind of a mixed bag. Some guys like it, a lot of people are saying I have to grow out the beard, so I think that might be the next move,” Bortles said. “I feel more aerodynamic, I feel I’m moving better, so it’s definitely helping me there.”
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With the way technology is advancing in today’s society, Mr. Commenter questioned a valid concern. He asked if Bortles has had any issues with facial recognition software identifying him when he holds his phone up with the new look.
“No, that was actually the first thing I thought of, too,” the third-place finisher in the 2019 Blake of the Year competition said. “The scariest thing was I got at practice looking down on the ground and seeing my shadow that just looks like a thumb.”
Each of the podcast hosts and Bortles, a recurring guest on the show, summed up Blake’s decision to shave his head and spotlighted on the positives that came out of it.
That list included the ability to take quicker showers and not having to spend money on shampoo.
When asked by Mr. Commenter about Bortles’ confidence out of this monumental event, Bortles didn’t hesitate.
“You think it’s New Year, New Blake, New Hair?” – Mr. Commenter
“Yeah, it was definitely a long time coming. Time to just embrace it.” – Bortles
With just more than two weeks until the Rams kick off their season against the Carolina Panthers, Mr. Cat posed an important question about starting quarterback Jared Goff’s job security.
“Is Jared worried about his job now? Because you’re a new guy. He had Blake, the puke in my mouth guy show up,” Mr. Cat said. “Now it’s Blake ‘Jason Statham’, wow he looks so hot, he might take my job.”
“Yeah, I would say more so than taking his job, there’s more of a chance of us getting on the field at the same time for a trick play,” Bortles said.
You can listen to the full interview with Bortles and today’s full Pardon My Take episode here.