Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz tee up in-depth interviews with golf ’s biggest personalities each week on “Subpar.” Up next: Former NFL great Anquan Boldin.
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Colt Knost: How’s your golf game when you get to tee it up?
Anquan Boldin: It’s decent. With the pandemic, I haven’t played as much as I’d like to. But, hopefully, that’ll kick back up.
Drew Stoltz: Larry Fitzgerald’s a big golfer. When you were both in Arizona playing [football], were you guys getting out [on the course] a little bit?
Boldin: While I was playing [for the Cardinals], I absolutely played zero golf. Only thing I did in the off-season was play basketball and box a little bit. I didn’t start picking up golf until the latter part of my career.
Stoltz: So where we at right now, handicap-wise? You go out, you have a good day — where do we stand?
Boldin: [Laughs] If I go, I’m losing a lotta balls.
Stoltz: Okay. You’re not the only one.
Boldin: I’m not one of those guys who takes it too serious. Going out to the golf course is, for me, just having fun.
Knost: Let’s talk a little football. This [past] season, Aaron Rodgers made a lot of highlights when he said “I own you” to the Chicago Bears. Who did Anquan Boldin own on the field? Who was the guy who lined up across from you and you were like, “Oh, this is about to be good”?
Aaron Rodgers Q&A: The face (and arm) of the Green Bay Packers has a passion for the game — golf, that is
Boldin: Everybody. [Laughs] Nah. Playing in Arizona for seven years, when we played the Rams, I always looked forward to that. You knew it was a 100-yard day, at least. Then when I got to Baltimore, the Browns [were] a team I always loved playing — except in Cleveland in, like, December or January. I remember one game the wind was so bad, for two quarters we could not throw the ball.
Stoltz: Bet that was a fun game for you.
Boldin: Fun for our running back.
Stoltz: You haven’t been outta the NFL that long, but the way it’s changed, with all the rules [about limiting violent contact] — I mean, you were a big, physical receiver. If you started your career now…
Boldin: I would hate it. I watch football now and, like, the fun is being taken out. If I were playing today [with the player fines for illegal contact], I would probably be playing for free.
Stoltz: Last question. You ever catch a rabbit growing up? [In the sugarcane fields of Boldin’s hometown, Pahokee,
Fla., rabbits are rampant.]
Boldin: Oh yeah.
Stoltz: It seems impossible.
Boldin: Here’s the thing: Rabbits can’t run for that long.
Stoltz: Could they run long enough to get away from us?
Knost: Definitely from me.
This Q&A originally appeared in the March 2022 issue of GOLF Magazine. Edited and condensed for clarity from the original podcast.
