Stephen Holder | IndyStar

IndyStar Colts Insider Stephen Holder will talk with a member of the team each week for a wide-ranging, offbeat conversation that sheds light on his personality, background and interests.

This week: rookie linebacker Tarell Basham.

Question: I can only go by what I read in your bio, but it says there you had perfect attendance in high school. True or false?

Answer: Maybe I had perfect attendance or maybe they just never marked me absent (laughs). It was one of the two. All right, that question has popped up before. Yes, I did have perfect attendance in high school. But that was only my freshman year. But it was perfect attendance, and I was in high school – for one year. I knew a long time ago that couldn’t be right because, my senior year, they said you could miss up to five days and before we even got to senior skip day, I had already missed five days. And I still skipped! But, hey, everything worked out.

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Q: What were your favorite and least favorite subjects in school?

A: Entrepreneurship, which I took in college, would probably be my favorite class. I used to love my business classes in college. And my worst subject was science. I am no good at science. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take a single science class in college. I knew I hated it back in high school. I said, “If I sign up for a science class, I’ll just fail it.” Science is not my thing.

Q: When you were growing up, who were your favorite football players?

A: Well, the guy who made me want to play football is Ricky Williams. I wanted to be a running back. I was a Dolphins fan as a kid, so I saw him get a dreadlock pulled out and continue to run for a touchdown. I was like, “That’s it! I’m a running back. Let’s do this.” I was 8. But my coaches were thinking something different. They were like, “Nope.” They put me on offensive line/defensive line.

Q: Did that make playing football a little less exciting?

A: It humbled me, that’s for sure. I thought I was going to be a hero, out there scoring touchdowns. Then I got out there and I was playing on the line. I played left tackle and nose guard.

Q: So, was Ricky Williams the only guy you followed closely?

A: Well, him and Michael Vick. I’m from Virginia, so he’s a big deal. He’s from Newport (News) and I’m from Roanoke.

Q: Your bio also says you’re a big soccer fan. Or is that not true, either?

A: No, I am. When I was a kid, I got a FIFA (video) game and me and my buddies played it all the time. So, I started loving soccer. Then, I started getting into the actual players and following them. And now, I watch it all the time. I’m a huge soccer fan.

Q: What’s your favorite club?

A: FC Barcelona. I like (Paris Saint-Germain). And I like Brazil’s national team.

Q: So, how is real life going for you? You’re a rookie in a new city and on your own. Do you clean the house? Cook?

A: Well, I have a fiancée and she’s taking care of all that. It’s been great. She’s let me just focus on football. When I get home, she’s got everything taken care of. She’s already cleaned and she’ll cook or make sure I eat.

Q: Are you a picky eater? And does she get annoyed by that?

A: I’m kind of a picky eater, actually. She works around it. She knows what I don’t like. There’s not too many things I don’t like. It’s just that some of the things I don’t like go in a lot of things.

Q: Such as?

A: Well, I don’t like tomatoes. I like ketchup but I don’t like tomatoes. It doesn’t make sense, I know, but I don’t like the consistency. You bite into a tomato and it’s juicy, but it’s not sweet. When I bite into something juicy, I expect it to taste like a fruit.

Q: Speaking of which, is a tomato a fruit or a vegetable?

A: It’s a veggie. Or, is it?