Interview with NFL star
Football export Bernhard Raimann on a visit home
Bernhard Raimann is causing a sensation in the US professional football league NFL. In the past season, he was the second-best player in the league at his position of offensive tackle in the regular season. During his brief visit home, the "Krone" met him and his wife Calli for a chat about football, status symbols, dogs, rabbits and hedgehogs.
When you stand opposite Bernhard Raimann, you don't realize it. That the man with his two-meter height and 145 kilos fighting weight is one of the best football players on the planet. Austria's star player in the National Football League, the US professional league NFL, has remained so gentle and down to earth. Where he caused a sensation in his second professional year with the Indianapolis Colts.
His position in the offensive line is not one where you throw spectacular passes or score the decisive points. "I'm there to protect the quarterback. It's a position of pure selflessness," is how he describes his role in the team - after six years in the USA - in accent-free German.
His wife Calli tells us what makes the 26-year-old, who once started his now successful career in the Vienna Vikings youth team, tick. "He's so different from us Americans in many ways. When I go shopping, I'm used to taking large packs. He always says that we should only take what we need right now," smiles the former pole vaulter.
She met her red-white-red sweetheart at Central Michigan University when she helped her brother rescue a lost hedgehog from the dormitory. They were married in Vienna the previous year. The two live in "Indi", as they call the city of Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, with their dog "Dex" and rabbit "Cooper".
Without star airs and graces. And without a Ferrari or Porsche in the driveway. "I treated myself to a big car because we need the space, but I don't care what brand name is on it," says the native Viennese. Who spent Easter with his wife looking for Easter eggs in his grandmother's garden.
The family is Bernhard's haven of peace
During the season, he is constantly traveling by plane across the USA to the games. In between, he trains. His family is his place of strength. "Our everyday life is very stressful, very well-paced. When I'm at home, I like to spend time with Calli and our animals." As a former athlete, his wife understands his job and the sacrifices involved very well. "Important," he knows.
During the nine-day visit home, he also enjoys meeting up with former teammates such as Aleksandar Milanovic. And wife Calli is proud of her Bernhard: "Usually only star quarterbacks get this kind of hype." Raimann is also a star. One of the gentle and selfless kind.
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