Diamond In The Rough: Aiden Brink

Aiden Brink is a class of 2022 offensive lineman for Sioux Falls’ Washington High School in Sioux Falls, SD. As someone that played varsity and went to the state championship their freshman year, Aiden knows how to put in work and what it takes to be the best. This work ethic is not only shown on the field, but in the classroom too with an impressive 3.5 GPA. Standing at 6’4” 285lbs, Aiden is a force to be reckoned with and provides a wall of protection for his QB, making him apart of the 2020 South Dakota 11AAA All-State team.

Click here to watch Aiden’s highlights.

What did football teach you about yourself of life once you began playing? Even when it gets hard, say we are doing conditioning, you just have to keep going no matter what because it will get better. It has taught me to keep that same mentality in school and life in general even without football.

Who or what has been your biggest motivation or role model in the sport? My dad because he played football at South Dakota State University. It was really cool being able to watch his game film and seeing how I should play by being aggressive.

What is your favorite memory while playing the sport? It was a big moment for me going into my freshman year of high school, I was a lot bigger than all of the other freshman because I was 6’3” 230 lbs. as a freshman and our head coach came over to me after one of our first summer practices and told me I would be playing on varsity. That was probably one of my biggest moments of my high school career.

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Are you involved with any other sports or activities at school besides football and if so, how do you think those experiences have helped you on the football field? I’m involved in powerlifting and track and field. Powerlifting helps with getting us stronger. Our powerlifting coach is probably one of the best around, he pushes us to the very max. I also throw discus and I think it helps me stay loose during springtime so when football comes back around, we’ll be in top shape.

Outside of sports do you have any hobbies or passions that you do in your free time and what about them do you enjoy the most? In my free time I’m mainly hunting or fishing. It’s South Dakota, we don’t have the ocean or all these big cities, so you have to find ways to have fun. With fishing there’s really not much you can compare it to, just being outside and having a good time with your buddies. The same goes with hunting, you can have fun with family, friends, just about anyone you want.

Do you have a favorite athlete, college or NFL, that you look up to? Calvin Johnson used to be a good one for me and Taylor Lewan the left tackle for the Tennessee Titans. I love how aggressive he is, and his style of play is just unmatched.

For the 2021 season coming up have you set any personal goals and has your team set any specific goals for the season? Some of my personal goals is to be a better leader, on and off the field. Some of our goals as a team, obviously, is to win a state championship. A couple years ago we had a 3 peat and I believe we are number one in the nation as far as teams with the most state championships.

What’s some advice you would give to younger players that want to play high school football one day? There may be a lot of screaming and yelling and fast pace environment, but you’ll get used to it and have a blast. If you have the attitude of wanting to put in work, you’ll be fine.

This past season was obviously very different with all of the Covid restrictions. What adjustments did your team have to make and how were you all able to overcome that? We still had our regular season in the fall. We only had one or two games that were cancelled or postponed due to Covid. So, it didn’t really hit us extremely hard. We took all of the precautions and were wearing masks everywhere we went. We wanted that season so we did everything and anything we could keep that season on.

Finally, what do you believe is the most rewarding part about playing the sport and being part of a team? Definitely the relationships that you gain. I still talk to some of the senior players when I was a freshman, the ones that took me under their wing. That’s what I’ve gotten the most from, who you can become and who you can be friends with. Also getting to the state championship my freshman year was pretty fun.