Throwing pots: Cardinals rookie mauler Tip Reiman an artist at heart
May 12, 2024, 10:03 AM | Updated: May 14, 2024, 5:26 pm
TEMPE — When you self-proclaim yourself as a mauler, most people probably think your hobbies revolve around head-banging heavy metal rock or axe throwing.
But for Arizona Cardinals rookie tight end and willing people mover Tip Reiman, his time spent away from the field includes a hobby that is about the furthest thing from violent.
“If I have my pottery wheel with me, I do pottery,” Reiman said Thursday ahead of rookie minicamp. “I throw a lot of pots. Both of my sisters’ wedding gifts were like sets of plates and bowls and mugs and all that. I like to do that stuff just for people.”
“It is (contradictory). I feel like there’s two sides of the coin,” the tight end added. “I feel like the gentleness and kindness are attributes I have to pursue after the Lord’s heart. And also, violence and dominance are as well.”
In what started as a YouTube search during his senior year of high school amid the COVID-19 pandemic has blossomed into a regular hobby now for the young tight end.
But if you ask Reiman, taking up pottery isn’t that far off base given his background.
“I’ve always been kind of an artsy guy with drawing or painting, but in this case throwing and sculpting,” Reiman said.
“My mom, I say she’s better than Bob Ross at painting murals. She’s crazy. She is amazing. She is a legend. Got the gene from her and kind of ran with it.”
When Reiman isn’t making his next masterpiece or his sisters’ next request, he likes to get outdoors and hike.
And unlike Illinois, there’s plenty of great spots to traverse both in the Valley and beyond.
“Illinois was a great place, but there’s not a lot of hiking,” Reiman said. “I’m a big hiker from western South Dakota. There are naked mountains out here — there’s not many trees — but that’s up north I suppose. We’ll be hiking a lot.”