Purdue Football Team Bonding Over Paintball

David Blough is once again is showing the elite leadership skills that Purdue needs from their starting quarterback.

Despite missing the majority of last season and Purdue’s Bowl game against Arizona, Blough is taking every chance he can to maintain his standing as a leader on the field and in Purdue’s locker room.

In the middle of the summer, when most players are scattered across the country because they don’t need to be on campus, Blough organized a team social where a bunch of players met to play paintball.

The post took off on social media, but, more importantly, the players seem to have loved this team building activity.

Last July I was amazed by Blough’s speech at the Big Ten Kickoff Luncheon. He clearly did his research by watching speeches from Kirk Cousins and Nate Sunfeld in the past and then he dug into why football teaches important life lessons.

He also had the humility to reference the fact that he led the Big Ten in interceptions the previous seasons. Why? Because he felt that football teaches players how to deal with adversity and to get back off the ground when life knocks you down.

But, what really got me, was when he talked about the need for players to leave their communities, teammates better than when they got there.

While calling up teammates to play paintball in the summer may not seem like a big deal, it’s a perfect example of Blough trying to create a bond with his teammates and leave Purdue football better than when he got there.

That’s something to be admired.