Offensive lineman Jake Curhan has made an impressive name for himself since his graduation from Redwood in 2016, when he prepared to play NCAA Division 1 football at UC Berkeley. After earning a business degree, Curhan signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 2021, becoming the first Redwood alum to play in the National Football League (NFL).
Recently, he switched from the Seahawks to train with the Chicago Bears as a practice team member. He was notably featured in the new season of the HBO documentary series “Hard Knocks.”
While Curhan is an incredible inspiration to student-athletes, he also embodies the importance of being a multidimensional athlete through rigorous academics. During high school, Curhan emphasized involvement in multiple extracurriculars; in addition to Leadership and Peer Resource, he co-founded Sustainability Club and participated in a school service trip to Ecuador. Randi Curhan, Curhan’s mother, believes that his Redwood background outside of the football team contributed to his success on the field.
“[Jake] did a lot of things that built up his leadership, collaboration and team-building skills at Redwood beyond the [football] field,” Randi Curhan said.
Building off of his leadership experience, Jake Curhan mentioned how his devotion to academics has helped him throughout his career on and off the field.
“People think we spend the whole day just playing football, but in reality, practice is probably an hour and a half, and the rest of the day is spent doing meetings, walkthroughs and [work] like that. I have assignments, which include watching [plays] or going over my notes,” Jake Curhan said. “[Defensive maneuvers] can align a whole bunch of different ways, so you have to know the right call in a situation and how to get things schemed up properly.”
In addition to being a dedicated player on the field, Jake Curhan takes the initiative to fight social injustice and stand up for his beliefs. His willingness to put good morale above everything else has given him an admirable reputation.
While attending UC Berkeley, Jake Curhan was involved in a group of roughly 100 Pacific-12 Conference (Pac-12) athletes who agreed to boycott their attendance at their upcoming training camp unless Pac-12 athletes spoke out on issues involving COVID-19 safety, social injustice involving the Black Lives Matter movement and long term health insurance.
“I said to [Jake] at the time, ‘[Are] you sure you want to be putting yourself out there for this? If you’re seen as a troublemaker by teams, they might not want to draft you,’” Randi Curhan said, noting Jake Curhan responding with his belief in the cause.
Despite potential risks, Curhan prioritizes being true to himself; his digital persona aligns with the type of person he is in real life, which reflects an authentic representation of his beliefs and behavior.
“We’re Jewish, and he put on his Instagram username ‘Bear Jew,’” Randi said.
She recalled telling Jake Curhan that there was a lot of antisemitism out there, and asked if he was sure he wanted to have that out in the world. He replied by saying he didn’t care, and that social issues were part of the industry.
“It’s awesome. He stands behind what he stands behind,” Randi said.
After college, Jake Curhan entered the NFL draft. However, he was facing minor heart issues, which affected his performance. Luckily, this upsetting change of events quickly turned around shortly after the draft.
“Right after the draft was over, he started getting some phone calls from teams who were interested. We weren’t even sure that he was going to make it in the NFL after expecting him to be drafted, so we were relieved and excited,” Randi Curhan said.
After getting selected by the Seattle Seahawks, Jake Curhan spent three years on their team before transitioning to his current position on the Bears’ practice team. However, he wasn’t planning on this switch from the start.
“For me, I don’t really have any teams specifically that I want to play for. It’s [more about] who’s offering the best contract. [I’ve tried to] do whatever the best thing is for [me] at the time,” Jake Curhan said.
Jake Curhan’s tryout was nationally televised on “Hard Knocks: Training with the Chicago Bears,” a show highlighting the training camps of various professional football teams. Despite the clip showing Jake Curhan being cut from the Bears, he was picked to be on the practice team just 24 hours later, handling media attention with grace and composure.
“[The season] has been good. I like the [Chicago Bears’] organization — [coaches] treat the players well,” Jake Curhan said. “Different organizations have different reputations and it’s always nerve-wracking to switch from something you know so well, but I have absolutely no complaints.”
Jake Curhan’s cleverness and kind heart have guided him throughout his career. The 26-year-old offensive lineman has many attributes that make him a well-rounded player on and off the field, always fighting for his morals.
“[Jake] is not easily influenced. He gets along with all different types of people from different backgrounds. He’s brave when it comes to standing up,” Randi Curhan said.
