Colton Underwood: Oakland Raiders Tight End Who Scored Date With Aly Raisman Got Some Help From Shawn Johnson
Colton Underwood just scored a date with Olympian Aly Raisman, and a fellow gymnastics standout may have played a big role in setting them up.
The Oakland Raiders tight end decided to take a chance and ask out the gold-medal winning gymnast while filming a video segment for Yahoo Sports. Underwood threw out an offer to Raisman for the next time she makes it to San Jose, saying they can double up with former Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, who happens to be married to Underwood’s friend and Raiders teammate, Andrew East.
She won a team gold and two individual silvers in Rio. Now it's a Silver & Black date for @Aly_Raisman. https://t.co/DNO0r6Ai5C
— espnW (@espnW) August 22, 2016
“Just want to congratulate you on all your success in the competitions and representing the U.S.A. over there. I know I’ve been following along. My roommates, my teammates, everybody here is super proud of you,” Underwood said in the video message. “You know, if you’re ever in San Jose and want to go on a double date with me and Andrew and Shawn, let me know.”
It wasn’t exactly a shot in the dark. Aly Raisman admitted that Johnson and their fellow gymnast Nastia Liukin have been trying to set her up with a guy, Us Weekly reported. Raisman even said that the two “fight over who’s going to find me a boyfriend first.”
It appears that Shawn Johnson may be winning that fight. Raisman said that she actually knew about the plan to set her up with Colton Underwood, and that Johnson has already been pushing the 24-year-old tight end.
“They’ve told me about him before. He’s very cute,” Raisman said. “I would go on a date with him.”
Though they’re both familiar with the pressures of making a living as an athlete, Colton Underwood and Aly Raisman are actually at quite different ends of the athletic spectrum. While Raisman just took home three medals at the Rio Olympics — gold in the team competition and silver in both the individual all-around and the floor exercise — Underwood is actually awaiting his first professional football action.
While he was signed by the San Diego Chargers as a free agent last year and bounce between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chargers before ending up with the Raiders, he has never made it off of a practice squad and is awaiting his first NFL game.
But Underwood appears to have a lot going for him outside of football, Hollywood Life noted. He is the owner of a bar and grill in Washington, Illinois, called the 4th & Goal Grill, and is also great with animals.
He works with the Champaign, IL Humane Society to help get dogs adopted. Most recently he championed a large mixed breed pup named Hercules on his Instagram, and shortly thereafter the doggie found a forever home.! Aww, rescue dogs are always the best.
But while the 24-year-old Colton Underwood is at the beginning of his NFL career, the 22-year-old Raisman is likely at the tail end of her own gymnastics career. In a sport where most athletes peak at about 20, Raisman set a record by becoming just the first American gymnast — along with teammate Gabby Douglas — to be part of two gold-medal winning teams.
“You kind of get so wrapped up in trying to reach for the team gold medals if you haven’t already won one before,” Raisman told USA Today. “So when it actually happens, it’s crazy to look and think that you have two of them.”
It appears that Aly Raisman and Colton Underwood will have a chance to go on their first date very soon. Raisman will be joining the other U.S. Olympic gymnasts on a 36-city tour, one that will touch down in San Jose at the end of September.
[Photo by Paul Beaty/AP Images]
