KEVIN VANDAM: Just breathe

Anyone who archery hunts will be familiar with the following term: 

“Just breathe.”

This is taught to us all at an early age as we hone our skills as an archer. When looking through the sights of your bow-and-arrow setup, it’s important to take some deep breaths before releasing the string. We are all stewards of the outdoors, and we take great pride in making the land better for all living creatures. That comes with a lot of blood, sweat and tears through the years, but it’s a responsibility we’re all more than willing to bear. 

Mother Nature has blessed us. We feel it’s necessary and appropriate to return the favor. 

This simple breathing exercise allows us to slow our heartbeat, collect our nerves, steady our hands and make the most ethical shot of which we’re capable. We simply owe it to the animal. 

So, when Team Toyota pro Kevin VanDam, who has amassed more than $7.3 million in professional bass-fishing tournament winnings throughout his career, talks about his recent “retirement” from professional-level bass fishing, he likens it to his passion for archery hunting. 

“I felt like it was just time to step back and breathe a little bit,” VanDam said. “My wife and two boys have sacrificed so much throughout the past 33 years; I owe it to them to slow down and just take a few deep breaths. Being a professional touring angler, you don’t really have any flexibility in your schedule. If there’s a tournament, you have to be there. Anniversaries, illness, family obligations … it doesn’t really matter. You have to make a living, and I totally understand it. That’s the game I signed up to play. But I was at a point in my career when it was simply time to slow down and breathe.”

The support of Sherry, VanDam’s wife, has been essential to his legendary career. She has done so much for him throughout his career, he wants an opportunity to return her many favors. 

“My wife and I still haven’t been on a trip to celebrate our 30th anniversary, and that has been several years ago now,” VanDam said. “She has never been the type of person to want the limelight, but in the background, she has been absolutely essential to everything in my career and life in general. From business to sponsor communication to raising two outstanding young men, it has been a total team effort.”

Although some folks might consider his recent career move a retirement announcement, VanDam doesn’t see it that way whatsoever. While he might be done competing in national-level tours, he’s as busy — if not busier — than he’s ever been. The key difference, however, is the manageability of his new schedule. He still has a lot of media work and sponsor events to attend along with filming his new TV show, “The VanDam Experience,” which is sure to be a hit. But these days, he finally has the ability to flex his schedule to enjoy more time with his cherished family. 

If anyone in the outdoor industry has earned that right, it would be VanDam. 

As he heads to the Michigan deer woods this fall, he’ll do so with an unfamiliar ease that doesn’t include (quite as much) constant phone ringing and things of the sort. He’ll quietly crunch through the frost-covered leaves and grass in the darkness, climb up that old hardwood tree filled with memories of past hunts, and finally, for once in his adult life…

He will sit. 

And just breathe. 

Whether the rutting whitetails bound his way or he simply spends the early morning hours observing the antics of nearby racoons, squirrels, turkeys, hawks or eagles, watching the world wake up is something that will never lose its luster to the bass fishing icon. To us, an outdoor legend is sitting in that treestand, but during that brief period, all creatures are equal and on a level playing field. 

“I’ve been blessed to watch the world wake up most days of my adult life, and there is simply nothing like it,” VanDam said. “The tranquility of each morning just brings a calmness over me I cannot accurately describe. Knowing that my family and I have put the hard work into making this land rich in gooseberry, elderberry, clover and fruit- and nut-producing trees unveils a pride I simply cannot match. The outdoors are absolutely everything to us, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The legend we watched on television all those years is, in fact, human. And as he enjoys the fruits of his labor and professionalism, we can all rest easy knowing we have a true outdoorsman and steward of the sport watching over and protecting our woods and waters. 

Finally… He’s just Kevin. 

And finally, he’s just breathing.