TAMPA, Fla. - Being the starting quarterback for a high school team in Florida has its challenges. But for Steinbrenner QB Haden Carlson, there is no such pressure.  Being a quarterback has always been his calling.

“I have been around football my whole life, since the womb,” said Haden. “It’s been my destiny at some point in my life.  I knew that.”

Apparently, Haden knew it at a very young age. When Haden was just a toddler, he appeared on Spectrum Bay News 9 during a sports show. He was asked what football position he wanted to play. Haden shouted out, “I want to be a quarterback!”

Former Bucs QB and football analyst Jeff Carlson is Haden’s father. He played in Tampa Bay in the early 1990’s. But for Haden and older brother Noah, Jeff was simply dad growing up.

“We didn’t really appreciate it back then but now it’s just crazy to think that he was even in the NFL,” said Haden.  

While Jeff had passed on the football genes to Haden, he never forced the game on his son; Instead allowing Haden to choose his own path – which included years of soccer.

“He let me do what I want, let me be a soccer player,” said Haden, whose first high school football game was as the starting quarterback at Steinbrenner as a sophomore. “He is has always been Dad first, and he has just been the greatest.”

“Football is still a fresh, fun game as opposed to being on the edge of being burnt out and tired, he is still learning the game,” said Jeff, who spent time with the Rams, Patriots, and Bucs in his NFL career. “I think his upside is so much higher than it would’ve been if I pushed him and told him he was going to play football year round. We took our time and I think it was the right decision.”

While Jeff has enjoyed stepping back and being dad, Haden enjoys being able to go to Jeff about playing QB.

“He can see what I am doing wrong, he can see what I am doing right, and it’s the best,” said Haden.  

Jeff, however, said it’s a little more complicated than that.

“That’s the father-son that he doesn’t want. He wants me to be dad and not be the coach all the time,” said Jeff, who is a person QB coach to high school players in the Bay Area. “He understands that he needs to come to me because things need to be tweaked. And he knows I am the guy to do that.”

But one thing Jeff won’t do is be his high school coach – opting to be a fan in the stands and allowing coaches to be the coaches.

“Just to step back and to just be dad has been hard. It’s been exciting at times but it’s been a challenge,” said Jeff.

“He has done a great job of making sure that he is a dad and he is a coach,” said Steinbrenner head coach Andres Perez. “Being able to separate those two is so hard and a big challenge for people, but he has mastered it at this point.”

One thing that has been a new experience for father and son has been college football recruiting. Jeff played at Weber State in the 1980’s and remembers his recruiting process going a little different.

“I didn’t get an offer until two weeks before Signing Day and that wasn’t that far out of the norm. This is feeling pressure to make a commitment before your senior year and that is just so much pressure on a 16 year old or 17 year old than we used to have.”

The good news is that Haden won’t have to worry into his senior year – He has verbally committed to play quarterback at FIU.

“Best day of my life when they offered me,” said Haden. “Just super exciting.” 

“We are super excited about FIU,” said Jeff. “The city of Miami is a world-class city, great university. Butch Davis is a great head coach with high-level experience in college (UNC, Miami) and the NFL (Browns).”

The day will come for Haden to officially sign his Letter of Intent to play at FIU. When he does, he will have Jeff standing behind him, beaming with pride. Not as a QB coach or former NFL player, but simply as dad. Just the way the Carlson’s like it.