Jackson Olson might be fearless about his love for Taylor Swift’s music now, but before the Savannah Bananas, he knew all too well it might be trouble if his teammates or baseball scouts found out about it.
“If you asked anyone on my college baseball team or high school baseball team, who is the least likely person to play for the Savannah Bananas, it would be me. I was the last person that would ever, ever, ever, ever do something like this, because I was the most focused, driven baseball player ever. I only cared about baseball. I only cared about getting better and working out and getting to the next level,” he exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, May 1, while promoting his partnership with the all-sports app called BZZR.
This is why Olson, 28, thought it’d be best to keep his admiration for Swift, 36, bottled up. That is, until he found himself on the Savannah Bananas. Never in his wildest dreams did the baseball player think his peers could tolerate his love for the Grammy winner — or his passion for the wonderful world of Disney.
“To think that now I’m getting recognized for dancing, for liking Taylor Swift, for liking Disney, that is something that I just never thought. Like, I used to love those things. I loved Taylor Swift, I loved Disney in college [and] in high school, but I never said anything, because I’m like, ‘No, I’m a baseball player. I can’t let people know. What if a scout finds out that I like Taylor Swift? For some reason, it felt like that would be the reason why I wouldn’t get drafted,” Olson explained. “And then I realized later down the line, like, ‘Oh my gosh, people are recognizing me for the videos that I’m making [and] for the way I make them feel. So it was really weird at first, but now it reminds me [that] what I’m doing is actually very positive.”
Savannah Bananas infielder Jackson Olson. Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Olson played college baseball — first at the University of Hartford in Connecticut, followed by a stint at Stetson University in Florida — before joining the Savannah Bananas as the third baseman.
The team is based out of Savannah, Georgia, with players doing a unique variation of baseball known as Banana Ball.
Besides their ball skills, the Savannah Bananas are known for their showmanship, dance routines, sketches and fan participation between and often during innings.
They have a huge following worldwide thanks to their infectious, feel-good performances and personalities. Players can’t go anywhere without being recognized, something that Olson said he never gets tired of.
He recalled one specific moment two years ago after a long day of playing. It was around 11 p.m., and he had been signing autographs after the game when he noticed three young fans still waiting to meet him.
“I’m exhausted. I’m like, ‘I need to go to sleep.’ And this woman walks by me on my left side, and goes, ‘Do you ever get tired of this?’ I looked at her, and I couldn’t find her,” Olson told Us. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘No, I never get tired of this. Because I looked in line [and] there were three kids. The first kid had autographs all over his body, and he had one area left on his chest for me to sign. Then the next girl had a sign that said, ‘Jackson, let me make a TikTok with [you].’ These kids waited for an hour and a half, by the way, and the third little girl had a bracelet that said, ‘Olson number eight on it.’
After spotting the children, Olson remembered thinking, “No, I never get tired of this. That was the moment where I’m like, ‘No. I will never, ever, ever take this for granted because those three kids waited an hour and a half to meet me, when they could have easily just gone home. It was a Thursday. They had school the next day, but their parents were in the corner, like, ‘I want to let my kids experience this.’”
When Olson isn’t playing baseball or being a viral sensation on TikTok, he’s thinking about his next steps and opportunities.
BZZR is his most recent venture. The app cuts out all the noise for sports fans, letting them focus on the content of their choosing.
“It’s literally just sports with verified people. You don’t have to worry about seeing politics. You don’t have to worry about seeing anything else that you don’t like, and it’s just sports for sports fans,” Olson explained.
His favorite feature of the app is the side cast.
“Obviously, I’m going to have a side cast, and we’re going to be able to watch baseball games, MLB games, and talk about them, kind of like the Eli and Peyton Manning cast,” Olson shared. “I think that’s really cool because people are going to see a different side of me.”
He teased, “We’re going to be able to talk about random things. We’re going to be able to talk about whatever under the sun we want to talk about, but also while commenting on the actual game play that’s going on.”
Olson is keeping busy in his work and personal life.
The baseball stud hard-launched his romance with Wheel of Fortune Pat Sajak’s daughter, Maggie, last month after taking “girlfriend applications” in December.
The couple seems to be getting serious, as Olson already publicly declared he’s “in love” and took her to his Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland!
“Applications closed✅,” Olson captioned the photo of their couple debut showing the pair at the amusement park in Anaheim, California.
Read the full article here
