NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert hits back at \u201cstigma\u201d in gaming Twitter \/ packersKurt Benkert \u2014 Twitch partner, member of Ghost Gaming, and NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers \u2014 hit back at the stigma surrounding gaming, and even credited GameBattles with helping to sharpen his competitive drive as an athlete. Gaming has unquestionably come a long, long way from its earliest days. What was once considered by many to be a hobby reserved for \u201cgeeks\u201d or \u201cnerds\u201d is now something that nearly ever child, teenager, and young adult partakes in on a regular basis. A wider cultural appeal has been helped in large part by athletes. Whether its MLB pitcher Trevor May streaming Apex Legends, or Bronny James appearing on the cover of Sports Illustrated decked out in FaZe Clan apparel, the mainstream spotlight on gaming has never been brighter. NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert \u2014 also a Twitch partner and content creator for Ghost Gaming \u2014 is another pro athlete who puts gaming front-and-center in life. During a press conference with the Packers, Benkert extoled his love of gaming, and hit back at the stigma that often still surrounds it. How competive gaming started for me. S\/O to @GameBattlesI\u2019m glad the stigma on gaming has changed https:\/\/t.co\/fgPvhaNwJY \u2014 Kurt Benkert (@KurtBenkert) August 7, 2021 While fielding questions from media reps, Benkert was asked about his connections to esports \u2014 specifically, how he first got involved in the world of gaming. \u201cI used to love video games as a kid,\u201d he began, laughing to himself. Benkert explained that during high school, he discovered GameBattles (a site for organizing matches against other like-minded players) and fell in love with the competitive side of gaming: \u201cThat\u2019s where it started for me, [as] another way to be competitive outside of football.\u201d While attending college at the University of Virginia, Benkert\u2019s love affair with gaming almost fizzled out. \u201cI didn\u2019t tell anybody about it because everyone looked at it [like] \u2018If you played video games, you didn\u2019t care about what else you were doing\u2019,\u201d he confessed. Fortunately, the quarterback believes that the stigma against gaming has largely changed \u201cfor the better,\u201d and after a friend convinced him to start streaming on Twitch, the rest is history: \u201cIt\u2019s changed my life.\u201d Benkert\u2019s ode to his gaming roots quickly caught steam on social media, with plenty of figures from the gaming community chiming in with their support. James \u2018Clayster\u2019 Eubanks, Call of Duty pro for the New York Subliners, responded to a clip of Benkert\u2019s comments with his own seal of approval. Ryan \u2018Fwiz\u2019 Wyatt \u2014 head of YouTube\u2019s gaming division \u2014 was another strong supporter of Benkert\u2019s comments, and voiced his own appreciation for the QB. \u201cGreat to hear Kurt breaking the gaming stigma, which is far overdue! Glad he played GameBattles with us OGs!\u201d Even other pro athletes tossed their hats in the ring with Green Bay\u2019s newest quarterback. Fellow NFL player Will Compton responded \u201cLet\u2019s f**king go,\u201d reaffirming that Benkert is far from alone when it comes to pro athletes with an appreciation for esports and gaming. Benkert is just one of an ever-growing lineup of pro athletes who\u2019ve made a name for themselves in the space, and with credentials like the support of Ghost Gaming and his partnership with Twitch, he\u2019s definitely backed up his verbal appreciation for gaming with action. The worlds of gaming and mainstream media continue to blur, and with massive partnerships like Faze Clan teaming up with McDonald\u2019s and Ariana Grande holding a massive virtual concert in Fortnite, it certainly seems that stories like Benkert\u2019s will continue to become more frequent and accepted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NFL quarterback Kurt Benkert hits back at \u201cstigma\u201d in gaming Twitter \/ packersKurt Benkert \u2014 Twitch partner, member of Ghost Gaming, and NFL quarterback for the Green Bay Packers \u2014 hit back at the stigma surrounding gaming, and even credited GameBattles with helping to sharpen his competitive drive as an athlete. Gaming has unquestionably come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83689\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}