Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Doug Baldwin was the special guest speaker for the Kirkland Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday at the Woodmark Hotel. The Super Bowl winning wide receiver discussed his background, leadership and answered questions from local kids from Lake Washington and Juanita high schools in the audience.

However, he also answered some questions about recent Seahawk news, including the trade of center Max Unger to New Orleans for tight end Jimmy Graham and Marshawn Lynch’s new contract extension.

“I think both sides were in shock,” Baldwin said about the trade. “I actually had a long conversation with Jimmy Graham last night … He is excited to come to the Seahawks but obviously he is leaving a fan base and a situation he has created in New Orleans. I think a lot of people forget that these tradable commodities that we tend to look at as players are also human beings with families, situations and lives they have built in those cities.”

He also said that he is happy Lynch, one of the biggest leaders on the team, will be back.

“Marshawn is probably one of the best teammates I have ever been around,” Baldwin said. “It was difficult on all of us when he was contemplating retirement … his body is so beat up. He wants to be able to run around with his kids, when he has kids, and so obviously all of us wanted the best for him. But at the same time, selfishly, we all wanted him back on the team.”

Baldwin talked about his life growing up and the decisions he has had to make throughout the academic part of his life and possibly continuing his academic career. He grew up in Pensacola, Fla. playing football and basketball, wanting to be the next Michael Jordan. He started playing sports at the age of 6 in the Southern Youth Sports Association, in which he is still active.

“They taught me a lot about sports but also what it means to be a man,” he said. “Specifically, taking care of your responsibilities.”

He discussed the choices he had after sitting through all seven rounds of the NFL draft and not being selected.

“After the draft I had options and I had to make a choice. One of the choices was to come to the Seattle Seahawks,” Baldwin said. “The consequences of that was winning the Super Bowl.”

He said that most people look at him as a football player but he is much more than that.

“I am human being Doug Baldwin and I am susceptible to making mistakes just as any human being is,” he said. “I am not perfect but I strive for perfection in everything I do.”

Baldwin made light of a nickname some have given him for his post-game speeches about being overlooked or counted out.

“I am very passionate about what I do, some have called me ‘angry [Doug Baldwin],’ I am not angry whatsoever,” Baldwin joked. “I just love what I do.”

Whether or not Baldwin is angry at times, and who isn’t, one thing he is not is stupid. He graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Baldwin said when he got to college he originally wanted to go into aeronautical engineering but there were conflicts with his football schedule.

One of the students in the audience asked him about balancing sports and academics and Baldwin replied: “You have no choice.”

“If you want to play football and you want to do well in school you are going to make it work,” he said.

He stayed away from parties in college to focus on what was important.

He told a story of coming home one day after a game and an interaction he had with his roommate.

“He asked me, he said, ‘where you been dog?’ I said, ‘I just got done with a football game.’ [He replied] ‘you guys have those every week?'” Baldwin recalled as the room erupted in laughter. “Yep, every Saturday.”

He admitted that Stanford is known for its academics not for its athletic programs.

“When your friends are going out on Friday night, you’re probably going to have to be staying in and do some studying because you have catch up from being at practice the entire week,” he said.

During his typical day in college, he spent until 8 p.m. studying, going to class or at practice.

“You will have to make conscious decisions so you’re putting yourself in the right place,” he said.

Baldwin nearly quit football when he was a junior in college.

“I didn’t have the greatest relationship with [then Stanford head coach] Jim Harbaugh and I am sure you guys understand that,” he said half heartedly. “And that directly affected my course in school.”

He said he was able to take a step back and realize that the hardships would only make him stronger.

Baldwin studied Science and Technology in Society because it allowed him to learn about engineering and businesses.

“I got the best of both worlds,” he said. “The beautiful thing about it is I enjoy it but the down side is that it is so broad that it is very difficult for me to utilize it in the real world.”

He said that he has always loved math – until he got to college.

“I have always had a knack for solving problems,” Baldwin said.

He plans on continuing his education by earning a degree in education when he is done with football so he can become a high school teacher.

“I know that I want to teach high school, probably more so in a high-risk, low-income housing area, so I can have an impact in those areas,” Baldwin said.

He told the students in the audience one of the best things they can do is “get over yourself.”

“For whatever reason, we as high school students, and even when you get into college, you think you have all the answers. And you don’t,” Baldwin said.

He told the students that the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the area responsible for making decisions, is not fully developed until the age of 26 or 27. Baldwin is 26.

“I am still doing things that I look back and say ‘why did I do that?'”

Baldwin asked the students in the audience their definition of leadership.

“Leadership to me, is not necessarily about guiding somebody or motivating somebody,” Baldwin said. “It’s about being a servant to those around you … It’s about being accountable to yourself and those around you.”

He said true growth comes from being in uncomfortable situations and he has even learned from those who were not great leaders in his life.

“Leadership is not about being on that front line or being in the back but it is about essentially being in that circle with them,” Baldwin said. “Telling them, ‘I am here for you, whatever you need from me, whatever you want from me. I will be available to you.'”

However, he also said that there are many definitions of being a leader and his skills came from his mother.

“My mother was a very strong person in my life,” he said. “… there were difficult decisions that she had to make that were difficult on her. She made those decisions for the greater good of our family.”

He said his greatest leadership accomplishment is his relationship with his 12-year-old brother.

“He looks up to me like I am his father figure,” Baldwin said. “And to me one of the greatest accomplishments is when he writes me little notes that say he is proud of me.”

He still has a note his brother wrote him before he left for college. In that note his brother said he couldn’t be any more proud of him that at that time.