Last month Seattle Sounders players Tyrone Mears, Zach Scott and Nelson Valdez took part in a photo shoot for Ville Magazine's Health and Fitness issue, where the three men bared it all for the cameras. In honor of the magazine hitting newsstands on May 12, SoundersFC.com spoke with all three men about the experience.
To see the full digital version of the issue, click here.
SoundersFC.com: How does it feel knowing that you’re going to be on the cover of a magazine?
Scott: It was a fun experience, everybody was great to work with. The magazine is going to look fantastic. At this point it was more convincing my wife to let me do it, and she was fine. Whatever makes her laugh, that’s what I say.
Mears: Yeah, I think it’s cool. I think it’s a bit of fun rather than anything, but having seen the shots I think we came out not too bad.
Valdez: I had at home a little bit of a problem because my wife said, ‘Oh, this is naked!’
SoundersFC.com: Had you ever done anything like this before?
Scott: No, never. But I’ve got to transition out of soccer at some point, so maybe it’s male modeling.
Valdez: Not like naked, naked, I’ve done upper body before, but not completely.
SoundersFC.com: What made you want to do it?
Scott: The guys came to us and said this is a relaunch of a local magazine and they’re doing a sports and fitness episode, and I thought that’s great. That’s a big part of why I’ve been able to play so long is keeping healthy and fit, so I think it’s great.
Mears: When the media guys spoke to us about it, it was an interesting concept, something I‘ve not really done before…going partially naked on a cover. You have to think about it, but I think it was good.
Valdez: They asked me if it was a possibility and I said, ‘Hey why not?’ I hope the people like the photo.
SoundersFC.com: What was the photoshoot experience like for you?
Mears: It was just fun standing in different poses. I think the funniest thing was watching Nelson have his hair done before the shoot. It took me 30 seconds; it took Nelson 30 minutes … It was interesting; we did a little interview about our lifestyle, our diet and how we prepare for the games, so it’s not just a photoshoot. There’s stuff to read in it as well.
Valdez: It was really new for me, to make this photo, but we had fun with Tyrone and Zach and we enjoyed the photo shoot.”
