Lamar Jackson, ESPN put ambidextrous Bellevue East quarterback in the spotlight

BELLEVUE, Neb. (WOWT) - A video of Bellevue East High School’s Mikey Gow doing throwing drills with both arms recently took the internet by storm, garnering the attention of national sports media, as well as Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

After meeting Omaha native and major league switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, Gow was inspired to learn to also throw with his left hand when he was just 9 years old. Five years later, Gow transitioned the skill to the football field.

“That was insane. I never thought that I would get an NFL quarterback — and honestly one of my inspirations, like him and Michael Vick are two of my biggest inspirations. I never thought — just because they play so different — but I never thought someone like that would reach out and just retweet that and say that,” Gow said.

There are plenty of examples in sports where being ambidextrous is an advantage such as, switch-hitting or pitching in baseball, shooting with hands in basketball, or being able to handle the stick with both hands in lacrosse. When it comes to football, how helpful is it?

“Any quarterback can tell you that there’s times when you roll to your left and you’re getting chased hard by a defensive end or a linebacker, something like that, and you don’t have the opportunity to get your body turned to throw with your right hand. That left hand is going to be huge for him in a situation like that,” said Aaron Thumman, head football coach at Bellevue East.

“I think it would be difficult to game plan around a quarterback who could throw with both arms because you really don’t know what you’re expecting,” Gow said.

Implementing Gow’s skill could be an asset for a Chieftains program that finished last season 2-7.

“It will definitely be a tool that they know I can use confidently and I know I can use confidently so it will definitely help us maybe get some more yards, win some more games — big situations,” Gow said.

“He is a tremendous teammate. Yes, he wants to be successful. Yes, he pursuing these dreams that he’s doing, but he wants to make everybody around him better,” said Thumman.

In addition to becoming an internet sensation, Gow has also signed his first NIL deal with Soldier Sports.

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