Irondale's Aden Price: Wide Receiver, State Fair Hot Dog Slinger
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Aden Price is paying the price, as an athlete and a worker at the Minnesota State Fair.
He catches footballs on most Fridays in the fall, makes baskets in the winter months, and takes time in August to "hot dog it" a little bit.
It is 9 a.m. at the Foot Long Hot Dog stand, and Price has reported to work. The soon-to-be high school senior will make some extra money before school starts.
"Just branching out, just like getting to go to new places and experience different things, because not every day you get to work at a hot dog stand at the state fair," Price said.
He was hanging out on the football field Friday night as one of Irondale High School's key weapons as a wide receiver. Price loves the game.
"The rush of Friday Night Lights. Just when you score a touchdown and you're in the end zone, you see your fan section going crazy, your teammates going crazy, just jumping up, going crazy with your teammates and your brothers is just a great feeling," Price said.
He works hard at his craft. He is long and lean with good hands. He understands his game.
"For me, it's just footwork because, I'm not going to lie, I'm not like the fastest guy, but, like, if you have good footwork on your route running it separates you from, like, defenders and other wide receivers," he said.
That is a little different than making a foot-long hot dog. The key to a great dog?
"Onions … I think that's what makes it," he said. "You'd normally put onions on a burger, not a hot dog. But you've got to try it."
And it is different than his other love. In the winter months, he is a top-flight basketball player who can score the ball and loves to compete.
"Nothing's better than, like, scoring 30 on someone," Price said.
To an extent, that is what he brings to the foot-long hot dog team.
"He's a good kid. We got a good crew in here, but he adds a lot of height to it, have some fun, slinging some dogs," said stand manager Matt Fink.
Such is life this week for Price, and it is a good life: playing football on Friday nights, and to be near a gate at the State Fair, where you can take it all in.
