Tristan Sinclair Reflects on Living out Lifelong Dream with Stanford

Dylan Grausz | Aug 5, 2024

Oct 21, 2023; Stanford, California, USA; Stanford Cardinal linebacker Tristan Sinclair (8) during the second quarter against the UCLA Bruins at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports / Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

Over the past five seasons, Tristan Sinclair has made a mark at Stanford, evolving into not only the leader of the defense but providing a major veteran leadership within the whole locker room. As he prepares to embark on his sixth season of college football, the star linebacker reflects on how much it has meant to be able to suit up for a team that has been so close to his heart throughout his life.

Coming from a family of Cardinal athletes, with his dad being an alumni of the football team, Sinclair grew up witnessing the greats come through the program and getting to go to a lot of the games as a kid. He started to dream about one day suiting up for the team himself and after committing to the program just prior to his senior season at San Ramon Valley, has been living the exact dream he set for himself ever since.

“My dad has season tickets, he played there and he has a tailgate [before] every game in Chuck Taylor Grove so I literally grew up at the games and that was it, that was the dream,” Sinclair said. “Since I was a kid, I’ve wanted to come to Stanford and play football and following in my father’s footsteps is really special. It’s crazy that that was the dream I manifested and I’m just grateful that I had the people around me to encourage me and support me along the way, family, friends and coaches. I’m just grateful to be here.”

While Sinclair’s dad is a Stanford alum, the Cal-Stanford rivalry runs deep in his family, as his mom, sister and aunts all attended UC Berkeley. Getting to grow up also attending Cal sporting events, Sinclair has always understood just how big and important that rivalry is, crediting it for making things a lot more fun for him whenever that game rolls around.

“It’s all fun and games,” Sinclair said. “It’s sweet that they’ve been at Cal and I got to go to those games growing up as well so having them and having that tradition in the household is really fun.”

All of his life, Sinclair has been around football and has had an undying love for it, being one who is very self motivated to be great. Despite having a dad that played football, Sinclair was never pushed to play the game, instead using the love and passion that he got from watching it with his family to fuel his desire for success and achieve greatness, getting tremendous support from his family during the path of getting to where he is now.

“My dad never really pushed me to play football, no one did,” Sinclair said. “I grew up going to the games and when Monday Night Football was on, we were at the dinner table with the TV watching Monday Night Football. So, football was a part of our family and that’s kind of how my mom grew up as well. She said that Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Football they’d roll out the TV and put the game on.

"So, no one ever really pushed me to play it, I think it was just a natural love for the game. And my dad never made me work out, he never honestly really trained me much, he just always encouraged me and told me my whole life, ‘hey, one day you’re gonna play this game and you’re gonna achieve your dreams.’ The biggest thing was just the encouragement that he gave me.”

Sinclair will lead the way as the Cardinal begin a new era in the ACC, hungrier than ever to finish his career strong and bring glory back to the Stanford football program.