COCOA, Fla. – For incoming Cocoa High School senior Josh Padrick, grappling with gargantuan alligators is in his blood.
Padrick's family owns and operates Central Florida Trophy Hunts, so when the student-athlete pulled in a 12-foot, 6-inch gator on Monday, it was business as usual.
After all, the 17-year-old boy has been harvesting the animals for the past 10 years, bringing in his first catch at just 7 years old.
He told News 6 that he was shadowing with clients in Palm Bay on Monday when he used his muscle to help bring the 509-pound beast out of the water. It was the customers, however, who killed the creature and who will likely take the majority of the meat back with them when they return to their home state of Ohio.
"I'm there to use my knowledge of what I know about alligators and harvesting them to basically help them out in any way that I can," Padrick said.
When Padrick's not on the boat or in the water, heplays as a center for his school's football team. The 6-foot, 2-inch, 280-pound jock said gator hunting and hiking and blocking on the field go hand-in-hand.
"The alligator was thrashing," Padrick said.
Padrick is already taking college college courses and will graduate next year with his AA. He plans to get a master's degree in business while playing college football.