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Doug Baldwin signs an autograph for a young Doug Baldwin fan at the Windows 10 launch party at the University Village Microsoft Store last week.

As far as technology know-how, Doug Baldwin leads the way for the Seattle Seahawks.

That’s at least according to Baldwin himself, who was at the Microsoft Store last week in Seattle as part of a Windows 10 launch event.

dougbaldwin22323In May, Seahawks linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis said he was the geekiest guy on the team when we ran into the third-year player at a University of Washington MBA event. But Baldwin begs to differ.

“It’s subjective,” he told GeekWire. “But I would say when it comes to technology, I think I’m more versed than everybody else.”

Baldwin calls himself a “self-proclaimed nerd.” The 26 year-old, who led the Seahawks and set career-highs with 66 catches and 825 receiving yards last season, said he’s always been that way since childhood.

dougbaldwin1“I’ve always been the type that’s more about academics and technology,” said Baldwin, who graduated from Stanford in 2010 with degrees in Science and Technology in Society. “I loved playing video games when I was younger, loved playing with Legos — the tech nerd, that was me for sure.”

Baldwin still plays video games today and noted Battlefield as a favorite. But most of his gaming attention is actually now on laser tag, with Baldwin hosting the “Doug Baldwin Invitational” tournament last week at a high-tech laser tag facility called Virtual Sports in Tukwila, Wash. where teammates like Richard Sherman and Jermaine Kearse participated.

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Baldwin also helped create the Virtual Sports League, a new organization that runs monthly laser tag tournaments and weekly qualifying matches. The fifth-year receiver said he got hooked on laser tag after he took the Seahawks receiving corps to Virtual Sports during training camp this summer.

“We absolutely loved it and had a blast, but I looked at it and felt like there was more they could have been doing,” Baldwin said. “I had so many ideas bouncing around in my head and now we’re starting the Virtual Sports League. It’ll be just like the NFL with players who will be paid. It’s going to be phenomenal.”

Baldwin poses with a Seahawks fan who customized a jersey with "Windows 10" on the back.
Baldwin poses with a Seahawks fan who customized a jersey with “Windows 10” on the back.

Baldwin added that he’s excited about the intersection of sports and technology, particularly on the medical side.

“Technology for helmets is about to explode,” he said. “The virtual reality stuff, too, will also help in the medical field because you’ll be able to take a lot of wear and tear off the guys’ bodies.”

As far as a favorite smartphone app, Baldwin hasn’t changed much since 2013, when he told GeekWire that the “Maps app” was an “unbelievable tool.”

“I still don’t know Seattle as well as I think I do and need the map app to get me where I need to go,” he said. “I don’t know how we got around without that app. Even back in the day with actual maps you open up, I don’t even know how to read those. That app is vital to my life.”

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