Football star Reggie Bush is now a tennis dad

Reggie Bush, whose rushing prowess helped lead the USC Trojans to two college football national championships in the early 2000s, is heading to Wimbledon this summer with his daughter, Briseis. They plan on watching Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka, two of Briseis’ favorite players, and taking in the splendor that is The Championships.

That would be a once-in-a-lifetime visit for most tennis fans. But for Briseis, she’s already planning her return trip to the All England Club—as a competitor.

“I want to play pro, I want to get into Wimbledon,” the 10-year-old said Friday on T2’s Second Serve, where she and her father took in some pro tennis from Tennis Channel studios in Santa Monica, Calif.

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to athletic gifts and the Bush family. Reggie, who won a Heisman Trophy in 2005 and ran the ball in the NFL until 2016, has become a tennis dad in retirement. (He’s also an excellent golfer.) Briseis has taken to the sport to such a degree that she’s competing in 10-and-under tournaments (she’ll turn 11 in May), and she showed off some of her racquet skills to the T2 audience on set:

“I like doing tournaments just to get her feet wet, so she can see what the competition is like,” said Reggie. “Practice is practice, but competing is a different thing. It’s great, and I think it’s good for the mind and good for the spirit, because you learn a lot about yourself in those moments. And those are things that mommy and daddy can’t teach.”

Briseis will pull back a bit from tournament play this summer—in part because of what daddy did teach her.

“We had to take a break because daddy butchered her serve,” Reggie admitted. (Briseis is now working with Los Angeles-based Cecil Mamiit, who cracked the ATP Top 75 in 1999.)

Briseis began playing the sport at age 5, and has become a quick study.

“I like that it’s competitive,” she said about tennis, “and once you win, you’re just like, ‘Yes!’”

She’s also taken inspiration from Osaka, who sent her a special Naomi Barbie doll after learning of Briseis’ interest in the sport. It was a little thing, Reggie said, that went a long way.

Papa Bush knows the impact celebrity can have, for better and worse.

“The last thing I want to do is be a distraction for her [during matches],” he said, given his legendary status in the L.A. area. “I try to remove myself from her vision, so that she’s not looking at me after every good or bad point.”

Regardless of expectations, Briseis seems to be doing just fine. Asked about her mom’s game, she says she could stand to add some more topspin.

As for her father?

“He’s actually getting better,” she deadpanned. “I would like to coach him one day.”