North Shore quarterback Kaleb Maryland is used to grading his performance in the film room after Friday nights, but watching his video podcast back is a whole new ball game.

It’s strange hearing his own voice and seeing himself talk. The sense of gratitude outweighs all that awkwardness, however. Players Choice, hosted by Kaleb Maryland, is churning out episodes a year after he and his father first had the idea.

Maryland has sat down with Class 6A wrestling state champion Za’Qwaun Nunn, his former teammate Kaleb Bailey, 3,000-yard Strake Jesuit running back John Hebert and even Wake Forest wide receiver Chris Barnes. Maryland wants to give the public perspective of what goes on in a student-athlete’s life, but an unexpected benefit for himself is learning about how athletes from his area got to where they are. He learned about the correlation between wrestling and football from Nunn and the importance of recovery during a long football season from Hebert.

“The ultimate goal is to get as many people as I can to tell their different stories,” Maryland said. “If I can get more collegiate athletes, pro athletes, high schoolers, rising middle schoolers, even different sports like basketball, track and baseball. I just want to see different peoples’ processes in the sports world.”

North Shore head coach Willie Gaston didn’t know Maryland was starting a podcast until the first episode published, but he’s become an avid listener since. Maryland, a rising senior with offers from Washington State, UTSA and UTEP, is set to be in the public eye for years to come as a football player, but this venture allows people to learn about the man under the helmet.

“It gives him another avenue, not just displaying himself as a football player,” Gaston said. “He’s an entrepreneur when you start doing things like that.”

Maryland passes the benefit of giving listeners a well-rounded view of themselves to his high school guests, as well. “Players Choice” is a relaxed environment where future college stars can receive media training before they become household names. Maryland and his team at The Guild HTX will pause the recording if an athlete needs to think out their answer.

“It gives people a chance to dial into their character, see what kind of person they are,” Gaston said. “Kaleb is so well-spoken; you get to see that a lot of these kids are well-spoken, too.”

Maryland will continue the podcast throughout the 2025 football season. He feels the podcast is developing his communication skills, which are all-important at the quarterback position.

“I think doing this podcast has helped me vocalize a lot more things,” Maryland said. “Because now I’m stepping outside of my comfort zone and I’m talking to people that I don’t really know, and I’m asking them questions that can get deep.”

The North Shore coaches have started ribbing Maryland about letting them hop on the podcast, and Maryland plans to have them on after he interviews his next 2-3 booked guests. There is one person, however, who’s waiting to hear back.

“I haven’t got an invite!” Gaston said.