Mike Tomlin: gamer?
In an interview with the "Today" show earlier this month, the former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach revealed a virtual pet project he's been working on. For the last 12 years, Tomlin said, he's been building a city in Minecraft, the popular video game with hundreds of millions of monthly active users.
"I started playing Minecraft when my kids were young," Tomlin said. "I have a Minecraft city in creative (mode) that I've been working on for like 12 years."
Even as his kids grew up and stopped playing the sandbox video game, Tomlin said he's kept playing and building more. Now when his kids come home from college, they ask their dad to show them his progress in the game, Tomlin said.
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On Saturday, Sept. 26, Tomlin posted a video on social media teasing that he'd reveal his 12-year side project on Wednesday, Sept. 30. In another post on Sept. 30, Tomlin announced that the YouTube video would premiere at 8 p.m. ET and that it may be the first in a series of videos showing off his virtual city.
Here's what he showed off in episode one of his Minecraft city reveal, titled "Rooftops, Penthouses, and Urban Living":
What is in Mike Tomlin's Minecraft city?
Tomlin opened his video by explaining that he started playing Minecraft to connect with his kids when they played it obsessively in middle school. Even as they got older and slowly stopped playing as much, the NBC commentator shared that his long-time interest in architecture inspired him to keep working at building his virtual city. Putting together the project has allowed him to pursue a version of that hobby while also unwinding from the stresses of his day job.
"It was therapeutic for me – some mindless entertainment," Tomlin said. "I'm not a big TV-watcher. It allowed me to detach from the realities and the pressures of life."
Tomlin began his tour of the virtual city by saying he wanted to build his city around a body of water near where his character avatar spawned in his new Minecraft world. The first building that he constructed in the game was a boutique hotel, featuring an executive spa, bathrooms, a lobby, balconies and an underground speakeasy.
After the hotel, Tomlin started building out a high-end residential area, beginning with a high-rise apartment building. The former Steelers coach showed off how he incorporated a multi-level fish tank in the building, allowing each apartment unit to have its own mini aquarium taking up one wall.
One self-described "obsession" Tomlin had when putting together his city was rooftop design. He emphasized how he tried to emulate spaces of both indoor and outdoor entertainment, like a "movie theater" area on the top floor of a building that connected to an outdoor patio spot. A significant part of the virtual tour through the Minecraft city featured Tomlin's player character flying around to different rooftops to show off different features.
Among the rooftops he showed off in the video was a building labeled "Trump Tower." An annotation added during the video editing process stated, "Not an endorsement. This build is c. 2015... We didn't think he would win. Twice."
At the end of the video, Tomlin explained how he used real-life buildings to get inspiration for some of the structures he built in Minecraft. One area of his city, he noted, was made up of buildings based on the apartment complex his son lived in while in college.
In a final sign-off, the NBC Sports commentator explained his urban planning philosophy.
"Certainly, I've got some suburban communities where I've got single-family homes," Tomlin said. "But that interest developed over time. When I first started the city, I wanted population density. I wanted an urban landscape, so I would always do multi-family residences, high-end apartment buildings, high-rise apartment buildings along bodies of water."
All throughout the video, Tomlin's passion for urban planning and the game of Minecraft shone through. He promised more videos in the future, where he plans to show off more parts of his 12-year project – including "the bay area," which makes up the central part of his virtual city.
"In the next episode, we'll take a look at something that I think you're gonna find interesting – something that's really cool – so stay with us," Tomlin said.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Tomlin built an entire city in Minecraft. He just revealed what's in it
