Eureka will have a chance to share some of the national spotlight with one of its native sons.
Clayton Echard will be one of the eligible men vying for the heart of Michelle Young, the star of the next season of ABC’s “The Bachelorette.”
Episodes featuring Young are scheduled to start Oct. 19, and Echard has been in the upcoming season’s promotional videos.
The 28-year-old medical sales representative, who now lives in Columbia, also has been reported to be the network’s selection to start in the next season of “The Bachelor.” Unlike his upcoming stint on “The Bachelorette,” Echard will be in the driver’s seat in “The Bachelor” and have his pick from a crop of eligible women.
A film crew was in Eureka on Sept. 16 to record footage of the 2011 Eureka High School graduate at his former school and on Central Avenue in the city’s Old Town area.
Eureka residents and fans of the long-running reality show were in evidence during the filming, and a large banner that said, “Go find love Clayton!” hung across Central Avenue.
Echard talked with some of the show’s fans and city officials while filming was going on in Eureka.
“Clayton’s a nice guy. I got to talk to him for a minute,” said Mayor Sean Flower, who said the show’s producers bought the banner that hung across Central Avenue. “His folks are very nice people and it’s definitely kind of an oddball, unique experience to have a national television show in the city, but I’m excited. I think they’ll showcase the city in kind of a neat way.”
Clayton Echard played wide receiver and defensive end for Eureka High before earning a spot as a walk-on for the University of Missouri’s football team in Columbia.
In college, Echard played on the Tigers’ special teams units and on defense before settling into a tight end role. He appeared in 37 games, making one start, recording two catches for 14 yards during his 2015 senior season, and he finished with nine tackles in four seasons.
After college, he signed as an undrafted free agent with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and appeared in four preseason games before being cut prior to the start of the 2016 season.
“Wonderful football player, just everything we wanted in a Wildcat football player,” said Eureka High football coach Jake Sumner, who coached Echard on the Wildcats’ junior varsity team. “He’s one of those great success stories of a guy who just kept pushing himself at each different level of football he went to.”
Eureka High School’s Jenni Highfill said she was Echard’s Spanish teacher during his junior and senior years, and she has fond memories of her former student.
“He was hard-working,” she said. “He was dedicated. He was fun. He had a kind heart.”
Echard’s Linkedin profile says he graduated from the University of Missouri in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in health professions and related clinical sciences. He lists himself as a full-line sales representative with Stryker Orthopaedics, and he is working toward a master’s degree in business administration through online courses with Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau.
Rockwood School District officials said Echard’s younger brothers, Nate and Patrick, also graduated from Eureka High, Nate in 2013 and Patrick in 2015.
Clayton Echard’s likely stint as “The Bachelor” will gain two viewers for the show as Flower and Sumner said they plan to tune in to watch his journey.
“My daughter (Maddie) is a big fan of the show, so while she was home from school this last year, she made me watch one season,” Flower said.
Sumner said he had watched the show before with his wife, Emily, before the couple had three children, and he plans to tune in when Echard is “The Bachelor.”
“He’s just such a humble nice guy,” Sumner said. “I think everybody’s going to love him like we do around here.”