Nick Nash always dreamed of being able to play on a Division 1 National Collegiate Athletics Association football team.
Similar to other kids, he would throw around a football outside with friends and family, hoping one day to be the best of the best.
However, only so many of these kids are selected to play football on the national stage.
Nash began playing football at around eight years old, and is now living his dream as a San José State Spartans wide receiver.
“I think (it) was always a dream of mine, of course, like it is any kid’s,” Nash said. “Luckily for me, that dream was realized.”
He said his parents were among his biggest supporters.
His dad, Kenny Nash, is a former wide receiver for SJSU according to the SJSU Spartans website.
“My dad was a football player, and a big time football fan,” Nick Nash said. “We’d watch football on Sundays together, and that’s what drew me to (football). Every halftime would play catchup and I’d force him to come out and play catch with me.”
Emmett Brown, the Spartans’ starting quarterback, said Nick Nash has a great work ethic.
“Nick is just a hard worker in general. You always see him putting the extra work in,” Brown said. “His confidence comes from outworking everybody.”
Nash has become one of the best wide receivers in any conference in the NCAA and places fourth in all conferences for receiving yards, according to the ESPN website.
He is currently first in the Mountain West conference in receiving yards, having 637 yards received, according to the same website.
SJSU’s head football coach, Ken Niumatalolo said Nash has had a lot of help that developed him into the person he is today.
“I met (his) mom last week — what an amazing woman, recognizing all she’s done raising him ... He’s a great young man,” Niumatalolo said.
He said that Nash is not just a good player but also a leader to the team.
“The way he leads is more by example,” Niumatalolo said. “He’s a competitor, and I love that.”
The Spartans currently rank second in the Mountain West Conference with 1 win against other teams in the conference and an overall record of 3-1.
“I think what I do on the field gives people energy and it gives people almost like a sort of hope,” Nash said. “They know me, they’ve seen me ... I think it gives them that energy, like, ‘Okay, we got this, we can do this.’ ”
Nash said he’s grateful for all the support he’s received and that he’s made friends from playing football.
“We hang out all the time,” Brown said. “(We’re) really good friends. (We) love to play poker, golf, you name it.”
Still, amidst the fun of playing football, Nash is constantly doing things related to his sport and spends around 80% of his time practicing, playing, and thinking about football.
“It can be amazing at times, (and) it can be stressful at times,” Nash said. “ It’s a full-time job playing football. At the end of the day, this is a business, and you have to work really hard at what you do to perfect your craft.”
Though he did not claim to be great when he was younger, his work ethic has given him some of the best statistics.
“I think I was pretty average,” Nash said. “I think I just loved to play the sport. I never really knew how I stacked up against other competition, but I thought I was pretty good.”
Focusing on the present and the future is what keeps him positive after times when he makes mistakes or his team takes a loss, he said.
Nash hopes following his career at SJSU he will continue playing football after graduating.
“I’m going to try out for the NFL, and if that doesn’t work out, we’ll see,” Nash said.
