ITG-SEGA / September 2016
Meeting the Vidalia Indian’s Nate McBride face to face for the first time can be intimidating. He stands 6’3″ and weighs a solid 230 pounds. He is built like a prototypical NFL linebacker even though he is still a senior in high school. His golden locks of hair pulled back from his face, he gives off an almost Herculean presence filled with self-confidence. He is one of the most highly recruited football players in the nation, and he has mailbags full of scholarship offers to prove it – one bag for regular letters, another for hand-written notes from college coaches. With a resume like his, McBride is fast becoming a local legend of sorts. But speaking with him reveals a surprisingly humble young man who is just as serious about his faith and academics as he is about football. Among the highlights of his young life was a week-long camp sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at Epworth By The Sea on St. Simons Island. “It changed me and my walk with Christ,” McBride said. “We had to wash feet just like Jesus did because that shows true leadership because you’ve got to be a servant to be a leader.”
When Vidalia High School’s jerseys were no longer up to par, McBride asked Coach Lee Chomskis if they could buy new ones he had designed on the Adidas website. Trying to quash the idea at the start, Chomskis told him that if he could raise the money he could get the jerseys, but he could not use current sponsors. McBride asked the National Recruiting Director of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, Erik Richards, if Adidas would give the Indians a discount for McBride playing in the 2017 game. They agreed, and Coach Chomskis gave him the name of a Vidalia alumnus who helped. Adidas visited the school and verified everything, a check was written, and now Vidalia will debut their new McBride-designed jerseys on Aug. 26 during their home opener against Appling County.
This intelligent and spiritual young man becomes a beast when he steps onto a football field. Stories started circling about Nate McBride shortly after his freshman year when he attended four day-camps and received offers from each one: Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The senior is one of the fastest and hardest-hitting defenders in the class of 2017. “Nathan McBride is certainly an incredible football player,” Chomskis said. “He is a highly ranked linebacker and an incredible halfback, too. His size, speed, and athleticism set him apart from most.” As a sophomore, McBride had 128 tackles and two interceptions and also ran for 402 yards and five touchdowns as a running back, leading the Indians to the third-round of the state playoffs. In a game against region foe Bryan County, McBride had an 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a 50-yard catch for a touchdown, a 25-yard run for a touchdown, and an interception. He was all set to play his junior year after overcoming a broken left hand he suffered at a training camp. But it wasn’t to be.
On Thursday, Aug. 13, 2015, McBride was driving home following an after-practice dinner. It was just eight days before Vidalia’s home opener against Swainsboro and the day before the team’s preseason scrimmage. He was almost home when he dozed off and his Dodge Ram truck slammed into a tree. “I felt the bump of hitting the dirt road and then saw a tree coming at me,” McBride said. The collision sounded like an explosion and was heard by a pastor and his wife who live nearby. Dazed and in pain, McBride called his father and told him. His dad rushed to the scene and found an ambulance, sheriff’s deputies, and his son with his hand on a pillow.
Fortunately, his injuries were minor compared to what could have happened. He had severely injured his right wrist and re-broken his left hand. “As soon as I looked at my wrist, I knew something was wrong with it,” McBride said. He went to the hospital, and before long, the news spread like wildfire through Toombs County. The hospital waiting room soon filled with team members and well-wishers from the community. Word also got to college coaches who showed their concern. His dad took a call from, then, Georgia coach Mark Richt while Nate was being prepped for surgery and then another from coach Kirby Smart on behalf of Alabama coach Nick Saban.
Doctors reset the bones in his wrist and then used nine pins and an anchor to hold them in place while they healed. McBride had casts on both hands for three months. The cast on his right wrist stayed on another two months and was replaced by a brace. McBride underwent extensive physical therapy to return the strength, mobility, and motion to the wrist. By February, he was given a “yellow light” to begin lifting small amounts of weight. “There was no yellow light for me,” McBride said. “As soon as I started lifting again, I was going as heavy as I could.” McBride knew he was back to 100 percent when he was able to bench press 405-pounds once again, the bench he attained prior to the accident. Now that bench is up to 450 as he continues to get stronger. He is chomping at the bit to get back on the football field.
“I feel like he’s 100 percent,” Chomskis said. “He’s full speed in the weight room doing all the things to put stress on that wrist. He’s been cleared by the doctors and been given the stamp of approval, so we feel good about him.”
ITG Web Content
The Future Is Back In His Hands
By Rob Asbell
Photos by Ginger Russell
