Fort Collins – Defensive end Jesse Nading kept charging, though a Colorado State football practice in shorts and helmets dictated restraint.
He told wide receiver David Anderson, a two-time all-conference player, he felt badly for grabbing him.
“I’m not trying to hurt anybody, especially him,’ Nading said.
In the next breath, Nading said it was most likely his last apology on the football field.
In a spring when CSU’s three other projected starters on the defensive line missed time with injuries, Nading has stood out by going all-out.
“Jesse’s a different player now than last year when he was feeling his way around,’ said CSU coach Sonny Lubick, who said he believes the 6-foot-5, 250-pound Nading is headed toward stardom.
The 2002 state high school defensive player of the year out of ThunderRidge earned third-team freshman All-America honors last fall after starting half the season as a redshirt freshman. He had 11 tackles in the Rams’ season-ending loss at Air Force.
With the Rams approaching Saturday’s spring game at Rocky Mountain High School’s French Field, Nading is positioned to extend CSU’s string of all-conference defensive ends.
“He’s got a chance to be great,’ defensive ends coach Jesse Williams said.
Nading earned academic all-Mountain West Conference honors with a 3.43 grade-point average in business administration and loves to brag about younger brother Tyler’s stratospheric SAT scores. Nading’s classroom smarts carry over to football.
“He doesn’t forget what you’re saying,’ Williams said.
CSU dominated all-conference lists in the 1990s with defensive ends such as Sean Moran, Brady Smith, Adrian Ross, Joey Porter and Clark Haggans, all of whom went on to the NFL. Pete Hogan followed as an all-MWC defensive end, Andre Sommersell was the last player picked in the 2004 NFL draft and all-MWC player Patrick Goodpaster has late-round or free- agent aspirations this weekend.
Nading hopes to continue in that tradition. “I still have a lot of work to do,’ he said.
CSU recruits at defensive end hear about the tradition until the day they leave Fort Collins.
“A lot of kids come here because of the tradition we have,’ Williams said. “We give them examples, and let them understand why they were so successful. It wasn’t just athletic talent, but how hard they worked, how fast they pursued to the ball. They were not only making plays on their side of the field but on the other side of the field.’
Playmaking was a lost art for the defense a year ago in a 4-7 season.
“This spring it’s a real big point of emphasis, addressing it head-on,’ Nading said. “Knowing that it’s a problem and in order to be a successful football team, it’s something that has to be fixed.’
Natalie Meisler can be reached at 303-820-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com.
