Matthew Nelson

The game of football takes grit, determination, and strength to be successful. For many, years of work are put in and goals can remain unconquered.

However, for senior Bryant Hornet edge rusher and official Oklahoma Sooner commit Matthew Nelson, the game is simply “fun.”

“I have never been a big football guy,” Nelson said. “It was always that sense of being able to hit someone and not get in trouble for it. Then it’s the grind in practice that you work with your teammates and get better every day. Then it’s game day and it all comes together. It is a sense of happiness.”

As Bryant’s top edge with a target on the quarterback, Nelson said there is little that feels better than sacking a quarterback.

“There is nothing better than hitting a quarterback and then your teammates come around smacking you and hyping you up,” Nelson added. “Especially during a heated game.”

Nelson finished his junior season last year with 29 total tackles with 2.5 going for a loss and a sack on his way to helping Bryant to a sixth 7A state championship in seven seasons.

While the game of football is not Nelson’s top priority, his journey started young in the pee-wee organizations.

The 6-feet, 5-inch senior first moved to Bryant in the first grade and attempted several sports during his childhood.

“My parents always wanted to put me in sports: ‘if you like it you can stay in it; if you don’t then that is all you,’” Nelson said. “I played baseball as a kid, and I tried soccer; that wasn’t it.”

While football has stayed consistent, Nelson has had to make major changes to his game since joining the Hornets at the high school level.

“My freshman year I played linebacker and did not touch the field,” Nelson said. “Then our starting defensive end got injured at the start of my junior year. Coach Travis Queck texted me one weekend saying he has a new position, and I switched to defensive end. It was on from there. All thanks to Coach Queck.

“My thought was, I am willing to do anything. If coach sees that and thinks I will be a good fit there, then I’m ready to work.”

Aside from the football gridiron, Nelson excels on the track as well, starring as a hurdler for the Hornets.

“I don’t remember it, but my grandparents always told me that when I was little, I loved to run,” Nelson said. “Track is something you can do and have no remorse. You just go has hard or soft as you want to.”

Though tall and weighing in at 217, Nelson is speedy with a 4.5-second 40-yard dash. Nelson said he took his opportunity and ran with it after Queck’s text message, quickly becoming one of Bryant’s best on defense.

With his talent showing every Friday night—and Bryant beating everyone—outsiders began to take notice of Nelson’s ability and moved in, in hopes of landing the senior at the next level.

“Coach Miguel Chavis, OU defensive end coach, called me on lunch,” Nelson said. “You could feel his energy through the phone. You could tell how much he loves his players and how much he wants to build a relationship with you. He is a different dude.

“You only feel peace at home or with your family. You could feel that as soon as you walked in there. It was home. All the players and energy, they are actual people just being themselves. They are all genuine people.”

Committing to an SEC school can be a blessing or a curse, given the explosiveness and talent funneled into the conference each spring.

For Nelson, he said he is ready for the challenge at OU.

“When I committed to OU it was a sense of peace. Nothing else matters. It was like the feeling of lying in your bed after a long day,” Steele said.

Currently, Nelson has not received his official offer, due to time restraints during his initial meeting.

Despite being a recruit for an SEC powerhouse, Nelson said he is not a major football fan and would rather be in a mud hole or on a horse somewhere in his free time. “Growing up in Arkansas you are a Razorback fan,” Nelson said. “But I have never been a die-hard fan. As a kid I never watched football. I was always outside in the mud. I have always been an outside kid.”

The classroom is a major focal point for Nelson as well, as he enters his final year of high school with a stellar GPA.

“The classroom is like being in a sport: you have to work at it,” Nelson said. “Playing two sports, you miss class, but you can text or call and find out what was discussed so you can complete it when you get back. Some teachers are lenient and help you. They understand.”

Nelson said that while his size can be intimidating, he is simply living life like anyone else.

“I am just a regular kid,” Nelson said. “But if I’m not playing football or running, I will be riding horses or riding 4-wheelers, finding some mud somewhere.”

Looking back on his career so far, Nelson said highlights that stick with him come back to the Little Rock Christian Academy game last season where Bryant won 49-0.

“It was when I tackled Kemp Kelly and he fumbled the ball and our other d-end picked it up and ran it in for the touchdown,” Nelson said.

With the Salt Bowl returning to Saline County this season, Nelson looked back on his time in the big game, never forgetting when his teammate Zach Kertis-Jones swarmed and laid a major hit on a Benton player.

“That had me hyped,” Nelson added.

While many young athletes have those one or two people to whom they give the credit for making them successful, Nelson is unique.

“I don’t have just one person I admire,” he said. “I give it to my teammates who have moved on. They are closer to what I am going through, so if I need something I ask them. They know what I am dealing with.”

Nelson said he is truly looking forward to his final season at Bryant before moving west to Oklahoma. νJosh Briggs