From peewee to college football
Current Western Carolina Catamount and former Murphy Bulldog Micah Nelson.
Cullowhee – When Micah Nelson showed up for the first pee-wee football practice, the coaching staff quickly found out that this 6-year-old boy was football savvy.
Then again, why wouldn’t he be? His father, Thomas Nelson, was a football coach, and he had grown up watching his dad.
That little guy went on to lead Murphy High School to a 1A state championship in 2018. He then went on to make the football team at Western Carolina University, where he has twice been named to the All-Southern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
Nelson finished his bachelor’s degree in health physical education this spring, but his journey has not been a bed of roses. He was set to explode during his senior season in 2023, but an injury during summer workouts ended his season before it started. Nelson was redshirted his first year at Western Carolina.
“I really needed that redshirt year to get bigger and stronger,” he said.
That year, the boy grew into being a man. When he started his career at Murphy, he was about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed 130 pounds. When he graduated in 2019, he was 6’1’ and 200 pounds.
As he begins his final year of eligibility at Western, Nelson is 6’4’’ and 265 pounds. The college made him a defensive end and outside linebacker.
Nelson worked into the starting lineup at Western during his sophomore year. He had a torn labrum on his right shoulder, but he played through that injury. During his junior year, he was injured on the last play of the game against Chattanooga
“It was the last play of the game,” Nelson said. “There was like 30 seconds left, I got a strip sack, but on that play, I tore my meniscus.”
He had surgery. However, Nelson then pulled the labrum in his left shoulder while he was rehabbing from the torn meniscus.
He got through that and was ready to start his senior season.
“I had some pain in my knee, but I thought that was just part of the recovery process,” Nelson said.
After his knee gave way a couple of times, Western’s coaches sent him back to the medical team to be evaluated before the season. Sure enough, he had torn his meniscus again, which meant another surgery.
Nelson asked the doctor how bad it was after the surgery, because that would determine how long he would have to be on crutches. The doctor informed him that during the surgery they had found that he also had a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“I had no idea I had a torn ACL,” Nelson said. “I had been running and cutting, and I thought if I had a torn ACL, I would be laying on the ground screaming.”
That discovery brought on surgery No. 3 for meniscus and ACL reconstruction.
About three weeks from his third surgery, he woke up one morning with severe pain in a very swollen knee. He thought he had re-torn something while he slept.
Another trip to the doctor discovered he had an infection, which required emergency surgery. The infection had spread into his bloodstream, and he had to have antibiotic infusions.
“It was rough,” Nelson said. “I was throwing up, and I lost like 40 pounds.”
He credits his dad and mother, Becky, along with sisters Grace and Tyra, for taking care of him during that time. Over three weeks, he had to go to the hospital every day for an IV of antibiotics.
Today, Nelson is attending grad school, working toward a master’s degree in sports management.
He had to miss Western Carolina’s spring practice this year, but was cleared in May to start summer workouts. He looks forward to this season where he expects to start.
In the 2022 season, he had 35 total tackles. 14 solo, 21 assists and three sacks.
Nelson said he plans to finish out this year, then do some kind of work outside of coaching for a few years to make a little money. However, like his dad, he wants to coach someday.
When Nelson was playing on that pee-wee football team, one week Murphy was playing Robbinsville. The Black Knights had a girl on their team, so since the Bulldogs were trailing at halftime, Murphy’s team mom thought it would be a good idea for a pep talk.
“You guys don’t want to beat by a girl, do you?” the team mom told the payers. She looked at Nelson and asked, “Micah, you wouldn’t want to get beat by Grace, would you?”
Nelson’s reply made the coach laugh out loud. “Grace,” he said, “is pretty tough.”