40 | AUGUST 26 • 2021
N
ick Chudler didn’t
live his dream, but he
came mighty close.
Chudler wanted to be the
long-snapper for the Michigan
State University football team.
He made the team as a pre-
ferred walk-on in 2018 and
was on the roster that season
and in 2019.
He didn’t get into any games
during those two seasons, but
he went with the Spartans
to the 2018 Redbox Bowl in
Santa Clara, Calif., where
MSU lost 7-6 to Oregon.
A bad back and new coach-
ing staff hired in 2020 brought
an end to Chudler’s MSU
football career after the 2019
season, but the 21-year-old
MSU senior from Novi is
happy he went to East Lansing
and turned down chances
to play football at smaller
schools.
“I’m a little disappointed
because I worked so hard at
long-snapping for a long time
and never got a chance to
show everyone at MSU what I
could do, but everything hap-
pens for a reason,” he said.
“I made the right choice to
go to MSU. No doubt.
“A very, very low percentage
of high school football players
go on to play Division I col-
lege football at a Power 5 con-
ference. I did it with my spine
at a 50-degree angle. And I
met so many people through
playing football for MSU.”
Chudler had specialized spi-
nal fusion back surgery May
3 at a hospital in New Jersey,
one of a few hospitals in the
country where the surgery is
done.
The surgery was delayed for
more than a year because of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chudler said doctors went
in through his right side and
installed tethers and eight
screws in his spine. He’s a little
more than three months into a
six-month recovery period.
“I’m not 100%. Not at all.
But I am doing some weight-
lifting,” he said. “My right side
is still numb, but that’s slowly
getting better. The numbness
is a weird feeling. I was told
that would happen.”
Recovering from back
surgery didn’t squash all of
Chudler’s summer plans. He
still did an internship in a
West Bloomfield insurance
office, starting the part-time
job three weeks after the sur-
gery.
Chudler plans to graduate
from MSU next spring. Health
communications is his major.
Sales leadership is a minor.
He wants to go into medical
device sales after earning a
master’s degree, specializing
in spinal devices. No surprise
there.
There’s a chance — he labels
it at 40% — that he’ll enter the
NCAA transfer portal after he
graduates from MSU and see
if he can latch on with another
college football program.
Being in a Division I col-
lege football program was an
eye-opening experience for
Chudler, a football and wres-
tling standout at Orchard Lake
St. Mary’s High School.
“I wish I could describe
the difference between high
school football and Division I
football. It’s insane,” he said.
How insane?
Chudler is normally a
6-foot, 195-pounder. He said
he bulked up to 230 pounds
when he was on the MSU
football team so he could have
a fighting chance to battle in
the trenches after he snapped
the ball.
“I hated weighing that
much,” he said. “I felt heavy.
My clothes didn’t fit. It
seemed like I was the biggest
guy when I was in class, but
the guys on the football team
were much bigger than I am.
“I had four roommates in a
house last school year. All of
them were on the MSU foot-
ball team. Only one is still on
the team this season. These
guys are all good players.”
Send sports news to
stevestein502004@yahoo.com.
SPORTS
Nick Chudler walked
Nick Chudler walked
on to the MSU football
on to the MSU football
team and walked
team and walked
away glad he did it.
away glad he did it.
Snap
Decision
Was a
Good One
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Nick
Chudler
ABOVE: Michigan State’s Nick Chudler works on his long-snapping before a 2018 game against Michigan at Spartan Stadium.
KIM SOKOL
MSU