Nick Easley’s first season of work earns a scholarship

A year of determination and hard work allowed Nick Easley to turn a dream into reality. Growing up in Newton, Easley dreamed of playing football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Almost to the day a year ago, Easley sat down with the Newton Daily News to talk about his decision to go to the University of Iowa as a preferred walk-on for the Hawkeye football team. After arriving in Iowa City, Easley went to work in the classroom and in everything Hawkeye football.

“It was always about to push harder. I kept making little goals for myself,” Easley said of the offseason work he did.

“Coach (Kelton) Copeland, our receivers coach, really has talked to me about goals. He has instilled in me about setting achievable, attainable and measurable goals. You get better at this or that, then set another goal. That’s how you make strides.”

Easley made strides throughout the 2017 season.

He bookended his first season as a Hawkeye with two important receptions. Easley earned a starting wide receiver spot, which he held all season, and caught his first touchdown pass in the season opener at Iowa’s Kinnick Stadium against Wyoming. The junior finished the season with a 32-yard reception for a first down to kickstart the Hawkeyes’ rally for a bowl game victory.

Easley found out on Dec. 19 he would play his senior season for Iowa as a scholarship player. It was a season filled with memories for the 5-foot-11, 203-pound Easley.

“It was an amazing feeling,” Easley said of his first TD reception as a Hawkeye. “I knew I was around the 5-yard line. I just had to get in so I made the dive for the pylon. I wasn’t sure if I stepped out of bounds or not.

“I was sitting there and looked up at the official. Seeing him signal touchdown and having my teammates running down to celebrate with me was so surreal. It was so much more than I could have imagined.”

Easley said he was really nervous in the first game of the season on Sept. 2 against Wyoming. He was a bit in awe of stepping out there in front of 70,000 people.

“Once I caught the first pass, I settled down. It was a weird catch — back around a guy — and I think it was the first pass completion of the season. It was a first down and the roar of the crowd,” Easley said.

There were 48 more receptions throughout the regular season for Easley. He had three more touchdown catches. One of those came against Penn State in a home game for the Hawkeyes.

“Catching the TD in the Penn State game was memorable, just because it was against Penn State,” he said.

Iowa trailed the Nittany Lions 5-0 when sophomore quarterback Nate Stanley hooked up with Easley for a 21-yard scoring strike just before halftime. Penn State rallied on the final play of the game to win 21-19.

After wrapping up the regular season with a win at Nebraska, Iowa was awarded the Pinstripe Bowl game on Dec. 27 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. The Hawkeyes faced Boston College.

Before the bowl game, Easley had to heal up. He suffered two broken ribs and a collapsed lung in the second quarter of the Nebraska game.

“I made a catch and got sandwiched between two tacklers. We think I may have fallen on the ball and the pile of players on me,” Easley said. “I knew I was hurt but kept playing. At halftime, I was hurting pretty bad then in the second half I was having hard time breathing.”

Easley didn’t take many offensive plays off during the season. When he wasn’t running routes for passes, he was blocking for Iowa’s potent running game.

“They really get the receivers involved in the blocking for the running game. That is something I felt I made a lot of progress on. Those things don’t show up in the box score but can make a big difference in games,” Easley said.

Iowa was up big on Nebraska in the second half on its way to a 56-14 win. Easley said he didn’t play much in the second half. He ended up spending time in the Stead Family Children’s Hospital in Iowa City.

“All the beds were full in the unit I was suppose to be in at the adult hospital. So the younger patients were moved to the children’s hospital. I had a great room with a view of Kinnick Stadium,” Easley said.

Easley healed and played every offensive snap in the Pinstripe Bowl. He said he wore a flak jacket to protect his ribs.

With Iowa trailing Boston College 17-10 midway through the third quarter, Easley snagged his lone pass reception from Stanley in the game.

The pass play went for 32 yards and a first down at the Eagles’ 13-yard line. Two running plays by Akrum Wadley resulted in a tying TD with 7:11 left in the third period. Iowa went on to win 27-20 to finish 8-5 for the season.

“It was the coldest game I’d played in. The natural grass was frozen and it was like trying to play on ice,” Easley said. “Nate did a really good job of looking the safety off. He put a really good ball up and I was able to make a play to spark our offense.”

Easley’s journey started at Newton High School, where he set the team’s single-season TD reception mark of nine in 2013. He went to Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs and excelled as a receiver.

Easley had just finished a banner sophomore season as a wide receiver for Iowa Western in 2016. He was looking for an opportunity to play NCAA Division I football. Easley made a decision to walk on at Iowa State then Iowa came knocking at his door.

“Playing at the highest level is what I’ve always wanted,” Easley said. “And to have the opportunity to play at Iowa was a dream come true for me.”

Easley was named to the 2016 National Junior College Athletic Association’s All-America Football First-Team offense. Easley’s 72 receptions was No. 1 in the NJCAA this season. His 954 yards was fifth in the NJCAA. Easley’s 954 yards puts in second on the IWCC Reiver’s single-season total list.

Easley worked relentlessly during the offseason, spring football, over the summer and right through the football season this year. He said he knew he had to work harder than he had ever done before to attain his goals.

“It was a sense of accomplishment when they told me I was a starter, but I knew there was work to be done,” Easley said. “It was great to have the confidence of my coaches.”

Working with senior receiver Matt VandeBerg, Easley said VandeBerg took him under his wing and really helped him in many ways this season. He said VandeBerg was like a big brother helping Easley learn how to handle himself and work.

“Most importantly, he taught me how to watch film, really watch it which is something I hadn’t done a lot of,” Easley said. “This season was a validation for all the hard work I’ve put in. I finally broke through to want I had been dreaming about all my life. The work is not done for me. There’s always things to improve on so I can be the best I can be for the team.”

Easley led the Hawkeyes in receiving with 51 receptions for 530 yards. He had four touchdown catches. He rushed for 11 yards on two carries.

Easley said Stanley was only a sophomore but was mature as the Hawkeye quarterback. He said Stanley is a steady guy as a leader.

“We worked a lot after practices on little things. We spent a lot of time working on our connection,” Easley said.

Easley’s first touchdown catch was for 45 yard. He also scored a touchdown in front of his hometown fans on Newton Day at Kinnick Stadium.

“I scored in the end zone at the end most them were sitting in that game. I’ve really had great support from the Newton community,” Easley said.

Easley said another memorable game was the win over Ohio State at home. He didn’t score in the game, but it didn’t matter.

“It was a great team game for us. I remember watching the fans rushing the field after the game,” Easley said. “It was amazing. I always loved being at games at Kinnick but to play here for Iowa and have the crowd — it’s awesome.”

The elementary education major said finding out he would be on scholarship for his senior year at Iowa made him happy not just for himself but his family. He said his family has supported him through the years.

“To be able to play Iowa football and get my education at Iowa is important to me. Being on scholarship helps financially for my family and I proud I was able to do that,” Easley said. “I’m working to have a better season next year.”

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535
or jsheets@newtondailynews.com