Former Sioux Falls Washington and Nebraska safety Nate Gerry joined KWSN's "Sports Talk with Craig and John" Monday, ahead of his Tuesday appearance at the Riggs Academy tackling clinic for youth football players in the Sanford Fieldhouse in Sioux Falls.
The interview covered Gerry's rookie season with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he evolved from a fifth-round draft pick who initially joined the practice squad as a safety, to becoming a special teams contributor on a Super Bowl champion, to now vying to become a starting linebacker.
You can hear the full 25-minute interview by clicking here!
All of Gerry's story just as a player, in one NFL season, is compelling.
But toward the end, the listener also gets a sense of Gerry's evolution as both a person and scholar, 18 months after the Huskers suspended him for their bowl game because of academic ineligibility.
In fact, Monday's KWSN interview interrupted Gerry while he was studying to earn his bachelor's degree, he said. More on that later.
The most interesting remarks from Gerry came when asked about President Donald Trump's cancellation of a traditional champions' visit to the White House in May, when Trump cited the team's disagreement with him on standing for the anthem.
"What got us to the Super Bowl was a lot of team unity," Gerry said. "Throughout the year, we had a lot of players stand up (against) social injustice. We were a team, so if we were all going, we were all going, but if (any of us) weren't going, we were all not going."
The 23-year-old said Trump's cancelled invitation (after almost all of the Eagles declined the initial invitation) was personally a "bummer" because he had always wanted to see the inside of the White House and enjoy the history of it.
"But, you know, when you're at that type of stage, a lot of people throw all the politics and all that other stuff into it," Gerry said. "A lot of us kids, we don't really look at that type of stuff. We just want to be one of those guys that said 'we've been in the White House.'
"But that's just what comes with the nature of the business. A lot of people on the outside and on social media and stuff throw in all the politics and all that stuff, so, they blow it out of proportion. It was unfortunate we couldn't go and couldn't make it work, but we had practice that day instead."
That's not to say Gerry didn't come in tune with the players on the team who were outspoken about racial inequality and raised fists in peaceful protest during the anthem.
"(I grew up in) a very good family and I've been surrounded by a safe environment, so I've never first-hand dealt with those situations," Gerry said. "But going through and meeting a lot of players on my team who have dealt with that, I've always respected their decisions and what their beliefs are. So, I stood behind the things I believed in. For me to help them do what they got to do, I always would. That's one thing that made our team so unique. We had a lot of people from different backgrounds, so it's really nice to see people stand for what they believe in."
Did that experience change anything Gerry believed politically or about the anthem issue?
"For the guys on my team, they never had anything to do with going against the military or anything like that. There are social injustices that are going on in the world today and they've always stood up for that. I've always stood up for that, as well, especially being a white athlete playing with a lot of African-American athletes, you see a lot of those things, and the differences and you learn a lot about people. And, for me, being from Sioux Falls, we don't have a lot of that type of stuff going on out here. So, for me, moving out East, you see a lot more of those things and it definitely opens your eyes a little bit."
While real world experience outside of football broadened Gerry's horizons, he is spending the summer taking online University of Nebraska courses in pursuit of his bachelor's degree "for the long run after football," something that he said has always been important to him, even though classwork didn't appear a priority his senior season.
Gerry was suspended for what would have been his final game of his Nebraska career, The Music City Bowl in Nashville in December of 2016.
At the time, the team co-captain tweeted: "I did not fulfill my academic responsibilities this semester and I want to apologize to my teammates and to Husker Nation."
Without arguably their best defender, the Huskers gave up 521 yards in a 38-24 loss to Tennessee.
Monday on KWSN, Gerry said he simply was thinking more about his emerging professional football career than his coursework that fall semester. He took the minimum amount of class hours needed to be eligible but could not reach the GPA required to stay eligible.
In other words, (ours, not his), he failed at least one of his courses. While some speculated at the time Gerry cast aside school altogether that season, he told KWSN "a lot of people blew it out of proportion a little bit."
"I always loved being in Nebraska. Nebraska always treated me well," Gerry said Monday about the suspension. "Unfortunately, I missed a couple classes. I came up short in one of my classes to be eligible.
"I thought I was going to take classes in the offseason in the second semester. But, I ended up getting invited to all the all-star games and combines and stuff like that, so I wasn't able to do it then.""
Any regrets?
"No, I wouldn't have changed anything," Gerry said. "The only thing that would have been nice is if I would have just taken more classes, so then I would have been fine. But, like I said, I was in a small amount of classes, so I didn't have any room for error."
Why is Gerry taking online classes -- for his communications major and sociology minor -- during the summer between a long and eventful rookie season and prior to the training camp to his sophomore campaign, when he'll be up for a starting spot?
"I'm young right now and I have a lot of that knowledge (from classes) stored in my head right now," Gerry said. "I think it'd be easier for me to finish now than 10 years down the road. It's always been what I've been told by a lot of my academic advisors and stuff like that. I don't very much left, so just to get it out of the way is going to be nice."