A different level of commitment
BB&N football stars ink letters to attend the Naval Academy
On Wednesday, senior football players across the state made their college plans official by inking a National Letter Intent on the first day of the early signing period. For Buckingham, Browne & Nichols stars Jaden Young and Nate Roach, their choice represented a different level of commitment.
The Knights duo signed to play for the United States Naval Academy in a virtual ceremony, a decision that not only sets their academic and athletic futures in motion, but marks a call to serve their country.
“I knew I had a lot of great opportunities, a lot of great places where I could go and play football and get a great degree, but I just kind of knew I wanted to do something a little more,” said Roach. “Jason MacDonald, the recruiting coordinator in our area, everything that he laid out for us as far as what the Naval Academy is about and the opportunities it gives you, really aligned with what I was looking for.”
“(Nate and I) have a very similar mindset,” said Young. “A lot of great places reached out and gave us great opportunities to play football and go to their institutions, but after months of hard and serious thought I just came to the conclusion that going to serve while getting one of the best educations and playing some of the best football that I could was something I wanted to do.”
Young, a 6-foot-3, 270pound defensive lineman from Cambridge, and Roach, a 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive lineman from Manchester, N.H., each had several Division I offers, including from multiple Ivy League schools. They each gave verbal commitments in July and will attend Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I., next year before beginning their plebe year.
The close friends, who call themselves Yin and Yang and are known for their battles in practice, discussed their options during the recruiting process. But when things started to heat up this summer, they decided to give each other some space to reach a decision without influencing the other.
When the verdicts came in, both were headed to Annapolis.
“I think a lot of it is we share a lot of the same values,” said Roach. “We push each other to the max no matter what, whether it’s practice, whether it’s a game, whether it’s in the classroom, too. Every day we try to make ourselves better, and the Naval Academy is all about just pushing yourself that much harder. And so I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise that we both independently wanted to go to the Naval Academy.”
Both drew inspiration from family members in making the decision to serve as each had someone close to them become Marines recently — for Roach, his brother Caden Sullivan, and for Young, his cousin Nate Singleton.
“When I thought about serving, my family and I live in this country and I think it’s important,” said Young. “I wouldn’t want anyone to harm my family or friends. Going to serve and protect not only my family and all the families in this country go to the core values that I hold dear to my heart, and I think serving is just one of those things that I so admire.”
Roach said he is interested in engineering while Young joked that he is probably a bit too big for the submarine program, but both said that the Naval Academy will allow them some time to find their particular area of study or field.
BB&N coach Mike Willey said prior to the ceremony, which was attended by more than 60 well-wishers, that the day was bittersweet — a sad one saying goodbye to a couple of program anchors who have been exemplary leaders through a difficult senior year without a season, but a proud one for what lies ahead.
“Landing at the Naval Academy, one of the hardest places to get into, one of the most rigorous programs with the best track record of leadership, so many great institutional values match up with these young men, so I know they are a great fit and are going to have nothing but success,” said Willey.