The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chubb glad to finally give back to Cedartown
Former UGA star RB gives his high school 65 ‘Epic-Plus’ helmets.
Nick Chubb CEDARTOWN, GA. — is finally able to give back. And he’s just getting started. The Georgia running back, who only recently signed his first NFL contract with Cleveland Browns, made his first donation as a millionaire benefactor last week. And, for him, there was never a doubt who would be the beneficiary. Well, it was more of a whom, or an it, if you will. It was Cedartown High School. More specifi- cally, the football team. Chubb gave the small northwest Georgia program he helped make famous 65 football helmets. And before you utter “big deal,” you should know these are the top-of-the-line “Epic-Plus” helmets by Xenith. Chubb recently signed a sponsorship deal with the up-and-coming sports apparel manufacturer. Along with a few other amenities from Xenith, Cedartown coach Doyle Kelley estimates the gift to be worth at least $15,000. But money is not what this was all about. For Chubb, this was about being able to do something for a place that has his heart. That’s
Cedartown, the city, the school, the football program and that weight room behind the stadium.
“This is my first chance to actually give back,” Chubb said in an interview on Doc Ayers Field before his presentation ceremony. “Xenith offered me a deal and I loved it. It’s a chance to give something back to a placewhere I grew up and loved so much and is so dear to me. So, it was a perfect way formeto show how appreciative I am of this town that made me a better person.”
About those helmets — there’s a little back story. This wasn’t just a pro athlete landing an endorsement deal and leveraging that to help out his alma mater. What people may ormay not realize is Chubb’s relationship with Xenith dates to when he was still a relatively unknown running back at Cedartown High.
It is Scott Hendrix — then his football coach, now the school’s principal – who’s responsible for putting Chubb in a Xenith helmet. The way he tells it, early in Chubb’s junior year his team-issued Riddell helmet kept flying off the hard-charging back in games. By rule that meant he’d have to come out of the game and sit out a play. Both player and coach quickly tired of that.
“One game, he’s over there on the sideline on fourth-and-2 and I’m losing my mind,” said Hendrix, who was master of ceremonies at last week’s ceremony at the Hon Community Center. “So I started calling around and a guy told me about this Xenith helmet and how well the chinstrap pulls the padding against the back of your head and makes it less likely to come off. So I said, ‘send it.’”
Xenith did, and Chubb has worn that brand ever since. So the star tailback for the Nike school known as Georgia was wearing a Xenith helmet his entire career as a Bulldog. The manufacturer’s name had to be covered for every game.
Such brand loyalty sums up the walking phenomena that is Nick Chubb. Chubb recently signed a $7.38 million deal that included $3.4 million up front as the second-round pick (35th overall) of the Cleveland Browns, and now he’s starting to rack up the endorsements, too. They include Dodge, Nike and several others. All of them have some kind of special connection to Chubb.
But you’d never know he’s now “in the money.” His attire was typically understated at his old school Thursday, dressed in faded jeans and an untucked grey Polo. And so far at least, Chubb hasn’t made any big moves with his bank roll. He has spent more time in Cedartown than anywhere since leaving UGA. He still sleeps in his room in his mother’s same house in nearby Dallas, Ga., and he’s still driving the same car he drove in college.
“I haven’t done anything,” Chubb said proudly. “I try to act like I’m broke.”
Well, he did get his mother, La’velle, a new Jeep Cherokee on Mother’s Day. But that was an endorsement as well (Banks Crossing Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram), so he actually didn’t come out of pocket for it.
And that’s kind of how Chubb rolls. Let’s just say he’s playing for a rainy day. He said he hopes to do “something big” in this area, but that won’t come until his NFL career ends “in my 30s.”
So far, Chubb said, the NFL has been great. He has been through two minicamps and he’ll report for training camp in Berea, Ohio, in two weeks. Chubb bought a “modest” home in Cleveland, but when he’s with the team he famously rooms with Baker Mayfield, quarterback of the same Oklahoma Sooners the Bulldogs dramatically dispatched in the Rose Bowl.
There have been a lot of jokes made about that, but Chubb says he actually likes the guy and they get along well.
“He’s a really good guy despite what everybody says about him,” Chubb said. “I enjoy working with him and living with him. It’s fun.”