Captain Cade: Football and Family All Part of the Journey for Nelson

WESTFIELD, Mass. —   Homecoming brings an added focus on Westfield State's Alumni, and Owls defensive lineman and team captain Cade Nelson carries on a family tradition by being a standout athlete at Westfield State.

Cade's father, Erik, was a two-time baseball captain as a student-athlete at Westfield State from 1989 to 1993. Erik mashed five home runs his junior year before hitting .321 with nine doubles as a senior.

"He is someone that I have always looked up to," Cade said of his father. "My dad is one of the best people I know, he has definitely been my main role model throughout my life. My dad and I are close. He has installed the values that I walk with every single day." 

Cade  is a fifth-year football player at Westfield State and is a captain for the second time, but it means just a little bit more than a captainship to him, being a leader on this team quite literally runs in his blood.

"My dad instilled in me on day one how to be a leader," Nelson said. "We were one of the youngest teams in the country so I felt that because we don't have the older guys I will have to step up as a leader."

Nelson is part of the last class of "Covid Seniors" – student-athletes who lost a season to the pandemic in 2020, and were granted an extra season of eligibility by the NCAA to have the opportunity to complete the traditional four-year careers on the playing field while continuing to further their education.   Post-pandemic in 2021, the Owls rostered 53 freshman and sophomores, all first-time collegiate players, for the season.

Coming out of high school, Nelson's dream and aspirations were high and large. He wasn't quite sure what this next chapter of his life would hold but never in a million years would he think Covid-19 would be in the cards.

"It was more than an adjustment," Nelson said on his first year of college, when the pandemic was still in full swing. "It was huge. I mean freshman year coming in not knowing what college was and then being bombarded with covid, it was a major change in my life. A time when I was thinking I would have more freedom but then this freedom was taken away because of covid. It was really tough but honestly, looking back on it, there are so many lessons I have learned coming into college and it has made me who I am today."

From weathering the pandemic in his first year, to returning for a fifth year to play out his eligibility, and seeing a coaching change before his final season, Nelson's journey in college has been nothing short of crazy, but one thing he would not change is where his home is.

Nelson says he has always had the leadership bone ever since he was the football, basketball, and baseball captain at his high school in Shrewsbury.

"He is bought all in," Head coach Lou Conte Jr. says about Cade. "He is someone that you want all your guys to be alike. He is a perfect example of a leader and has been since day one."

Conte is in his first-year as head coach of the Owls and has made a great impression and impact on Cade and the team.

"Lou has been great for the team," Nelson exclaimed. "There was a culture change the first day he came in, he holds people accountable for their actions. We come in with an emphasis of hard work every day, we're gonna come in to do everything right on the field and take no shortcuts off the field. But the main thing that has been huge is coming in every single day with a purpose."

Conte Jr. said Nelson is well sought after by his teammates and is someone that leads the locker room well. "Cade is someone that you can just feel the energy shift in the room with his presence. He has been great for me and is really a second coach on the field."

Cade earned all-conference honors in his first year of football in the fall of 2021, and again in 2023. Nelson has adapted on the field this season as the Owls shifted from a 4-3 defense where he played as a defensive tackle, to playing defensive end in Westfield's new 3-4 defensive front.

Cade currently ranks fourth on the team with 20 tackles, has two sacks, and ranks fourth in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic with six tackles for a loss as the team heads into Saturday's homecoming game against Framingham State.

"I like the staff and how welcoming they were," Nelson said about choosing Westfield. "I love the campus, I love how compact it is. My dad also came here so I felt comfortable with the area. I like the fact that it is the best of both worlds, city on one side, country on the other. I have always wanted to do something in criminal justice. It has always been a priority to help people and I thought the criminal justice program was great here."

Nelson says that Westfield State has set him up for success on the field but more importantly in the classroom.

"Academics has been a priority of mine," Nelson said. "Westfield has offered me structure in balancing D-III sports as well as my academics. I have had a huge help from the faculty and staff, they are always willing to work with me and set me up for success. The culture around Westfield is you get out what you put in. I have noticed the more and more you work hard, the more and more the faculty and staff want to work with me to achieve my academic and career goals."

Nelson wants to further his ability to help others by going into a career in criminal justice. Nelson says he wants to either pursue his passion in the form of Massachusetts State Police, local police, or military.

"Westfield State has set me up great," said Nelson on his future. "The university has given me so many resources that I can use and opportunities to research which career path I would like to take. I have had a lot of alumni connections that are willing to help me through this process. So no matter which one I chose, I know I will be there to help contribute and make a difference in any of those career paths."

Nelson may be known for his MASCAC all-conference awards or his Player of the Week honors but he has always wanted to be more than just a football player. He has always wanted to make a difference anywhere he could along his way. Nelson came into the football team and knew he had to make an impact right away and he has left his mark on all of athletics.

"I want to leave Westfield Athletics better than when I found it" Nelson on how he left his "mark" on Westfield State. "I want to look back one day and see how we have grown this program. It's not just me, it's all of us. We wanna look and one day realize that we made Westfield a better place."

Nelson has cherished his experiences and the people he has met along the way to this point in his Westfield tenure. If Nelson could go back and do it over again, he would. With that said, this is what he would tell a past version of himself.

"Come here with a purpose," Nelson said. "Don't take it lackadaisical, work as hard as you can. You really will get out of it what you are looking for if you work hard. The harder you work now, the better off you are in the future. Go to class with a purpose, go to practice with a purpose and never take a day off."

-- Written by Hunter Briggs, Sports Info GA