Bucknell University Athletics
Nisan Trotter a Source of Inspiration On and Off the Field
10/13/2004 8:00:00 AM | General
Oct. 13, 2004
Previous installments of "Meet A Bison":
Sept. 21, 2004: Daris Wilson, Football
Sept. 29, 2004: Aaron DeGraffenreidt, Football
By Jon Terry, Bucknell Athletic Communications
It was a game they expected to win, but suddenly the Bison were staring at a 9-7 deficit to Cornell with under five minutes to play. Seconds after falling behind, though, quarterback Daris Wilson rolled out to his right and lofted a pass over the defense to Nisan Trotter, who adjusted nicely to a slight underthrow, then streaked 49 yards deep into enemy territory. Two plays later Bucknell was in the end zone, and the first victory of 2004 would come in another few minutes.
For Trotter, that big play three weeks ago was more than just another highlight-reel performance this season - his full layout in the back of the end zone against Columbia was ESPY worthy - but it announced once and for all the arrival to stardom of one of the most grounded and well-rounded students on the Bucknell campus.
A senior wide receiver who leads Bucknell in receptions (10) and receiving yards (208) entering today's game against Penn, Trotter has come a long way from the tentative freshman that first walked into the Bison program from Silverhill, Alabama in the summer of 2001.
Trotter toiled with the scout team that season, apprenticing under some of the finest receivers in recent Bucknell history in Jim Horan, Albert Marquardt and Tim Johnson.
"My biggest adjustment was recognizing that I was truly going to have to earn a spot in order to play," recalls Trotter. "In high school maybe I could afford to make a mistake here and there and still be called on in a go-to role. As a freshman I didn't work too well under pressure initially because I knew that it was expected of me to do well."
Trotter was actually named the team's Scout Team Player of the Year in 2001, and he attributes much of his football development to competing against a bevy of all-conference caliber cornerbacks every day in that scout team role.
"Seeing players like Reed Tunison, Anthony Lewis and Jerome Acy, I was able to take advantage of playing against those guys as a scout team player," says Trotter, who comes across as both genuine and thoughtful with his Deep South intonation. "If I was a backup on the varsity traveling team I would not have had that opportunity in practice, maybe going up against a second-tier cornerback in relation to those guys."
But the real, deeper-rooted credit for his growth as a football player and a person Trotter credits to God.
In Silverhill, Sundays are spent in church. And not just an hour or so in the morning before the NFL games come on television. Marilyn Coats, who raised three children, including Nisan, as a single parent, would rouse the kids for church not long after sunup on Sundays, and the family would often not return home until well after nightfall.
"We grew up in the church," Trotter remembers fondly. "My mom definitely instilled that in us. I remember sometimes not wanting to get out of bed, but there she was every week. Looking back on it, maybe at the time I didn't appreciate it, but now I'm definitely thankful."
In addition to his transformation as the top option among the Bison corps of receivers, Trotter is also a leader in the Bucknell Christian community. He directed a Bible study for two years with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship while maintaining a seat in the school's gospel choir. Today he works with Johnson, who founded a campus ministry called The Gathering. When Johnson, a 2004 graduate and former football co-captain who now works in the Bucknell Office of Admissions, is off campus on recruiting trips, Trotter leads the Bible studies.
"The most important message that The Gathering stresses is experiencing God first-hand," says Trotter. "It is a power-packed ministry for those who want to have a supernatural experience with God. We live the life God has for us, instead of representing Jesus Christ on a Sunday and then through the rest of the week you just do whatever. It's a 24-hour faith that we stress."
Trotter's inherent faith also translates on the gridiron, where he ranks second in the Patriot League with an average catch of 20.8 yards. His two touchdown receptions through four games has matched his career total coming into the season.
"The most important thing God has given me is the confidence that I can do the impossible out there," Trotter offers. "I really don't think I've reached my peak in football yet, and I certainly don't think all that I've accomplished so far this season is the end. Being a Christian lets you have high expectations. Knowing that God can do the impossible allows you to think that you can also do the impossible because you are affiliated with him. I have to be honest and say that it is tough sometimes. There are days in practice when you really don't want to be physical, but I have to understand that trials and tribulations produce patience and perseverance at the same time."
Trotter was lightly recruited out of Robertsdale High School, with what little college interest he did receive coming in basketball (his brother, Obie, is a First Team All-SWAC performer at Alabama A&M). Trotter, who did not even go out for the high school football team until his sophomore year, somehow caught the eye of Lance Anderson, a former Bucknell assistant coach who had tremendous success mining the Gulf Coast for talent.
The grandson of a farmer and a self-described "country boy," Trotter sees a little bit of Silverhill in Lewisburg.
"It was the type of place where community is stressed, real family oriented," Trotter reflects. "Maybe it was a watered-down version of Lewisburg. I enjoyed it there a lot."
Summoned by Anderson and late head coach Tom Gadd for a visit to Lewisburg, Trotter, who had never before ventured north of Tennessee, boarded an airplane for the first time.
"First I had to get through that plane trip," Trotter says with a smile. "But once I got here I could sense the prestige. The place sold itself in a way. I felt I was capable of obtaining an education such as this, but at the same time I knew I'd have to work hard. It was a challenge I was willing to accept."
Easing the transition was a network of older, southern players, including Johnson, Rashad Stallworth, Raphael Darrington and Steven Millhouse, who all hailed from the Mobile area and played against Trotter's Robertsdale team in high school.
Trotter, who with the exception of a few occasional flurries had never seen real snow until arriving at Bucknell, is a management major who aspires to be a financial advisor in retail brokerage. He served an internship with Morgan Stanley in Pensacola, Florida, last summer, and although he is weighing his options, returning to that investment bank after graduation may be a possibility.
In the meantime, his college football career is down to seven precious games, and his championship dreams are hanging in the balance. Optimism lies in an extraordinarily close senior class that hopes to coax the team to a Patriot League title.
"We are really the last class of the Coach Gadd era, and his staff really put together a diverse group, coming from a lot of different areas and backgrounds," says Trotter, who has been the Lewisburg Touchdown Club Offensive Player of the Week twice already this season. "Yet we are able to have that chemistry that gels us together. To be honest, there were some guys that decided to leave the program, but what it did is it left a group of guys who have stuck together and who truly place Coach Landis' system before themselves. We have people here that want to win, and it is the type of atmosphere that I haven't experienced before."
With Colgate returning many of its key components from a 15-1 season and a run to the national championship game, and with Lehigh, Fordham and Lafayette also appearing particularly strong in the early going, a championship in Lewisburg may seem to some unfeasable.
At least Bucknell fans can take comfort in the fact that at least one Bison believes that impossible dreams can come true.
