Bucknell University Athletics
Nissley Impresses in Classroom and on Gridiron
11/15/2010 7:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 15, 2010
By Todd Merriett, Bucknell Athletic Communications
Travis Nissley doesn't even own a pair of dress shoes and now he will be a guest of honor at a $600-a-head black-tie dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The Mount Joy, Pa., native has never been to the Big Apple and is much more comfortable hunting for pheasants or ducks with his brother than he is schmoozing with a who's who of the college football world, but that's what he will be doing at next month's National Football Foundation (NFF) Annual Awards Dinner.
Nissley, the 2009 Patriot League Football Scholar-Athlete of the Year who possesses a 3.96 cumulative grade-point average while majoring in mechanical engineering, was recently named an NFF National Scholar-Athlete and one of 16 finalists nationwide for the Campbell Trophy, which is often referred to as the "Academic Heisman Trophy".
One of just two Football Championship Subdivision players honored as an NFF Scholar-Athlete, Nissley is among a group that includes players from Texas, Boston College, Stanford, Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame and Penn State. Additionally, the induction of the 2010 College Football Hall of Fame Class will be part of the dinner's program, meaning 2010 inductees Randy Cross, Desmond Howard, Barry Alvarez and Gene Stallings, among others, will be present.
"I don't get dressed up a whole lot," mentions Nissley, as he sits in his long-sleeved Manheim Central High School t-shirt and jeans he wore to morning class. "The dinner is black tie and it's a whole other world for me. I'm not too sure about this, but it is really exciting."
One of the most exciting parts of Nissley's prestigious honor is an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship that each of the 16 Campbell Trophy finalists receives. However, Nissley, who hopes to land a job with Polaris, John Deere or Lockheed Martin following graduation, will likely defer the scholarship.
"Actually, I am a little schooled out at this point," admits Nissley, who was recently named an Academic All-District II selection and is now eligible for Academic All-America honors. "I would like to sit out before I try to do the grad school deal. I talked to someone who said they have had people hold the scholarship for up to six years. For now it is awesome to have it in my back pocket even though I am going to try to get some work experience."
With all the recent recognition, Nissley is a little taken aback. When a request to be interviewed for this story landed in his e-mail inbox, his first response was to decline, saying he wanted unheralded teammates like Tyler Anderson and Kyle Boline to receive some attention. He is still like a fish out of water when it comes to being in the spotlight.
"I didn't think it would go anywhere," says Nissley about the nomination for the NFF Scholar-Athlete Award. "There are probably a lot of really qualified people out there and I am still surprised they didn't get chosen over me."
Nissley is planning on attending the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, which will be held on Dec. 7. The organization is flying him from Harrisburg to New York the day before, and he will be treated like the VIP that he is from the time he lands until departure two days later. Among the items on his itinerary are a trip to Radio City Music Hall for its Christmas Spectacular show, dinner at Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, a press conference and photo session, and finally the centerpiece of the trip, the dinner.
Nissley's parents are planning on joining him at the dinner, but he is trying to convince them otherwise.
"My parents are coming, but I told them I would be mad if they came," says Nissley as he shakes his head. "It's $1,200!! My dad likes snowmobiles and my mom likes biking and they could buy a new snowmobile or bike with that money. It's crazy. But, they are excited, probably even more than me."
Nissley's experience next month at the NFF Annual Awards Dinner, and his upcoming easy spring academic schedule which features many more classes outside of his major than normal, is the perfect example of the mantra by which he has tried to live during his time at Bucknell and before. He has taught himself to sacrifice the short term for his long-term goals. He mentions there have been plenty of times friends have been watching a movie, going out to dinner or something else fun and he has declined in favor of school-related activities.
"Everybody who plays college football, regardless of how well they do, has good time management skills," comments Nissley. "The thing you have to do to be successful in both is to sacrifice some of the fun stuff. There is always a lot in the short term you want to do, but overall it isn't the best decision."
While Nissley has certainly sacrificed to get where he is, he has not put aside the fun completely. In fact, he recently went hunting with his brother, Clark, a sophomore at Bucknell. The pair had just one shotgun due to public safety restrictions and Travis ended up filling the role of the "bird dog", retrieving a pheasant.
"All the football guys were making fun of me and calling me a dog," laughs Nissley. "I told (offensive lineman) Jay Vollmar that you can't always be the running back or quarterback, that sometimes you need to be the offensive lineman. He certainly understood after that explanation."
Nissley has plenty of fun with his brother and teammates away from the football field, but his real passion is what goes on between the white lines.
"For the last 12 or 13 years when I think about myself, the first four words that pop into my head are `I'm a football player'", says a passionate Nissley, who knows the end of his career is just days away. "The amount of emotional investment and time investment that we put into it makes it hard to grasp what it will be like to have something like that sucked out of your life one day. A lot of the things you aren't happy about as you are doing them - like sacrificing, morning workouts and the bumps and bruises - that you think might be good to get off your plate when football is over, you realize that stuff is what you like. It's like Coach Susan says...they're going to take my cleats away in 14 days. It's not something you can replace."
While Nissley has had plenty of success in the academic realm, his performance in his favorite classroom has been just as remarkable. A three-year starter, he has piled up 242 career tackles, most among current Bison. Nissley, who was elected team co-captain in the preseason, has started 17 consecutive games and now has 5.5 tackles for loss, one interception and four pass breakups in his four-year career. He posted a career-high 93 stops last fall, ranking him sixth in the Patriot League.
Nissley credits much of his success on the football field to his coaches and to the time he has spent on campus during the summers. Each of the last three summers, he, along with a number of classmates, have spent the summer months in Lewisburg, working out.
"It's (staying at Bucknell to work out in the summers) been huge," praises Nissley. "We work harder here than we would at home, probably because Coach Field is pushing us. It isn't just that, though. It's that your teammates are beside you and no matter how bad or tough it is, everybody is doing it. You form strong bonds over trials like that and that is probably the best part."
With the football chapter of his life nearly over, Nissley is already thinking about his upcoming job search. His goal is to follow in Bucknell defensive coordinator Clayton Carlin's footsteps and obtain a job in an industry where he doesn't feel like he is working.
"Coach Carlin always says `Can you believe they are paying me to do this? I have never worked a day in my life!'", mentions Nissley. "I would like to say the same thing. If you can get a job in an industry in which you are already interested, which for me is power sports, agriculture, hunting or the defense industry, then it won't be work. It would be a specialization of something I already like to do."
Before finding a job in one of those areas, Nissley will have to experience something out of his comfort zone one more time. It's actually a good thing those cleats will be taken away from him next week. He needs room in his closet for a new pair of dress shoes.
Note: So, with a 3.96 GPA, what classes have given Travis Nissley trouble? The only classes he has not received a perfect score in can be counted on one hand: International Politics, Engineering Statistics and Differential Equations.
Note: This story appeared in the Nov. 13 Bucknell Football Gameday Program vs. Colgate.
