Derrick Nash was a fighter right up until the end.
The Carrollton High School and Central Michigan University cornerback, who was diagnosed with leukemia in 2013, died June 22 at the University of Michigan Health System. Nash has left behind a legacy that is cemented in the hearts of everyone he affected during his short time living his dream of playing college football.
“The thing about Derrick was when he was in a room, he lit the room up,” said long-time friend and mentor Ryan McGraw, owner/operator of the Saginaw Athletic Club. “And he still does just with the idea of the type of person he was. With the amount of pain that he was going through on a daily basis during the entire time he was diagnosed, you wouldn’t have known it. That’s the kind of kid he was. Almost every day was a bad day for him, but Derrick kept pushing through.”
McGraw noted that Nash’s mental toughness couldn’t be matched while going through his battle, and it allowed him to remain tall through the ordeal.
“In his situation, Derrick knew the treatments weren’t working, and they were just postponing the inevitable,” McGraw said. “Derrick kept fighting all the way to the end. That’s the type of person he was. Kids see that fight and determination, and they realize if they are having a bad day, they will fight through it.
Nash affected so many in his fight, especially the Sports Scene family.
Carrollton and Ithaca loved to battle it out on the gridiron. Sometimes Ithaca would put the game out of reach early, and after one of those times, Nash could be heard laying into his teammates saying…”Stand up and fight. They may be beating us, but they aren’t better than you.”
Those words stuck because that’s just how he was. No matter what the situation was, Nash never gave up.
He’s going to be missed, but his legacy will live on.
“Derrick was an inspiration to us all, and the fight he showed will never be forgotten,” CMU athletic director Dave Heeke said in a statement announcing Nash’s death. “The incredible courage he exhibited, in never allowing this terrible disease to dampen his positive outlook on life, is a tremendous representation of the type of man he was.”
Nash signed with CMU in February 2013. He was diagnosed with leukemia that May, during his senior year at Saginaw’s Carrollton High School, where he was a running back who earned first team all-state honors in 2012. After undergoing chemotherapy, Nash joined the team in 2014 and took part in spring practice.
He was on schedule to claim a spot on the active roster for the 2014 season when doctors found that the leukemia had returned, the athletic department said.
CMU honored Nash last season with a helmet sticker, and team members wore #NashStrong wristbands. He served as the team’s honorary captain for the 2014 Popeye’s Bahamas Bowl.
“I never got to coach Derrick on the football field, but I am proud to have been his coach the last few months,” coach John Bonamego said. “He is one of the toughest young men I have ever known, and the determination and resolve he showed is how we will always remember him.”
Derrick may not be physically with us any longer, but if you ever knew him you know he will always be with us. You know during Friday Night Lights that he will be looking down on Carrollton Stadium with that that big smile and that big heart.
You may not be with us, but Derrick, your legacy will live on in all of us.