SLIPPERY ROCK — Seemingly, Nick Stazer's football career was stopped before it ever got going.

Seemingly.

Stazer suffered a concussion playing for the Butler Junior High team. His mother wouldn't allow him to return to the sport.

“She thought it was too dangerous,” he said. “So I did other sports.”

Stazer played golf and basketball. He did not play high school football in his freshman, sophomore or junior years.

Going into his senior year, he yearned to get back on the gridiron.

“I had gotten much bigger physically and thought it was time to give it a try again,” he said of football. “I could drive myself to practice. I just started going.

“My mother never said no, so I kept on going.”

He's still going.

Now a redshirt sophomore at Slippery Rock University, the 6-foot-3, 305-pound Stazer is slated to be The Rock's starting left tackle when the team opens the 2021 season Sept. 2 at Wayne State (Mich.).

“That's the quarterback's blind side,” SRU head coach Shawn Lutz said. “To me, that's the most important position on the offensive line, maybe the second most important position, behind quarterback, on the offense.

“That's how far Nick has come.”

And he's taken quite a journey to get there.

After a solid senior season at Butler, Stazer decided to follow fellow Golden Tornado lineman Jake Kradel to the University of Pittsburgh. Kradel was a recruited scholarship player.

Stazer was walking on.

“Jake helped get me the opportunity to walk on at Pitt,” Stazer said. “That was quite an experience. I learned a lot in my year there.

“I watched how those players took care of their bodies. They spent an hour a day in the trainer's room, not because they were hurt, but just to stay healthy.”

Stazer left Pitt after that one year. He still believed he could eventually play there. But the price wasn't right.

He determined he wanted to become a teacher and “paying $25,000 to $30,000 a year to pursue that goal down there didn't seem right to me.”

Another former Butler offensive lineman and friend, Sam Enslen, was on SRU's roster at the time and talked Stazer into trying The Rock.

“He reached out to us,” Lutz said. “We didn't have any scholarship money for him, but he came on board anyway.

“He's been working his butt off ever since.”

As a freshman at SRU in 2019, Stazer played on the scout team, lining up against All-American defensive end Chad Kuhn in practice every day.

SRU offensive line coach Chris Conrad can appreciate the selflessness that comes with being on the scout team.

“I did that myself when I was in college,” Conrad said. “You learn about the physicality at this level really quick. You get beat up a little bit, but you learn. I loved it.

“Nick was very raw when he first came here. I'm a big technique guy and he bought in. He loved scout team like I did because he knew it was helping him.”

Stazer credits the talent level of Kuhn for helping him improve as a lineman.

“I had no choice,” he said. “Chad is the best defensive end in the country, in my opinion. Being on the scout team was humbling for me.

“It showed me the game's not about me. It's about the team. My job was to help our starters get ready. I took that job to heart.”

Now he's a starter himself.

“He blended right in with our other linemen,” Conrad said. “All of these guys just want to hone their craft and get better. I have to kick them off the field at times.

“After practice, they're hitting the sled or working on other things. Nick was part of that. Am I surprised he's starting for us as a sophomore? Maybe a little, but he worked himself into that position.

“I play a lot of guys. We'll use as many as 14 linemen in a game, guys coming in and out. Nick's No. 1 right now at left tackle because he's earned it,” Conrad added.

Stazer credits fellow linemen Jake Tecak and Austin Wayt — two veteran returning starters — for helping him along.

“Just tremendous people,” Stazer said. “They are truly all about team.”

A team Stazer has become an integral part of — status that was recently documented by The Rock coaching staff.

“We surprised Nick in front of the whole team the other day, announcing that he is now a scholarship player here,” Lutz said. “The entire team stood and cheered for him.

“It was a great moment for a great kid.”