By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell Sports Editor
SLIDELL — Nick Houston is an excellent tap dancer.
But you would never know it by the way he tackles on the football field. Houston was contacted by Delta State after his senior season. After a visit and some talking, Houston signed a scholarship with the Cleveland, Mississippi school to play football.
“I sent my highlight tape to a few schools, and then Delta State called me one day. They thought I was a good tackler and had good awareness,”?Houston said.
Houston is an actor who has been performing in plays at the Slidell Little Theatre since he was in seventh grade and is also trained in tap dancing. He wants to major in theater in arts because of his background, but until he has a degree in hand, Houston will be playing college football.
Delta State is one hour north of Jackson, Ms. It’s a Division-II school that won the national championship in 2011.
“Even though the school is out in the middle of nowhere, I think it’s good becasue it’ll help me to focus more. The whole town is about football, so that’s cool,”?Houston said.
The 18-year-old said it wasn’t until his junior year that he started becoming athletic. In fact, after his freshman year he wanted to quit, but decided to give it another shot as a sophomore.
Houston’s dad played college football, but fractured his neck so he had to stop, and his second uncle played for the Oilers and Redskins in the NFL.
“I’m nervous about being so far away from home. It’s going to be a mixture of emotions, but this isn’t something I would pass up doing,”?Houston said.