A little over a month ago, a Southern Illinois University fan sent Daviess County senior Jon Nalley a tweet asking if he knew what notable former wrestler attended the university.
That man was Randy Poffo but most know him as “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
It was then that Nalley knew he had made the right decision to take his talents to Carbondale as he signed his National Letter of Intent Wednesday to play football for the Salukis next season.
“I had it in my mind I wanted to go to SIU,” he said. “I wanted to commit there. The night I made that decision to myself, some SIU fan on Twitter tweets me ‘Hey, did you know that the Macho Man Randy Savage was an alumni of SIU?’ I’m ike there’s no way, I’ve looked this up before. Low and behold, it’s true. It just kind of made me feel like I had made the right decision. I had the decision made before I found out but it was just kind of interesting that it happened that way. It made me feel like I had made the right decision.”
When he made the decision official yesterday, Nalley said it had felt like a weight had been lifted as he now knows where his home will be next year.
“It’s very exciting knowing where I’m going to end up and work for the next four or five years,” he said. “There’s a lot of excitement going through me right now. … I was really happy to finish, set it in stone and then get to do it. I’m excited to go there in June and get to work. That’s been my mindset from the beginning of this process. Let’s find the place where I’m meant to be and let’s get to work. We’re at the last stage of that now. It’s time to do what we set out to do.”
Nalley narrowed his list to 10 schools in early August but it was the coaches that made him feel the most comfortable.
“Coach Nick Hill, coach (Trevor) Olson, they were up front with me, they were good with me. They treated me well,” he said. “The program really sold itself. It’s an excellent program, excellent facilities and the great people were just really the icing on the cake for me.”
Nalley said he loved being a Panther and that part of him will never go away. He said it meant a lot to represent DC for his four years.
“Whenever I think about Daviess County, I think about home,” he said. “It’s a lot more than just the four years I’ve spent playing for them. It was the years before that watching my brothers play and hearing the stories that they would come home and share. Daviess County has been so impactful on me. They have grown me into the person I am today. I would not be anywhere near what I am now without them, especially coach (Matt) Brannon. He’s made a big impact on me. He did a lot of help behind the scenes recruiting, getting my name out there.”
Nalley did a lot of traveling during his career to showcases, college visits and other football-related events. He said he couldn’t have done any of that without his family.
He said they’ve made him who he is and they definitely know what he’s been through.
“They know, they were right there with me,” he said. “It was just very good to have people around me who loved me, just around me every step of the way through this. Whether it was when I had zero offers, loving on me and caring for me. They never changed how they loved me and that means a lot to me. We were all in this together …
“At some points, it feels like a group effort. Them all behind me. Just like with my football team, them behind me, wanting me to succeed. It’s the same way with my family.”
