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"Hey did you hear that Steve Probst and Rhode Island upset UNH?" read the text from a former teammate.
Last year Nelson was on the receiving end of passes from Probst. The two were teammates at Hofstra, before the Long Island school discontinued its program. The players with eligibility remaining scattered to other schools, including many in the Colonial Athletic Association. Nelson and freshman offensive linemen Anthony Dima transferred to UMass.
Nelson keeps track of how his former teammates are faring online.
Read this great story from Matt Vautour in the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
UMass receiver to face familiar faces at Stony Brook
AMHERST - When he got on the bus after the University of Massachusetts football team's game at Michigan, Minuteman senior wide receiver Anthony Nelson had a text message waiting for him.
"Hey did you hear that Steve Probst and Rhode Island upset UNH?" read the text from a former teammate.
Last year Nelson was on the receiving end of passes from Probst. The two were teammates at Hofstra, before the Long Island school discontinued its program. The players with eligibility remaining scattered to other schools, including many in the Colonial Athletic Association. Nelson and freshman offensive linemen Anthony Dima transferred to UMass.
Nelson keeps track of how his former teammates are faring online.
"That's what I do on Sunday when I wake up or if I have time when I get home on Saturday night. I'll go through all the different teams - Fordham, Rhode Island, Towson, Stony Brook - just seeing how those guys are doing." he said. "I was looking at Syracuse before my former teammate Aaron Weaver tore his ACL."
He won't need a computer to check on five of his ex-teammates this weekend.
The Minutemen head to Stony Brook for a 6 p.m. game against the Seawolves, whose roster features five former Hostra players.
"I've been anticipating this week personally for a while because I know some of the guys who are going to be there," Nelson said. "The person I talk to the most is Brock Jackolski, their running back. We talked at the beginning of camp and then after week one."
Nelson said he plans to seek his old friends out on the field after the game.
"You see that all the time in the NFL. You'll see two former teammates go up and talk to each other after a game," he said. "It's kind of the same with us. But I never expected to be doing that at the college level with another former college teammate."
He'll do it again a week later at Towson, when he and Tiger safety Jordan Dangerfield, a fellow ex-Pride member, catch up. The Minutemen close the regular season against Probst and three other Hofstra refugees and Rhode Island on Nov. 20. But while the friendships remain, Nelson said his Hofstra years are in the rearview mirror.
"I'm just so focused on my new goals of being part of the UMass football team," he said.
"You get so busy preparing for your next opponent that you don't have time to think about what everybody else is doing except on those Saturday and Sunday nights."
Four of the five former Hofstra players are on Stony Brook's two-deep chart, including the team's top two rushers # Jackolski (43 carries, 325 yards, four touchdowns) and Miguel Maysonet (46 for 302 yards, two TDs).
Stony Brook coach Chuck Priore said they've given his team a huge lift.
"They've been phenomenal fits for us," Priore said. "It's a shame that those kids didn't get the opportunity to finish their career where they started. But they've made a great impact on our program. ... I think you've seen the same on UMass' roster. I think we're both pleased that we had the opportunity to work with these kids."
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