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Friend: Strength Helped Schuyler

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By BRETT McMURPHY

bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com

Published: March 3, 2009

Former University of South Florida quarterback Grant Gregory remembers watching walk-on tryouts for USF's football team in 2006.

There was the usual group of undersized wide receivers and running backs, overweight linemen and some students with (unrealistic) hopes of making USF's team. But there was one person who stood out: Nick Schuyler.

"You see all these scrawny guys out there," Gregory said. "And then there's this guy, 6-2, 250 with seven percent body fat and I'm like, 'Oh, my gosh.'"
Schuyler was found Monday atop an overturned boat that he and three friends took out on a fishing trip Saturday. The other three are still missing.

That spring in 2006, Schuyler so impressed USF's coaches he made the team as a walk-on.

Gregory, who recently transferred to Eastern Kentucky for his senior year, said he talks to Schuyler about once a week. Gregory still remembers visiting Schuyler's house in 2006 after he made the team.

"He showed me how he had trained for three to four months before he walked on," Gregory said. "It was no surprise he was able to hang on that long. He had such mental toughness."
Schuyler was from the Cleveland area and originally attended Kent State. He gave up football in high school to concentrate on basketball.
Schuyler was going to walk-on to the Kent State basketball team but had an injury before tryouts and ended up coming to USF, Gregory said.

"He naturally weighed about 240-245, which was OK to play fullback, but we had some injuries on the defensive line and they moved him there," Gregory said. "The coaches told him to gain as much weight as he could."

Gregory said Schuyler suited up for the second game against Florida International in 2006.

"We went through warm-ups before the game and then they told him there was some problem with his transcripts, that he didn't have the proper credits from Kent State," Gregory said. "So he couldn't play."

"He was always in tremendous shape," Gregory said. "That's probably what helped kept him alive."

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