• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

DL Nader Abdallah (official thread)

Jump to latest Follow Reply
Sort by date Sort by votes
Palestinian Buckeye brings passion to gridiron
By Nick Meyer - The Arab American News
Friday, 04.25.2008

u1_Nader-Abadallah.gif


DEARBORN ? In the world of sports, a little motivation and determination often go a long way. With that in mind, it's easy to understand why Nader Abdallah has been such a success on the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.


After all, there might not be another football player in the country who has more fan support than Abdallah, who became a pioneer the first time he walked onto the football field as the only 100% Palestinian player to ever play Division-I college football.


As if the drive to represent his culture wasn't strong enough, Abdallah also plays for his family, not just those who root for him and watch every game he plays, but also for his two deceased brothers, who he lost at two separate points in his life.


The first brother, Husam, died in an accidental shooting when Abdallah was five. The second one, Shadi, died in a trucking accident just after the Ohio State spring game in 2005.


Finally, there's the drive Abdallah has to make a better life for him and the rest of his family. Growing up was anything but easy for the burly 6-foot-5, 297-pound defensive tackle, as his family lived in the infamously dangerous Magnolia projects of New Orleans.
Click to expand...

He came to Ohio State from Louisiana for the family atmosphere he felt the coaches had instilled there, and he was also surprised to find a respectable Arab population in and around Ohio.


While he's the only Arab on a team of mostly Caucasian and African-American players, he has carved out a niche as a leader and one of the most popular players on the team, even amongst guys who didn't know any Arabs before they met him.


"(My teammates) are like 'Wow, you know we never expected an Arab American to be like this.' Everybody tells me I'm one of the funniest people on the team. If you're having a bad day, come talk to me and I'll make you feel good," he said.


"I have a lot of common sense and street smarts and I've seen a lot of things happen in my life. I'm a real cool guy to get to know and I'm always trying to help people out. I feel like I'm a leader now heading into my senior season."
Click to expand...

He actually has a lot of friends in Dearborn and loves visiting the city because of its Arab culture.


"Guys in Columbus (Ohio), they're cool with some guys in Dearborn so I was able to network. I like to check out the nice little hookah bars and just chill out and mingle with fellow Arab Americans there," he said.


But while he enjoys heading up to Michigan to visit Dearborn, you won't find him talking up the city or the state to his teammates any time soon. He'd rather keep it a secret.


"I don't tell too many people about going to Dearborn, but I'm definitely not a Michigan fan. I'm an Ohio State fan all the way but I'm definitely not affiliated with Michigan."
Click to expand...

The Arab American News - Palestinian Buckeye brings passion to gridiron
 
Upvote 0
Nader occupied his man well last season. This season we need him to take that next step and play on the other side of the line of scrimmage. If he can do that consistently and stay healthy this defense will be a friggin monster. Shutting down the middle running lanes is key to being the best this defense can be and Nader will play a big role in that.
 
Upvote 0
Thought he looked very good and played with a lot of positive emotion today. I'm glad to see him play well as sometimes he gets dogged as not being as talented as some of the other guys. But as we all know, sometimes heart matters more, and Nader played all out today.
 
Upvote 0
Dispatch

With Gustav, no deja vu

Defensive tackle Nader Abdallah's family long since moved away from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina three years ago wiped out the family business and home. But Abdallah still has close friends there, and in working his cell phone the past few days he found that they all learned a lesson from Katrina in the way they dealt with Hurricane Gustav.
In other words, they got out of town.
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
DDN
OSU's Abdallah thankful Gustav not a Katrina

By Rusty Miller
the Associated Press

Thursday, September 04, 2008
What's brewing today with the Ohio State Buckeyes:
Buckeyes buzz
The winds have passed, the waters have diminished somewhat. Life is returning to normal in New Orleans, and that was something to be thankful for, defensive lineman Nader Abdallah said.
Abdallah, a native of New Orleans, was at Ohio State three years ago when Hurricane Katrina virtually washed parts of the city off the map. His family lost its quaint little restaurant-grocery. Friends and relatives lost their homes and had to relocate. Life changed, yet went on.
As Hurricane Gustav bore down on the Gulf Coast earlier this week, Abdallah held his breath.
Cont...
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0
Meet a Buckeye: Nader Abdallah
Saturday, September 6, 2008
By BY KEN GORDON
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Meet_a_Buckeye_Abdallah_09-06-08_T22_VJB7JC1.jpg

NEAL C. LAURON DISPATCH


It was a meaningful but difficult week for senior defensive tackle Nader Abdallah.

A Muslim, the son of Palestinian immigrants, Abdallah is observing the holy month of Ramadan, which calls for fasting from dawn to dusk. At the same time, as Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on his former hometown of New Orleans, he had to deal with memories of his family's narrow escape from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Q As the team's only Muslim, do you enjoy educating your teammates about your faith?

A Over the offseason, coach (Jim) Tressel asked me to bring Muslim Hadiths (written traditions of the prophet Muhammad) and quotes from the Quran to put in his Winners Manual (book). He wanted me to enlighten the team about my spirituality, and it was great, because a lot of guys got to learn different things. I had guys coming up to me all the time asking me, "Hey, can you bring more stuff in? I would love to learn about this." I'm happy I was able to open the horizons of some of these guys.

Q I've heard you say you're the first Palestinian to play major-college college football.

A That's great for me and my community, and I've got so many fans across the country and across the world that are rooting for me. So just being able to be out there and represent Palestine and being able to represent being a Muslim, it's really inspiring to me.

Q Do you get interview requests from Palestinian media?

A Oh, definitely. I've got arabnews.com always getting into contact with me.
Click to expand...

BuckeyeXtra - The Columbus Dispatch : Meet a Buckeye: Nader Abdallah
 
Upvote 0
weekly recognition

I don't want to pretend like I actually know Nader, but he seems to be a nice guy, a hard worker, and a survivor.

Don't know if he takes it to the NFL but I hope at the end of this season he will be happy he made the decision to come here.

Would love to see him get a big time sack or two for the highlight films sometime this year.

Go Bucks!
 
Upvote 0
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top