Kenneth Nicholas Nash (born July 8, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

San Jose State Spartans The San Jose State Spartans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San José State University. SJSU sports teams compete in the Mountain West Conference at the NCAA Division I level, with football competing in the Football Bowl S ...

Early life and high school

Born in

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, Nash attended and played football and baseball at Woodbridge High School in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. In 2017, he was named Pacific Coast League Offensive Most Valuable Player. Nash passed for 1,728 yards and 18 touchdowns with six interceptions. He also showed versatility on the ground, rushing for 1,269 yards and 17 touchdowns.

College career

On February 7, 2018, Nash committed to San Jose State. He was used as a

dual-threat quarterback In gridiron football, a dual-threat quarterback is a quarterback (QB) who is adept at both passing and running with the ball. With the rise of several blitz-heavy defensive schemes and faster defensive players, the importance of a mobile quarter ...

his freshman year, primarily entering the game as a rushing quarterback. He recorded his first collegiate touchdown on a 20-yard rush against

Tulsa Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...

. He threw his first two career touchdown passes against

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

. In 2020, Nash threw for a career high 169 yards and two touchdowns off the bench replacing an injured

Nick Starkel Nicholas Starkel (born February 24, 1998) is an American former college football quarterback who played at Texas A&M University, the University of Arkansas, and San Jose State University. Early life Starkel was born in Pittsburgh to Wendy and ...

in a come from behind victory against

San Diego State San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system. SDSU is ...

. Nash and the Spartans captured the 2020 MWC Championship. In 2021, Nash started six games at quarterback when Starkel went down with an injury. He threw for a career-high three touchdowns on 15-18 passing for 193 yards in a victory against

New Mexico State New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a Public university system, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution ...

. On the season, Nash threw for 971 yards and six touchdowns to three interceptions. In 2022, Nash struggled to find playing time at the quarterback position with transfer Chevan Cordeiro being named the starter. He appeared in five games and caught his first career touchdown reception in the 2022 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. In 2023, he made the full transition to wide receiver where he played and started in all 13 games. In week 1, Nash caught six passes for 89 yards and three touchdowns against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. He made a diving touchdown catch where he tipped the ball to himself mid-air. The play debuted #2 on the

SportsCenter ''SportsCenter'' (SC) is an American television sports news broadcasting show broadcast by ESPN. Originally anchored by Chris Berman, George Grande, Greg Gumbel, Lee Leonard, Bob Ley, Sal Marchiano and Lou Palmer, it premiered on Septem ...

on August 26. He ended the season leading the Spartans with a team high 48 receptions for 728 yards and eight touchdowns. In January, Nash briefly entered the transfer portal, but ultimately decided to rejoin San Jose State. Nash completed his bachelor's degree in communication studies in May 2024. In week one of the 2024 season, Nash caught a then career high 10 catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw his first touchdown pass since the 2021 season in a victory against

Sacramento State California State University, Sacramento (CSUS, Sacramento State, or informally Sac State) is a public university in Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1947 as Sacramento State College, it is part of the California State Universit ...

. On the game, he surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards. Nash had a breakout game with a school record 17 receptions and a career high 225 receiving yards in week three. He also caught three touchdowns in the 31–10 victory over Kennesaw State. The following week against

Washington State Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred to as Washington State to distinguish it from the national capital, both named after George Washington ...

, Nash had 16 receptions for 152 yards and two touchdowns in a double overtime loss. Nash hauled in a touchdown the first ten games of the season, and eleven of twelve games he played. He had multiple touchdowns in four games on the season. In his final collegiate game against

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, Nash caught eight passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns. His two touchdowns broke the single season touchdown record at San Jose State. The Spartans also defeated Stanford for the first time since 2006.

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

finished the season 7–5, (3–4) in conference play, and was selected to the

2024 Hawaii Bowl The 2024 Hawaii Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 24, 2024, at Clarence T. C. Ching Athletics Complex located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The 21st annual Hawaii Bowl game featured South Florida and San Jose State. The game began ...

, on December 18th, 2024. Nash would later go on to opt out of the Hawaii bowl to preserve his health for the

2025 NFL draft The 2025 NFL draft was the 90th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft was held at Lambeau Field and its adjacent Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on April 24–26, 2025 ...

. Nash won the NCAA receiving triple crown in the regular season, racking up 104 receptions, 1,382 receiving yards, and 16 receiving touchdowns. Nash earned

Unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

, and First-Team All-Mountain-West honors for his one of a kind season. Nash controversially lost the 2024 Fred Biletnikoff Award to Colorado's

Travis Hunter Travis Hunter Jr. (born May 18, 2003) is an American professional football cornerback and wide receiver for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Jackson State Tigers and Colorado B ...

despite being the NCAA receiving triple crown winner.

Statistics

Professional career

After going unselected in the

, Nash signed with the

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

on April 28, 2025.

References

External links

Atlanta Falcons bio

San Jose State Spartans bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nash, Nick 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Irvine, California American football wide receivers San Jose State Spartans football players American football quarterbacks Atlanta Falcons players Players of American football from Anaheim, California