‘IT’S FOR HIM’

during his Bison career, including 42 starts at left guard. He started for two Division I FCS national championship teams in the 2019 and 2021 fall seasons.

offensive line, he nearly walked away from his college career before it started. Russell was diagnosed with skin cancer near the start of his first fall camp with the Bison.

NDSU and he has football teammates who are going to be part of his wedding. Jensen said a date hasn’t been set yet.

By Eric Peterson The Forum Fargo

North Dakota State offensive lineman

Nash Jensen plans to get a “Superman” emblem tattooed over his heart to honor the memory of his father.

Russell Jensen — who had a “Superman” tattoo on his left shoulder — was Nash’s superhero.

“I’m going to get it right over my heart on my chest,” Nash said. Russell Jensen died July 7 from cancer. He was 62 years old.

“Everything I do this season is not just for the seniors, it’s for him,” Jensen said.

The 6-foot-4, 329pound Jensen wore a “Superman” logo tank top under his football pads and jersey in NDSU’s regular-season opening victory against Drake.

Jensen plans to get the “Superman” tattoo sometime this season, but the tank top will serve as a tribute to his dad until then.

“Knowing he’s right there on my chest will be huge motivation,” Jensen said.

Jensen is in his sixth season with the Bison, returning for a fifth playing year with an NCAA eligibility waiver due to COVID-19. Jensen has played in 57 games

“I think he’s really pouring into us and into the team. He is so locked in right now,” said Bison senior left tackle Cody Mauch, who starts next to Jensen on the offensive line. “You know that Nash is going to do whatever he can for you. He’s got the biggest heart. He’s one of the best guys I know. I’m very fortunate to be able to play next to him.”

Jensen said he learned those traits from his father.

“Everything I try to do in my life is whatever he taught me,” Jensen said. “One of the main things that I really took away from my dad is how he was a protector and lover of everybody around him. … He always let me know he was proud of me in whatever I was doing.”

Playing on the offensive line, Jensen’s job throughout his career has been to serve as a protector on the football field.

“Nash’s relationship with his dad is exactly what it should have been,” Bison head coach Matt Entz said.

“Close knit, best friends probably growing up, that was Nash’s rock. That was the guy he leaned on. His dad was a bold, good man. Every time I saw him I got a hug. I got a bear-paw handshake.”

While Jensen has been a fixture on the Bison

“You could imagine what kind of effect that would have on a freshman,” Jensen said.

“It almost led me to leave football. I felt like I had to go back home and provide for my family.”

Jensen asked for advice from a large sampling of family members and friends. He said some thought he should go home, while others thought he should stay in Fargo.

Russell had the final word.

“The last person I texted was my dad, and he said, ‘You better not do that because you know it’s not what I would want and definitely not what you would want,’” said Jensen, whose father wrestled at the University of Wisconsin.

“I can’t believe that I ever even thought of that. This place has truly and completely changed my life, not just from a football aspect, from a life aspect.

“He talked about what the dream was. I’ve always had and still have the dream of being in the NFL one day and we both knew that NDSU was a place to achieve that goal. He knew how excited I was to be a Bison and how excited I was to be a football player.”

Jensen met his fiancee Caitlyn Dunbar while at

“This season is really big for me, just with him passing,” Jensen said. “I always talked to him about my plans and what I was going to do for my family once I got to the stage of football that I want to get to.”

Jensen would get the “Superman” tattoo above his left biceps in the same spot as his father, but Nash already has a “big bear” tattoo in that area in memory of his grandpa Ray Jensen. He got that tattoo in high school.

Jensen said Russell was a superhero to his wife Cathy and their children.

“That’s kind of who he was for her,” Jensen said. “I just always thought it was a super cool tattoo. … Everything that Superman wants to be in the comics is exactly what he was trying to be, the protector of the people, his family, loving everybody around him and being there for everybody.”

Jensen said the support he’s received from his Bison teammates has been eye-opening, especially his fellow offensive linemen like Mauch, center Jalen Sundell and right guard Jake Kubas, along with former teammate Zach Willis.

Jensen was in Fargo for summer workouts when his dad died at a Maple Grove (Minn.) hospital.

“Jalen was the first person to come up to me and check on me,”

Jensen said. “They’ve really been my rocks.”

A contingent of Bison players traveled to Russell’s funeral, including Mauch, to pay their respects and support Nash.

“If you’re in Valley City (N.D.) and your car breaks down and you call Nash, Nash will be there for you,” Mauch said.

Jensen said it was difficult on him that he wasn’t there when his father died.

“I will probably always regret it, but he passed away three days after I got up here,” Jensen said. “That one kind of hurt me whenever I realized that happened, but I didn’t think that was going to happen that fast.”

Jensen said he was thankful that he was able to spend time with his father in the hospital on one of Russell’s better days when he was lucid and awake.

“We had a lot of really good laughs, just talking about the past, and letting him know about the future and what’s going on with my life,” Jensen said. “That’s one of the last real conversations that I got to have with him, so that will always be something that I will remember.”

Nash will never forget his father.

“I wish he was here, but he’s always been my motivation and always will be,” Jensen said. “He was there for literally everything in my life, whether it was big or whether it was small. He was always right there next to me.”