NICK WOLLFOLK

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Change PageThe youngest of four children, Shakel Brown, had a lot of influences to look up to as he grew up in Miami, Fla., but none more substantial than his mother, Melody Brown. You see, Melody worked six or seven days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day, to provide for her family. Working on pipelines, Shakel’s mom could be anywhere in the country working, which meant that he and his siblings spent a lot of time with their grandmother, Nellie Williams. “Three or months out of the year she could be on the road,” he said. “We had a decent relationship growing up, but the last couple of years with her is when we became the closest. We talked every day, and she always checked on me. If I was dealing with something and didn’t want to talk to anyone, she’d text me and tell me I’d better answer the phone, or she would send the police to the apartment. Growing up, it was hard to develop that relationship because she was gone so much, but she emphasized that she wanted to build a better relationship after I graduated high school.” Just as the pair began to get closer and develop a stronger bond, tragedy hit. On Sept. 10, 2021, Melody Brown passed away at the young age of 51, just two weeks before she was supposed to watch her son play college football for the first time. “Because she works so much, she was never able to come to a game,” Brown said. “It was crazy because she was supposed to come to a game in a couple of weeks, and then I got the news. I couldn’t believe it. It still feels like a dream even today; it still feels like I got the call yesterday. I kind of still don’t believe it. I miss her a lot and wish that she could have made it to a game, but she worked so much to provide for her family.” Her memory takes the field every game with Shakel. He writes “RIP Mom” on his cleats each week and has shirts coming with Melody represented on them in all three of Troy’s jersey colors. While Melody never did make it to see her son play, Shakel’s family turned out in force at Troy’s game at Western Kentucky on Oct. 1 in Bowling Green, Ky., to watch the game that fate took away from her. “All my family does line work, so their off time is in the summer,” he said. “But they all drove down from Pennsylvania, about 12 of them in a rental van, and came down to the game. It was good to have my family at the game, I had my first sack of the season, and it was just good to know that my family was there. They were wearing shirts with me and my mom on them, so it was good to look up there and see that; gave me a little more energy.” Brown took a few weeks away from the team right after the passing of his mother and leaned hard on his teammates for support when he returned, especially offensive lineman Deandre Butler. “My mom wasn’t a crier, she wasn’t real big on not giving up on stuff, so I knew I had to get back to my teammates, but mentally I felt like I needed some time, but I also had to get back to work to honor her,” Brown said. “Deandre Butler is my best friend on the team, I only met him in 2020, but I feel like I’ve known him forever. I definitely leaned on him, there were times when I didn’t want to leave the room, and he would just check on me, bring me food even if I didn’t ask for it. “Ever since my mom passed, I’ve changed my ways. I’m working harder, trying to be the best that I can be in any way possible.”

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Change PageBalancing playing football, baseball and getting a master’s degree from a division one university might be a lot for some. Still, for senior Nick Woolfolk, it’s something he’s always wanted. Hailing from Richmond, Virginia, Woolfolk is a punter on the Troy football team in the fall and a pitcher for Troy baseball in the spring. His love for sports has been with him a since a young age and has driven him to pursue becoming a dual-sport athlete in college; something not many can say. “It all started with my high school experience,” Woolfolk said. “In high school, I was fortunate enough to play five sports at a varsity level. It gave me a well-rounded knowledge of multiple sports and created my love for them. Being a multi-sport athlete teaches you things that certain sports can’t teach, and I can take what I learn in one sport and apply it in another.” It’s been a long journey to Troy for Woolfolk. He began his collegiate career at Christopher Newport University, a division three university, for one year. Then, he transferred to Virginia State University in division two, where he was the 2021-22 Virginia State male studentathlete of the year and MVP of the baseball team. Finally, with one year of eligibility left, Woolfolk wanted to make it count and compete at the division one level. “I have always wanted to play at the division one level,” Woolfolk said. “The competitor in me wanted to continue my career, I knew I could compete at a higher level, and I found Troy to be that place for me. Getting a graduate degree and playing the sports that I love felt like the best of both worlds.” Packing it all up and coming to a place he had never been before, it didn’t take long for Woolfolk to get accumulated to a bigger university 711 miles from home. “My passion and hard work took over for me,” Woolfolk said. “Being around a group of guys who really cares deeply about you, your success, and the team’s success is irreplaceable and makes Troy so special.” Football is in the middle of the season, and baseball has begun its fall practices; Woolfolk can’t be at two places simultaneously, so managing where he is and when while practicing his position for two different sports is now a bit of a routine for him. “It can be challenging,” Woolfolk said. “In football season, I attend every team meeting, every practice. Before football practices on Mondays and Thursdays, that’s when I tend to go to baseball practice for about an hour before it’s back at football. Both coaches have been great to work with, and thankfully, both understand what I’m trying to do here.” After his playing days are over here at Troy, Woolfolk, wants to continue working around sports as he sees himself using his sports management degree in a conference athletic department with even the possibility of running his own athletic department someday. “I’ve always been fascinated by the statistical and event management aspects of sports,” Woolfolk said. “Having played so many sports in my life, being able to use what I have learned in the game in a professional setting is something I’ve always wanted to pursue.” It will be no surprise that even in the offseason when Woolfolk is not playing baseball or football, you can find him with some sort of ball in his hand. Spending time playing basketball with his childhood friends and being out in the wilderness are just some of the things he does to escape being a dual-sport athlete. If you ask Nick if he would change anything about how he has gone about things and if a break is in store in the near future, he would just tell you; you’re crazy. “I’m a high-energy guy and love sports; I have a deep passion for them,” Woolfolk said. “As long as I’m breathing, I’ll be playing a sport.”