Nicholas Truesdell (born March 14, 1990) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

who is a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. He was signed by the

Colorado Ice Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

in 2014. He played college football at the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

before transferring to

Grand Rapids Community College Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) is a public community college in Grand Rapids, Michigan. History Grand Rapids Junior College was established on September 21, 1914, after University of Michigan faculty passed a resolution encouraging the ...

Early life

Born to Richard Scantlebury and Teresa Truesdell, Truesdell attended Anderson High School in his native

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...

. Standing at 6'7", 215 lb, Truesdell lettered all four years playing as a wide receiver and punter under coach Jeff Gesting. In 2007, he was named All-City Honorable Mention by ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...

'' after helping his

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

team go 13-2 and win the Ohio Division II crown. For his senior season efforts, he was named the Redskins' Offensive MVP as he registered 17 catches for 264 yards (including a season-long 55-yard catch and run) and six

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

College career

Truesdell decided to stay close to home and enrolled at the

in 2008. He appeared in six games for the Bearcats' special teams but did not yield any statistics before he was dismissed from the team for stealing from the campus bookstore. Truesdell then had to transfer to

, where he tore his ACL in his first game with the team.

Professional career

Indoor Football League

After not returning to action in college, Truesdell hired an agent tried to land with a pro team. He was invited to the Cincinnati Bengals rookie minicamp in 2013 and also tried out for the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

that year before played for the

(now Crush) and Bemidji Axemen of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams am ...

(IFL) in 2014. He played in one game for the Ice and caught one pass for four yards. He played in 7 games for the Axemen, catching 28 passes for 402 yards and 9 touchdowns. He also recorded 11 solo tackles and 1 tackle assist with the Axemen. He was also invited to a rookie minicamp with the Green Bay Packers in 2014 but was not signed.

Arena Football League

Truesdell ended up in the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL), where he signed with the

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divisio ...

. In his first season, he caught 33 passes for 355 yards and seven touchdowns in nine games. In 2015, he played in all 16 games and delivered his best season to date with 80 receptions, 977 yards and 23

for the Shock. In a game against Portland, Truesdell had five touchdown catches in the first half. Truesdell, however, did not get a shot at the league record of nine scores in one game because he strained his hamstring. On November 5, 2015, he was assigned to the

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

(which soon changed its nickname to Steel). In his lone season with the team, he recorded 15 receptions for 200 yards and 8 touchdowns.

Indianapolis Colts

On July 28, 2016, the Indianapolis Colts signed Truesdell to their training camp roster. On July 31, 2016, Truesdell was waived by the team.

Arizona Rattlers

On October 14, 2016, he was selected by the Arizona Rattlers in the fifth round of the dispersal draft.

Cleveland Gladiators

He was then assigned to the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

on January 10, 2017. He was placed on reassignment by the Gladiators on March 17, 2017.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 25, 2017, Truesdell performed at the NFL Pro Player Combine (also known as veteran combine), where he impressed some NFL scouts after running the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

in 4.47-4.60 seconds while measuring in at 6'6" and 252 lb. He received contract offers from the Oakland Raiders, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, New York Giants, and the Tennessee Titans. On March 30, 2017, Truesdell signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...

. He was waived on September 2, 2017. He was signed to the Vikings' practice squad on January 16, 2018.

Alliance of American Football

In late 2018, Truesdell joined the

Salt Lake Stallions The Salt Lake Stallions were a professional American football franchise based in Salt Lake City, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which began play in February 2019. The Stallions were the northernmost team i ...

of the Alliance of American Football. In 8 games, Truesdell caught 24 passes for 269 yards and 3 touchdowns; only 3 out of 27 passing attempts thrown his way resulted in incompletions, for a catch rate of 89%.

New York Jets

On August 4, 2019, Truesdell was signed by the New York Jets of the NFL. He was waived on August 13, 2019.

Tampa Bay Vipers

In October 2019, he was selected in the first round of the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

by the

Tampa Bay Vipers The Vegas Vipers are a professional American football team based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. The team began operatio ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020. Truesdell was selected by the Aviators of

The Spring League The Spring League was an American football developmental league and scouting event (pro showcase) that played from 2017 to 2021 and was founded by Brian Woods. Aimed at professional athletes but not paying a salary or expenses, the league's go ...

during their player selection draft on October 10, 2020.

New Jersey Generals

Truesdell was selected by the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

in the 34th round of the 2022 USFL draft. He was transferred to the team's inactive roster before the start of the regular season on April 16, 2022, due to a groin injury. He was released on April 28.

AFL statistics

''Stats from ArenaFan'':

AAF statistics

Personal life

Nick's father, Richard Scantlebury, played professional basketball in England after playing at Coastal Carolina, and Nick's uncle, Peter Scantlebury, received the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his contributions to basketball as a player and coach. Peter Scantlebury dunked in a charity game at age 49 in 2013.

References

External links

Cincinnati Bearcats bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Truesdell, Nick 1990 births Living people American football wide receivers Cincinnati Bearcats football players Colorado Crush (IFL) players Bemidji Axemen players Spokane Shock players Portland Thunder players Portland Steel players Arizona Rattlers owners Players of American football from Cincinnati Grand Rapids Raiders football players Cleveland Gladiators players Minnesota Vikings players Salt Lake Stallions players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Vipers players The Spring League players New Jersey Generals (2022) players