BRIDGEWATER – Aaron Nice is back on the football field.

The former Stuarts Draft High School standout earned All-American honors at linebacker for the Bridgewater College Eagles in 2023 before stepping away from football to pursue a career in weightlifting.

Nice is now ready to resume his football career and will be on the field Saturday night when the Eagles open the 2025 season under the lights at The Stadium at the Jopson Field Complex, hosting Stevenson University.

“It was a little surprising to get that phone call,” Eagles head coach Scott Lemn said of Nice’s return to the program. 

“It feels awesome to be back on the field. It’s one of my favorite things to do,” said Nice during a break from preseason practice. “To get back out there with some of my best friends and play the game I love, I’m very excited to be back.”

Coming out of high school, it didn’t take long for Nice to make his mark with the Eagles. He was a second-team All-ODAC pick as a freshman and set an ODAC record with 6.5 quarterback sacks against Guilford.

That freshman year was just an appetizer. As a sophomore Nice earned first-team All-ODAC honors and third-team All-America recognition. He led the ODAC with 20.5 tackles for loss in 2023.

When Nice wasn’t on the football field, he could probably be found in the weight room. His prowess pumping iron led him to walk away from football.

“I’ve loved to lift ever since middle school. I’ve spent a lot of time in the weight room over the years. It’s something I really enjoy.” said Nice.

 Success in competitive weightlifting also came early for Nice. In just his second event, Nice won his weight class at the Junior National Championships. In the snatch, Nice lifted 300 pounds and then successfully lifted 407 pounds in the clean and jerk to win the title.

At his best, Nice was clean and jerking in the 420 range, snatching around 330, squatting in the 600s and deadlifting in the 700s.

Impressive results, but not where he needed to be to possibly reach his ultimate goal.

“When I left the football team that spring, my goal in weightlifting was to make an Olympic team,” explained Nice “It was really looking like that goal wasn’t going to become a real possibility.”

For Nice walking away from football was the toughest decision he had to make in his young life. Walking back was a no-brainer.

“I’ve played football my whole life, it’s my first love,” Nice said. “I couldn’t imagine not playing football if I wasn’t pursuing weightlifting any longer. I’m excited to be back competing with my team.”

Things have changed since the last time Nice played for the Eagles. There is a new defensive coordinator, Peyton Allen, a new linebacker coach, Rob McCoy, and a bunch of new teammates who really don’t know Aaron Nice.

New coordinator, new position coach...I think the transition has gone really well. I like the new coaches I have. To have a different perspective, I’ve learned a lot of new things already,” added Nice.

Lemn believes getting used to his new teammates may have been Nice’s biggest adjustment. 

“For two years of our guys, they are having to figure out who he is. Obviously for our incoming class he wasn’t engaged in the recruiting process and for our second-year guys he wasn’t around them very frequently either. The second-year guys probably knew about his aura and heard the stories about the six sacks against Guilford. They’re probably questioning, what’s this guy coming back for. He had to answer as many questions from others as he did for himself.”

On the field, it didn’t take long for Nice to feel right at home. “Getting used to the speed of the game again took a couple days, but it didn’t take long to shake off the rust.”

While weightlifting filled a competitive void, for Nice, there is nothing that matches the feel of running onto the football field in front of a large crowd.

“In weightlifting there are only six attempts. Those six lifts, it’s a pretty good rush, but there’s something different about running out on the field with your teammates and getting to getting to compete as a team that I really love,” explained Nice. 

That first chance to compete this season comes on Saturday evening when the Eagles take the field against Stevenson.

“I think it’s looking really good,” Nice said about the progress of the Eagles defensive unit. “We’ve got a lot of guys on the defensive side who have played a significant number of snaps during their careers. And there’s a lot of talent with the young guys as well. I’m excited to go out and compete and see what happens.”