Hatten column: Former SCSU star is back in the AFL

Ben Nelson is not sure how non-athletes get themselves to work out on a daily basis.

"Working out does get old and tiring," said Nelson, who turns 36 in August. "I work out to perform in games. Just working out, I don't know how that doesn't grow tiring for a lot of people."

Nelson, a former St. Cloud State wide receiver, has spent most of his athletic time the past several seasons working out or doing rehabilitation to get back on the football field.

On Monday, Nelson was back playing wide receiver for the San Jose SaberCats in the team's season opener at Las Vegas. He caught two passes for 60 yards and two touchdowns for San Jose as the SaberCats opened the Arena Football League season with a 59-41 win over the expansion Las Vegas Outlaws.

It has been a long road back for Nelson, who was an All-American at St. Cloud State as a senior in 2002. In 2010, Nelson was an All-AFL first-team pick when he caught 151 passes for 1,867 yards and 47 touchdowns.

"The second-to-last game of the season, I broke my ankle and my fibula and it kept me out a decent amount of the next season," he said.

In 2011, he caught 76 passes for 1,019 yards and 24 TDs.

"I was doing really well and was the top receiver in the league going into a game against the Arizona Rattlers and I tore my ACL," Nelson said. "Then I came back too soon and popped it again."

That was in 2012, when he caught 59 passes for 891 yards and 18 TDs

He came back at the end of the 2014 season and caught six passes for 105 yards. So how hard has it been coming back from all those injuries?

"The ankle injury was the hardest to come back from because of how long it was to come back and how serious it was," Nelson said. "With the ACL, you're back walking in a week or so and getting range of motion back and you're not limited as much.

"It's hard to feel good and watch the team play," Nelson said before the season started. "It's been about two years since my last surgery and my knee feels great. Strength-wise, it feels real good."

And there he was back in the lineup for San Jose on Monday.

SCSU career

It is another example of how dedicated Nelson is to the game. He came to St. Cloud State and was a walk-on out of Anoka High School. How deep a walk-on was he? He had to get permission from the coaching staff to work out in the facilities as a true freshman.

Nelson tells his story of persistence at schools.

"I wasn't highly recruited out of high school. I basically got cut at a Division II school and it would have been easy to walk away.

"But I put the work in and I've been gifted with a lot of ability from God. It took a lot of work to get where I was. I tell kids that if they don't have the ability right now and sports is something you want to play, work at it. I hope it hits home with some of them."

Nelson holds the St. Cloud State record for career touchdown catches (43) and single-season touchdown catches (23 in 2002). In his career, he caught 164 passes for 2,581 yards (both are fourth on the career list) with the Huskies.

After college, he ended up playing in NFL Europe and spent time on the Minnesota Vikings practice squad and was active for a few games in 2004 and was on the practice squad in 2005.

AFL

In 2006, he joined San Jose and was the AFL Rookie of the Year. That fall, he spent time in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers camp. In 2007, he spent time in Atlanta's camp but did not make the team.

"Back then, it was harder to make it onto teams because there were only five practice squad spots and now there's up to 10," Nelson said.

But he kept playing in the AFL.

Nelson lives in Salem, Oregon, and got married in October 2012. He and his wife, Jessica, have a son, Parker, 16 months, and Jessica has two children from a previous marriage, Bradyn, 11, and Kailey, 8.

Nelson keeps very busy when he's not playing with the SaberCats or spending time with his family. He's worked for Athletes for College, a college recruiting service, for more than three years.

Nelson said that Athletes for College helps high school athletes find college sports teams and get athletic scholarships. The company does skill level assessments of their clients, and helps them put together highlight videos, schedules, transcripts and statistics to send to coaches at prospective colleges.

Nelson also is finishing training to become a full-time firefighter. He said that in Oregon, most fire departments want their firefighters to have paramedic training.

"All that's left is to work a nine-month paramedic block, which is not a big deal, but it's tough because football is six months out of the year," Nelson said. "It's definitely something I want to pursue and it's my new dream. I think I'm more excited about being accepted as a firefighter than I was to be with the Minnesota Vikings.

"My next goal in life is to take care of my family and not just have a job, but a career and insurance, to do everything you can to provide for your family. I want to be a great dad and husband. What's nice with firefighting is that it's a career I know I'll love."

This is the opinion of Mick Hatten. Contact him at 259-3621 or mhatten@stcloudtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @MickHatten, Instagram.@mickhatten and at Facebook.com/sctimesmick.