By Roscoe Nance
It is often said that no good deed goes unnoticed, and so it is with Nick Leverett, an offensive tackle on the North Carolina Central football team.
Leverett has participated in a laundry list of community service projects as a member of the North Carolina Central Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the Eagles football team, and his fraternity, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Name a community service project at the North Carolina Central campus or in the Research Triangle area, the 6-4, 300-pound two-time All-MEAC pick has probably been involved with it.
That’s why Leverett was named to Allstate AFCA Good Works Team, an elite group of 22 college football players across all levels and an honorary coach who are recognized by Allstate Insurance Company and the American Football Coaches Association for their community service efforts. The group is invited to New Orleans to participate in a special community service project ahead of the 2019 Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Good Works Team will be recognized on the field during halftime of the game.
Leverett’s community service efforts range from speaking to elementary school students in Chapel Hill, N.C., about character building, breaking barriers and not giving up during adverse times to teaching fellow male students about professional etiquette such as how to tie a necktie. He has also been involved in collecting toiletries from hotels where athletic teams stayed and created gift baskets which were donated to the Durham, N.C., Rescue Mission. For the past three years, Leverett has participated in Feed-A-Family Thanksgiving, a project that involved collecting donations and food for the less fortunate for Thanksgiving, and he has collaborated with campus police to discuss campus security.
He also volunteered with Habitat For Humanity multiple times to build houses, collected backpacks and other schools supplies for kids returning to school with his Omega Psi Phi Fraternity brothers and has assisted at area hospital with its patients and their families
Those activities only scratch the surface of Leverett’s volunteer work. He must log more than 125 hours of community service in spite of his football obligations, which include being a team captain. Still, he graduated in three years with a degree in criminal justice while recording a 3.37 grade point average. He is in graduate school pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration with an eye on an NFL career and eventually public service.
“I really just try to make time,” said Leverett, who had an internship with the North Carolina Department of Transportation which whetted his appetite for a public service career. “I’m the type of guy that does not like sitting and doing nothing. I’m busy with meetings and stuff, but if I can find some spare time outside of football, I like to do something productive.”
Leverett says his commitment to community service and helping others is the result of the example his mother, Nicole Bost, set for him.
“Growing up, my mom was always the one who tried to make time for me and my sister,” he said. “She made time for us to make us happy, and she gave back to the church and the community. Seeing that instilled in me made me always want to give back and to always make time to try to help others.”
Community service is more than Leverett’s passion. It borders on being an obsession. He continually scours the list of community service events that the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) President posts online for opportunities to serve, and he keeps an eye out for events taking place in the Research Triangle area. If there are none, he sometimes will come up with projects of his own. That was the case during the summer when he participated in the Prepare To Soar mentoring program. He gathered his mentees, bought pizzas and they rode around town in his truck delivering them to the homeless.
Another time, Leverett gathered leftover food from a campus outlet, and led a group of students who delivered it to the homeless community in Durham.
“I’m always looking for an opportunity to do something,” he said. “If I find an opportunity, I take it.”
“Nick is first class all the way around,” says North Carolina Central interim coach Granville Eastman. “That says a lot about his mom and his dad and the people around him and how they have raised him. We knew he was going to be a solid player for us. But the thing which is most impressive is that he graduated in three years. He gets it. We preach about life after football and not having football use you but make sure you get something out of football. Nick completely understands that. He’s taken full advantage of all of his opportunities here.”
Leverett’s teammates hold him in high regard for the things he does on the field, in the community and in the classroom. He says his teammates, as well as his coaches and professors motivate him to do well on and the field.
“I push every day,” Leverett said. “I push for everything. But it’s really the people around me. (Offensive line) Coach (Jason Onyebuagu) was hard on me from the first day. He coaches me hard. My teammates know my work ethic, and they won’t let me slack off at all. My professors see what I am doing, and they make sure I do the work. My frat brothers are always on me about persevering. Everything I do I want to do it to best of my ability. I want to go the extra mile, the extra rep. I set myself up to be better to than I was yesterday.”
Leverett has received numerous awards and recognitions during his career at North Carolina Central, including the 2018 National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame outstanding Scholar-Athlete Award. He says being named to the Allstate Good Works Team trumps all the others.
“It’s not just another football award,” he says. “It’s all over the nation. It’s the most meaningful.”
The Good Works award has added meaning for Leverett because his former teammate, mentor and fraternity brother Carl Jones, who played center for the Eagles, was named to the team in 2016.
Leverett and Jones developed a close relationship during Leverett’s freshman season, which he red-shirted. He and Jones watched film together, talked football and life.
“He’s like an older brother,” Leverett says. “He inspired me. This is huge. That’s the one thing I wanted to do that he has done.”
Jones, a global accountant for Bayer in St. Louis, says Leverett was unique in the way he delved into community service from the outset of his college career as a mentee in the Prepare To Soar Program.
“He’s a good kid,” Jones says. “He embodies the word student-athlete. When he started hanging around (me), he didn’t care about the accolades. He wanted to lend a helping hand and serve. He’s a pillar in the community.”