Nick Johnson ’24 is an offensive lineman for football and throws discus for track.
Nick Johnson ’24 doesn’t have an offseason.
In the fall, he’s an offensive lineman on the football team. When the season ends, he trades in his shoulder pads and helmet for discus and throwing shoes. Track will keep him busy through the spring.
Johnson, an economics major from Dallas, Texas, is a rare example of a Colgate student- athlete who plays two varsity sports. While others have done it before, he’s the only one at the moment.
While the football and track seasons don’t conflict, offseason activities will sometimes overlap each other. In such instances, Johnson gives his full commitment to the sport that’s in-season, but will continue to attend noncontact practices and meetings for the other sport — all without compromising his grades.
“Balancing the academics and the sports, it’s a challenge,” says Johnson, who also has a minor in educational studies. “But it forces you to have time management.”
Johnson was a track recruit when he enrolled at Colgate, and continued with one sport until February of his junior year, when the football coaches asked if he was interested in joining the program. “I said, ’As long as I don’t have to give up track, I’d love to,’” he recalls. “I jumped right on the opportunity.”
But his return to football — which he hadn’t played since high school — wasn’t as simple as putting on his uniform and equipment. First, he had to bulk up to be ready to battle at the line of scrimmage. As a result, the 6-foot-7 Johnson added roughly 40 pounds in the spring to bring him to 300 pounds.
He also had to work on his mobility. And he had to learn the playbook. It took considerable work, but Johnson was more than happy for the opportunity to play football again.
“I didn’t realize how much I missed football until I got back into it,” he says.
For Johnson, adding football was icing on the cake for what has been an incredible Colgate experience. On the track team, he’s competed in high-level tournaments as a member of the throws unit while having the time of his life.
In the classroom, Johnson has thrived. His interest in numbers led him to studying economics. He’s also taken advantage of the liberal arts curriculum by studying a wide range of topics, including two semesters of Hebrew and a course in contemporary dance. He has completed internships with investment banking firms and wants to pursue a career in finance.
“Colgate has an incredibly unique combination of elite academics paired with DI athletics,” he says. The University also has a special place with his family. His parents, Robert ’94 and Kelly (Lehmann) ’94 Johnson, were Colgate students and members of the track team when they met. Their daughter, Carlyn Johnson ’26, is a biology major.
When Johnson was offered the chance to play football, his parents were thrilled with the idea — but wondered if it might be too much of a burden on his schedule. “They asked if I had time to balance my classes with all of it,” Johnson remembers. “I like to prove to them that I can.”