FRISCO, Texas– The Georgia Bulldogs won two National Championships during DT Nazir Stackhouse’s tenure with the school. Finding that level of success isn’t easy. It’s hard. And that word has meant a lot to Georgia, and especially their defensive line throughout Stackhouse’s tenure. He’s started alongside NFL stars like Jordan Carter and Travon Walker, and the defensive line has lived by the definition of the word hard. Ryne Dennis of The Athens-Herald Journal first chronicled how important the mantra was to Georgia’s defense in 2017, and during an interview at the East-West Shrine Bowl, Stackhouse told Steelers Depot just how much it means to Georgia.
“Hard. Solid, firm, resistance to pressure. Not easily bent, broken or pierced. That’s our definition, we live by it, and we keep it close to us. We know that you step outside those doors, you step off that campus, life’s hard and it’s just how it is. There’s nothing you can do, the only thing you can do is the controllables. You can only control the controllables. But anything that else that happens through life that comes at you and is adverse, you have to understand that it’s hard,” Stackhouse said. “Yes, you actually do bend, but do you break? You don’t. And I believe that just us carrying that burden as a defensive line, and coach even dispersed it throughout the whole team as well.”
“To play at Georgia is not easy. As soon as you accept that as a player, you play harder. You play for yourself, you play for your team, and do whatever it takes to help the team win.”
Stackhouse said that players like Carter, Davis and Wyatt getting drafted had him realize the “burden” of the mantra was left on him to continue to carry for the Georgia defensive line. Stackhouse was also roommates with Carter, as well as Sedrick Van Pran, two players drafted the last two seasons, and Warren Brinson, also at the East-West Shrine Bowl, so he’s been around a lot of talent on and off the field.
The mantra especially applies to Stackhouse, who is diagnosed with narcolepsy, the neurological disorder that makes it difficult to regulate sleep and wake cycles. Stackhouse credited his teammates for helping him manage his narcolepsy.
“I was blessed to be in a room full of guys who had some sort of understanding, and they knew that outside of that meeting room. I was gonna do what I needed to do on the field. So I just feel about my peers, they put me under my wing, like ‘hey, I’m gonna make sure Naz is alert during the meeting, I’m gonna make sure Naz, you need anything Naz.’ A lot of these guys know I don’t drive, so they’re like ‘do you need a ride.’ These guys care. And that connection of the team is really strong.”
“Especially when you’re going through a neurology disability like that, it’s kind of hard. So when you got guys that care about you and want to help that situation, it means so much to me.”
Stackhouse said he recognizes he likely won’t have some of those guys around, so he’s working on managing it on his own.
Playing on such a talented defensive line early in his career with the likes of Travon Walker, Davis, Wyatt and Carter, Stackhouse said he understood that he had to earn the right to play, and while he dealt with imposter syndrome earlier in his career, he recognized that things weren’t always easy for them, either.
“I was one of those guys like, how else can I learn and get better? And there were some times when I had imposter syndrome, and there were flashes when I had that when I was 17, 18 years old. And eventually I realized it was hard for them too. It was hard for Travon, it was hard for Jordan, it was hard for JC. So the sooner I accepted that, I realized, ok, yes, it’s gonna be hard for me too. These guys got through it. I can do the same thing too.”
It’s not easy to play at Georgia, and it’s not easy to play at Georgia dealing with a neurological disorder that can have a major impact on someone’s day-to-day life. It’s especially not easy to have success and be a four-year starter at the school, but Stackhouse did it all. He embraced the hard, and now he’s on his way to being drafted.
While he hadn’t met with the Steelers at the Shrine Bowl when he met with Steelers Depot, Stackhouse did say he met with DL Karl Dunbar at Georgia’s Pro Day in 2023. Stackhouse didn’t weigh in at the Shrine Bowl, but he was listed at 6-3 and 320 pounds by Georgia, and that size should be attractive to the Steelers, as well as his production. He finished his career with 96 tackles and nine tackles for a loss while plugging the middle for the Bulldogs. He also had an interception in 2023 against Missouri.
Stackhouse may have bent during his journey at Georgia, but he never broke. Stackhouse said the New York Giants have expressed a lot of interest in him, and he looks to be well on his way to getting drafted. While his journey to get here may have been hard, Stackhouse is on his way to the NFL.
