Get To Know Your Orange Man: #84, WR Nate Wellington

Name: Nate Wellington

Position: Wide Receiver

Year: Freshman

Height: 5’10”

Weight: 177

Hometown: Skaneateles, N.Y.

High School: Skaneateles

2018 stats: Played a significant role on offense for the Lakers, catching 59 passes for 1,059 yards and 11 touchdowns en route to Skaneateles winning the Section III Class B Championship Game.

2019 projections: Recruited to the team as a preferred walk-on, it’s near certain Wellington won’t see the field as a receiver. He’ll either redshirt or maybe provide some contributions on special teams.

How’d he get here?: He chose to walk-on at Syracuse once presented with the opportunity. If not for the offer, he would have gone to play at newly-minted FCS program Merrimack or Division III Hamilton College.

What’d recruiting sites say?: Nada.

Money quote: This excerpt from a Syracuse.com article about his commitment really reveals a lot about his character:

Wellington, who chose SU over opportunities to play for Merrimack and Hamilton, has come a long way since sitting down with Sindoni heading into his sophomore year as a 5-foot-7, 140-pound college football hopeful.

“Nate has an aspiration to play Division I football,” Sindoni remembers Wellington’s father saying. I’m looking at him like, ‘OK,’” Sindoni said, “and for this exact reason, I’m never one to say, ‘I don’t see it.’”

Twitterfeed: @Natewelli

Tweets of wonder: This tweet, like many of its kind, aged like fine wine.

What movie would Dino Babers recommend for him?: For Nate, Dino is digging into the archives to pull out 1934’s British classic “The Iron Duke”, which follows Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington in the lead up to him and his forces defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo.

Interesting nugget o’ interest: Wellington was also really talented on the diamond, leading the Skaneateles baseball team to a Section III title in 2019. He played centerfield for the Lakers, finishing the season with a .434 batting average.

Let’s get a good look at ya: Here’s a TD catch he made in the state playoffs against Chenango Forks