Washington ready to make the most of his senior season
When senior safety Nick Washington is not catching catfish or wrestling with alligators, he is doing everything in his power to help the Florida Gators win a National Championship.
Being one of the key components on a stout Gator secondary, which Nick and others dub as ‘DBU’, Washington said, “I’m never satisfied. I always know that there is someone else trying to take my position. There’s always room to get better and improve.”
Washington knows that there are some fresh young faces competing for a chance to play meaningful minutes, and he acknowledges that these freshmen are making progress. “Everyone is doing really well,” he said. “Marco Wilson is doing really well. Shawn Davis is doing well. Donovan Stiner is doing well. C.J. Henderson too.
“I feel like all of the guys are doing well and making plays on the ball. They’re picking up the defense really fast.”
The redshirt senior also spoke about how difficult it was to see his teammate, Marcell Harris, go down with a torn Achilles. Washington and Harris were both redshirted in 2013, and the free safety spoke about the effect that the injury had on him.
“It was tough, especially since we came in together. So to see him go down, we always talked about making plays together and finishing out together. But we bought in a lot of guys that can compete and step up.”
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Washington praised the coaches as well, saying that Randy Shannon’s defense is “simpler than it was. We’re putting guys in the right position to make plays. We’re playing to our strengths and capitalizing on our weaknesses.”
When asked about his first impression of Jim McElwain, Washington had this to say. “When he first got here, we had just come off of the bowl win. We didn’t know what direction we were going in exactly. When Coach Mac got here, he kind of set his foundation and his rules. His plans are working really well.”
Washington continued by echoing Coach McElwain’s message of sweating the small details. “Tucking in your shirt. Being on time. The small stuff like that correlates on the field when there is a call and maybe you make the tackle, but you don’t know the call because you’re looking at the sideline.”
“It seems like a little thing, but that’s a big key. Everyone getting to the sideline, being accountable for their jobs, not stepping out of gaps.”
Outside of football practices and meetings, Washington said that the players have been able to bond over activities such as watching Dunkirk yesterday, or listening to messages from a Pastor.
“That’s the kind of stuff that builds team chemistry. We’re already around each other 24/7, but to be around each other in a fun and relaxed setting is good.”
Without giving away too many spoilers, Washington praised Dunkirk because of how it peaked his interest. “It was pretty good. I stayed awake the whole time. I’m interested in that kind of stuff. Although there wasn’t that much dialogue in the beginning, or throughout the entire movie, I thought that it was very interesting.”
Washington loves the outdoors, and was not shy about some of the fish that he has caught in the past. His biggest freshwater catch was a catfish that weighed about 10 pounds, while his largest grouper was a black grouper that weighed about 15 pounds.
We all know by now about the ESPN story that detailed Washington’s love for catching alligators. When asked about the biggest one he ever caught, Washington said, “Maybe about 7 feet or 8 feet.”
Whether it is catching wildlife outdoors or competing on the football field on Saturdays, Nick Washington seems to excel in whatever activity he puts his mind to.
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