Breaking Through: Nigel Chavis Embraces Opportunity with USFL's Breakers

It’s been a long road for NSU alumnus Nigel Chavis. Over two and a half years after playing his last game in a Spartan uniform, Chavis suited up for the first professional football game of his career on Sunday. 

The New Orleans Breakers selected Chavis with the ninth pick of the fourth round in the United States Football League’s (USFL) inaugural draft this February. The USFL debuted in 1983 with the goal of providing fans a high-level market for the sport during the NFL and college football offseason, jumpstarting the careers of NFL greats Herschel Walker and Jim Kelly before closing in 1987. After a 35-year wait, the league made its highly anticipated return on Sunday, playing its games at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama.

But Chavis’ path to this point has been filled with bumps and potholes. After notching All-MEAC honors for the third straight year in 2019, and first-team All-MEAC recognition for the second year in a row, Chavis had a chance to become NSU’s next NFL talent. Chavis had earned an invitation to the first-ever HBCU Combine, scheduled to begin on March 27, 2020, and felt the spotlight the event would provide could make the difference in inking that coveted contract.

But just days after the player pool was announced, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, and within a week most U.S. states had begun shutdowns to prevent its spread. The HBCU combine was cancelled, as well as NSU’s pro day, throwing Chavis and many of his peers’ futures into limbo.

“After that it was just a matter of playing it by year for the next opportunity, the next thing to pop up,” he said. “When’s the next thing available?

With a once-in-a-lifetime stage ripped out from under them, Chavis and his teammates had to get creative. Players sent scouts video of their own homemade pro days, and Chavis needed to find a new workout routine.

The following year, Chavis received an invitation to the 2021 HBCU combine. He didn’t have much communication with pro teams shortly after, but he kept training in the hopes of receiving a chance. Chavis told himself whatever opportunity came about, he would take.

He finally received that phone call of interest, but it came from an unfamiliar code. Alessio D’Ascenzo, president of the Italian “Milano Rhinos,” expressed interest in recruiting Chavis overseas to play for his club. Like he’d promised earlier, Chavis made the journey to Italy to join the team. On his way, he had a layover in Paris, France, his first-ever taste of Europe.

“I got to experience Paris for a little bit,” he said. “Spent time at the airport, got some souvenirs for my family to send back home.”

But that visit across the ocean was short-lived. Chavis had only been in Italy for about a week and a half when he was contacted by a coach of the New Orleans Breakers, who hoped to recruit the linebacker to the USFL’s reboot. Chavis couldn’t pass up on the offer, and he headed back home to train.

“I knew the opportunity that comes with the league and comes with the exposure of it,” he said. “All you need is that opportunity, you can’t hesitate.”
 

With just a few months to prepare for his first professional contest, Chavis needed to acclimate himself to his new team and new environment. When the Breakers took the field for their season opener against the Philadelphia Stars on Sunday, though, Chavis didn’t look like someone playing their first game in over 730 days. The Richmond, Virginia native totaled three tackles and half a sack in the team’s 23-17 win.

“Every day I strive to be better than I was yesterday,” Chavis said. “It feels great to back out there in my natural habitat and be ready to perform.

For now, Chavis remains focused on the Breakers’ upcoming matchup against the Tampa Bay Bandits. In the long run, he hopes the USFL can serve as a stepping-stone for an NFL opportunity someday. 

“The goal is to make the NFL and have a long, healthy career,” he said. “I want to be able to provide for my family and friends outside of football, put everyone on the right track for the future. Once football’s over, because football doesn’t last forever, you’ve got to set everyone up for the future and that’s where the longevity starts.”

Chavis knows he’s not alone in this pursuit. Many of his teammates at NSU currently await the NFL Draft, and Chavis has remained in touch with plenty of his peers since he graduated.

“We touch base on a daily basis, even if it’s just checking in on each other,” he said. “We formed a brotherhood, formed a bond. That’s outside of football, it doesn’t stop at school.”