ELLENSBURG, WA. – Central Washington University is home to numerous success stories. Whether it is through athletics or academics, Wildcats have been making waves in their post college life. Nolan Teasley is one of those great stories to come out of Ellensburg. Born in Federal Way, Washington and raised in Ellensburg, Teasley came back to the Burg to share his story.
Nolan started playing football at the age of 11 and instantly knew it was something he wanted to do for as long as he could. Nolan was a standout student-athlete at Ellensburg High School and earned a scholarship to play at CWU following his senior year. With high expectations from himself, his family, and other people around the community, Teasley went into his freshmen year excited for his opportunities. Much to everyone's surprise, he struggled at the collegiate level and wasn't able to find immediate success.
Following his junior year as a Wildcat, Teasley decided to hang up the cleats and move on from his athletic career.
"The hardest part about leaving the program was just feeling like I was disappointing my parents and my family," Teasley said. "I hated leaving my teammates. Some of my best friends were on the team. Those guys are still my lifelong friends from my playing days. It's not something I'm proud of but I don't regret it. I mean it took me to where I'm at now and I'm happy now. So, like I said, it was just part of the path. I still remember the day pretty vividly. But I felt like I needed to step away from the game for a little bit."
In 2007, Teasley graduated from CWU with a degree in Public Relations and Business. He took a job in marketing. Three years into his new profession, he realized that he had no passion or desire to continue doing what he was doing.
"It was pretty apparent that I didn't like what I was doing," Teasley went on to say. "My wife and I were comfortable though. We were saving for a house, I had six weeks of vacation a year and at the time we didn't have any kids so we were traveling and having fun. The hard part was that I knew that money was going to have to provide for a family one day and I didn't ever look forward to going to work."
After six years in the marketing industry, Nolan decided to make a change. With the support of his wife and family and friends, he decided to write letters to each of the 32 NFL teams trying to get involved with football again. "That passion was really re-sparked after taking that extended period of time off away from the game. I had been doing something that I didn't want to do for six years and I knew that I needed a change and wanted to be back around football again."
Two teams responded back to Nolan's letters, both of them saying that they appreciated his inquiry and his interest, but that they didn't have anything open at the time. With the help of a family friend, Teasley landed an interview with the Seattle Seahawks organization. In May of 2013, Teasley began his internship with the organization.
With his "first one in and last one out" mentality, Teasley learned a lot from his mentors as a 30-year-old intern. The following year, the Seahawks had one of the most dominate rosters the game has ever seen and went on to win the Super Bowl that year. "Being on the field at MetLife stadium after winning that game was a special feeling. I knew that I wanted to continue to be a part of the organization and around the game again."
In 2016, Teasley was named the Assistant Director of Professional Personnel. After one year of work as the assistant, Teasley's boss left the organization and Nolan was selected to move into the role of Director of Professional Personnel.
"It's that underdog mentality," Teasley said when asked where he got his work ethic from. "Being that D2 athlete just kind of builds into it and it's just part of who we are as an athlete and as a person. The process and the day to day work makes for long days. The hardest part is you're never really finished. There's always something to do and you never really feel like you can turn off or completely unplug."
Teasley said that one of the biggest factors of his success is that he went and did something that he had no passion or desire for. "If I would've gone to the internship right out of college and didn't go and do something that I didn't want to do, I don't think I would've worked the same way or as hard. It's just all part of my path. I was really just chomping at the bit when I got the opportunity because I knew that this is what I wanted to do, and I knew that I didn't want to do what I used to do."
Teasley's big message to Central student-athletes and to other Central students was: "Follow your passion. Whatever you want to do, go do it. If you're going to do it, go all the way, and put your everything into it. If you work hard enough people will realize that you can't be replaced and that's valuable. Just because someone may have more experience or more intelligence, doesn't mean that they should be able to out work you."
