University of Georgia Athletics
Nathan Theus: Secret Agent Man?
November 27, 2015 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Last Saturday against Georgia Southern, Nathan Theus made his 50th consecutive start for the Georgia Bulldogs. Not many guys could be so anonymous after 50 straight, but that's the life of a four-year starter on special teams.
As the long snapper on Georgia's special teams the past three seasons — he had previously been on kickoff return as a redshirt freshman — Theus is like a football secret agent. He plays a very important role for the Bulldogs, but you likely don't know of him. Actually, Theus is quite OK with the anonymity his position affords him.
"It's definitely more enjoyable to go under the radar," the fifth-year senior from Jacksonville, Fla., said. "The people who really care, they know who I am. The people who matter in my life, they're always cheering me on and encouraging me."
One of those people is a fellow Bulldog, and a reason Theus is a little better known than most special teams-only players. He's the older brother of offensive lineman John Theus, also a four-year starter. And the 6-foot-3, 238-pound Nathan — about three inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter than John — has made some major plays on the field, as well.
Theus recovered a muffed punt against Auburn last season and recovered another one earlier this month against Kentucky. And if teammate Kenneth Towns hadn't jumped on a critical dropped punt by Georgia Southern in the third quarter last week at the same time Theus did, Theus would have had another one.
"We didn't know who the other was (after diving for the ball), so we were fighting over it," Theus said. "And it was kind of in between both of us, like back and forth, and when I realized it was Kenny I kind of pushed it to him, so that we made sure one of us had it."
Nathan also has a 4-3 advantage on John in career tackles. Neither was aware of this until it was brought to their attention. Starting with Saturday's regular-season finale at Georgia Tech, John has a couple of chances left to catch his brother.
"Hopefully not," said John, because of course for him to have to make a tackle means that the Dogs' offense has turned the ball over.
Asked to share something about his brother, who is engaged to Hannah Edwards, John made it very clear how he feels about him.
"What some people might know, if they know Nathan, is his character. He's a man of God, he's strong in his beliefs, he's engaged, he's always done everything the right way," John said after the Georgia Southern game. "He's someone I emulate and I look up to him as one of my role models. He's just a great kid that always does it by the book and never takes a shortcut. He just really works his tail off and I couldn't ask for a better brother."
Theus' faith plays a big role in his life, providing support, direction and comfort. When asked Monday what he was thankful for this year, he spoke at length about his faith. Then he turned to his family. He went on for several minutes, and included a story about last Saturday's home finale against Georgia Southern, a thrilling overtime win for the Bulldogs that ended on a 25-yard touchdown run by Sony Michel.
On the sideline for the Eagles was the youngest of the Theus brothers playing Division I football, Jeremiah, a freshman offensive lineman who at 6-4, 285 pounds is almost a physical cross between his older brothers. Jeremiah had to redshirt this season after suffering a shoulder injury, but he was wearing his Georgia Southern jersey last week — after appearing with the rest of the family during his brothers' senior day festivities.
"During the game, I know everyone's cheering us on and I'm there with John and I'm looking across at the other sideline and I see Jeremiah. We were talking (across the field to each other) the whole game and showboating when our team scored, just picking at each other," Theus said. "And then after the game, I've never had an emotion like that. As soon as we scored, for a split second I was so, so happy, just a sigh of relief, and it lasted for about a second and a half, because then my heart sunk because I realized Jeremiah had lost. So that killed it.
"I didn't even celebrate with the team. I went straight over to him and hugged him and told him I was proud of him. Everything leading up to that game made that game special, and that everything is my family."
Theus laughed when his position was described as being like a secret agent. He laughed in part because if he can't get a shot at snapping in the NFL, and they're even more anonymous at that level, Theus might want to go a route not too far from secret agent.
"I think I'm going to apply for the FBI and get that process going," he said. "Who knows, maybe be a secret agent like you said. I want to apply for the FBI and get into federal law enforcement."
His reason for doing so is pretty simple: Theus wants to help make the world a better, safer place. He said since he was young he's always wanted to be in the Secret Service, but he's learned that there's a lot of traveling in the Secret Service, which isn't necessarily something he wants.
"Getting married in July plays a huge factor in my career choice," he said. "The FBI is something I'm very interested in because my dad was a police officer for 21 years, my uncles are firefighters and one of them was the mayor of Orange Park (a suburb of Jacksonville). ...
"I think when you grow up, you're always taught to try to make the world a better place, you know. For me, that's a route that I think I could do and I could be good at."
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
