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Top SEC recruits: Geting to know Georgia TE Isaac Nauta

Corey Long

By Corey Long

Published:

Five-star tight end Isaac Nauta ended the long recruiting process with a commitment to Georgia at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Jan. 9. Here’s a little more about the top tight end prospect in the nation.

Nauta is already in-house

Nauta went straight from his commitment at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl to Athens to begin his life as a student and football player at the University of Georgia.

Nauta is a rare breed

Nauta is only one of four tight ends to have a composite five-star rating since 2010 joining Xavier Grimble, Nick O’Leary and O.J. Howard. He was the first five-star tight end at Rivals.com since 2009.

Nauta was committed to Florida State at one time and was thought to be the heir apparent to O’Leary, who became an All-American for the Seminoles.

Nauta didn’t always have it easy

The Nauta family seemed to have a pretty good life until Isaac hit the age of eight when a downturn in the stock market left the family scrambling.

As his mother, Lisa Nauta, describes it the family was assisted by a food bank in Jacksonville for several months and a high point in month could be when she had the opportunity to “grab a few things from the dollar store.”

Isaac himself talks about those times when the family’s primary transportation was his father’s motorcycle.

“Riding my bike to McDonald’s to get a one dollar McDouble was like a Ruth’s Chris steak,” Isaac Nauta said to DawgNation. “It was to that point. We lost all of our cars. I was riding to football practice on my Dad’s motorcycle. I had my pads and my helmet and I’m sitting on the back of his motorcycle.”

Yes, that’s Nauta on reality TV

It may be sad to admit that “Chrisley Knows Best” is a guilty-pleasure watch but sometimes you can see a future celebrity.

Nauta was mostly mentioned by a nickname on the show, “The Buford Bison,” and he was a guest at a sweet 16 party for Todd Chrisley’s daughter, Savannah, who also seemed to have eyes for the Buford Bison.

When Nauta returned to school, he got the grief you would expect

“I got a lot of crap,” the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Nauta said. “Everyone was like, ‘What’s up, Buford Bison?’ I really didn’t intend to be what I ended up being on that show, so it’s kind of funny how it all turned out.”

You can watch the episode here.

Corey Long

Corey Long is a freelance writer for SaturdayDownSouth.com. Follow Corey on Twitter @CoreyLong.

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