Nobody’s Prouder of Packers Rookie Nazir Stackhouse Than His Mom

“Me being a kid, I had an allowance so I had some money in my little piggy jar and I wanted to make a couple extra bucks, so I bet my mom. She picked the Packers and I picked the Steelers for the little knowledge that we did have about the NFL. I didn’t watch NFL ball growing up. I was more into cartoons and stuff. So, we bet that game and she went with the Packers – I’m not sure why she went with the Packers – and the Packers ended up winning. When they ended up winning, she became a fan.”

And now her son plays for the Packers, having exchanged a “G” on the helmet at Georgia for a “G” on the helmet in Green Bay.

In five seasons at Georgia, Stackhouse played in 59 games and made 42 starts. He started all 15 games in 2022 to help Georgia win the national championship.

Having played in countless big games in front of huge crowds, was he nervous for his first NFL game?

“I wouldn’t say I was nervous,” he said. “I didn’t have that feeling – you know how you get butterflies? I didn’t have that feeling of nervousness. If anything, I was just thinking about making a big play. I’m trying to make a big play. I was itching to do it. I had a couple plays but I was really just itching. ‘I want to get that play.’”

While Stackhouse went undrafted, plays that big play he made against the Jets, a fourth down in which he drove back former Packers center Josh Myers to set up the stop, have put him in a good position to make the 53-man roster that will be selected on Aug. 26.

“If that’s a big play, then for sure,” he said. “One thing about me, I pride myself on doing my job. So, they need me to get a fourth-and-1 stop, I can get that for you. Whatever play they put out there, I’m going to execute it at my best ability.”

The Packers fielded one of the best run defenses in the NFL last season. The big piece to that unit – literally – was TJ Slaton, the 340-pounder who signed with the Bengals in free agency. Stackhouse, who measured 6-foot-4 and 327 pounds at the Scouting Combine, is the lone big man on this year’s unit.

“Strong,” was defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s succinct description of Stackhouse. “He’s really stout in the middle at that nose position. He can play a shade, he can play on the guard, he can play head-up on the center, so he gives us some flexibility in how we want to play with our front. He’s got really strong hands, he can get off blocks, he can hold up on double-teams.

“He gives us a big body on the inside. We’ve got to keep getting him better now. And just like the rest of those young guys, it’s still early, and we’ve got to keep developing him and he’s got to keep working and we’ll see as this training camp goes where he finishes.”

The hope for Stackhouse – and his mom – is he finishes training camp in Green Bay. Any mom would be over-the-moon thrilled to have her son reach his dream of being in the NFL. But for him to play for her favorite team would be icing on the cake.

“Yeah, it is cool,” Stackhouse said. “My mom’s proud of me. She’s always been proud of me. All I can do is work up from here and make her even more proud.”