An NC Central lineman and a Duke receiver are honored for doing good in the world

Nick Leverett’s teammates fully realize what comes with riding in his 1997 Ford 150 anywhere around Durham. When he spots a homeless person, an immediate truck search is conducted for bottled water or crackers. If no snacks are available, Leverett invariably locates the nearest convenience or grocery store to purchase and distribute food to his needy friends.

The N.C. Central football player learned assistance to the less fortunate from his mother, Nicole Bost, who did the same when her son was growing up in Salisbury.

“It’s not about you,” Leverett recalls his mother saying, “It’s about what you do for everyone else and the impact you have in this world.”

Leverett and Duke’s Johnathan Lloyd are making an impact in this world. They are among 23 players nationwide to win recognition as members of the Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. The team was established in 1992 to annually honor college football players who “go the extra mile for those in need.”

Leverett’s community service includes work with Habitat for Humanity, participation in domestic violence awareness activities, collection of donations and food for those in need at Thanksgiving and by volunteering at the Durham Soup Kitchen. Lloyd’s community service activities include volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity, the Durham Soup Kitchen, the Ronald McDonald House of Durham and the Durham Rescue Mission.

“From the first time we met him (in recruiting), he had a certain seriousness about him,” N.C. Central head coach Granville Eastman says of Leverett. “He really spoke far more mature and above his age at that time. He really had a vision to want to do big and good things.”

Of Lloyd, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe says: “He’s amazing. He inspires me. I’ve felt blessed and extremely fortunate that he’s been a part of this program.”

Johnathan Lloyd

Lloyd is a redshirt senior wide receiver who has topped 100 receptions and 1,000 yards in his Duke career. He also played parts of two seasons for the Blue Devils baseball team. He likely will become Academic All-ACC for the third time this year. He earned an undergraduate degree in 2016 in African and African American Studies and will be complete his masters’ degree study in Arts and Liberal Studies at the end of November.

Lloyd traces to his parents a giving spirit and healthy balance of football and off-field activities. Heith Lloyd is a dropout prevention counselor at Southern Alamance High School and his late wife, Angela, was an ordained minister and member of Wayman Chapel AME Church in Graham.

“You get to go out and play football and sometimes you lose sight of those who are less fortunate and are dealing with difficult battles every day,” Lloyd says. “So, to be able to be a helping hand or bring a little joy to someone who may be down that day, that’s a wonderful feeling.”

Nick Leverett

Leverett is a 6-foot-4, 300-pound offensive lineman who as a redshirt junior has started every N.C. Central game in his career. In grading 84 percent on blocking assignments as a freshman, he was third team All-MEAC. A season ago, he graded 90 percent on blocking assignments and earned second team All-MEAC honors. He is a shoo-in this season to be a first team all-conference selection.

Like Lloyd, Leverett also graduated early with a criminal justice degree. He will earn a masters’ degree in public administration by the end of next football season.

Leverett’s mother works for Genesis HealthCare nursing home in Salisbury and his father, Tracy, operates Craftmaster Construction in Rincon, Ga. Over the years, Leverett’s father has housed less-fortunate workers from the construction company.

“When I know I’m doing well in the community, it excites me, and when I know I’m doing well on the field, it excites me just as much,” Leverett says. “So, I get the same satisfaction from doing both. It means a lot to me to do both.”

Both Lloyd and Leverett would like to extend their football playing days into the NFL. If those plans go awry, Lloyd, will pursue a career in the business sector and Leverett aims to be an FBI agent.

Whatever the pursuit, the two have built impressive resumes for prospective employers.