Nick Palazzo's Undefeated 8th Grade Season: "No Mas" with Some Milk & Cookies
As an eighth grader, Nick Palazzo stepped onto the field for the Mayfield Wildcats and delivered one of the most dominant seasons in Northeast Ohio middle school football history. What followed was an undefeated campaign that launched the legend of number 22 — and taught enduring lessons about humility, faith, and the winds that always change.
A Letter to My Little Girls
I already told you about the decision that brought me to the Mayfield Wildcats and the Big Macs that somehow became part of Northeast Ohio football lore. Now I want to tell you about the season that followed — the undefeated eighth-grade year that felt, at the time, like the beginning of something unstoppable.
We went 8-0. I scored more than twenty touchdowns in those eight games. The legend of number 22 started right there on those middle school fields. But legends are dangerous things if you start believing they belong to you alone.
Two games still stand out in my memory with perfect clarity.
The first was the day everything stopped at halftime. We led 28-0. Their roster was loaded with future Division I college players and even a future NFL first-round draft pick. On paper they were supposed to be the better team. That afternoon it simply was not their day. Our defense was so dominant they could barely snap the ball. I had already scored two long touchdown runs and felt, in the moment, nearly untouchable.
Then the lightning came. Real lightning. The sky opened up and storm cells rolled across the field. Officials nearly suspended the game. One of my coaches looked up, then looked at me, and said loud enough for the sideline to hear, “I see lightning in the sky… and I see lightning on the field.” That was the day the nickname stuck. From then on I was Lightning — especially when we ran the thunder and lightning packages. Your grandfather used to say God had put lightning in a bottle and touched me so I could move the way I did. But he always followed it with the same warning: “If God gives it to you, God can take it away. So you better use every bit of it.”
At halftime the other team called for a meeting. The coaches disappeared together. We stood on our sideline waiting, the rain still coming down, not knowing what was happening. After what felt like forever, our coach — the same legendary gym teacher I had loved since elementary school — walked back toward us. He didn’t make a speech. He just looked at the team and said, plain and simply, “They said ‘No Mas.’”
We exploded. We jumped for joy. We celebrated like we had just won a championship. As far as anyone could remember, it was the first time a middle school team in our area had ever quit at halftime. The sideline energy was electric. In that moment we felt invincible.
The second game ended 65-0. I scored three touchdowns and only played the first three series. After that the coaches pulled the starters. The private school that hosted us did something I did not understand at the time. When the final whistle blew, they brought out milk and cookies for both teams. I was fourteen and immature. I thought it was soft. I laughed about it with my teammates. Looking back now, I see it differently. Those coaches and parents were trying to build something larger than the scoreboard — a small moment of community between two groups of boys who would grow up and leave those fields behind. I was too young and too full of myself to receive the gift they were offering.
Years later, before a Harvard-Yale game, they made me put on a suit and sit down for tea with the Yale players — our mortal rivals. I hated every second of it. In my mind we were about to go to war, and tea felt ridiculous. I did not understand then what I understand now: sometimes the people on the other side of the ball are still part of the same larger story. That is a lesson that took me a long time to learn.
That eighth-grade season was pure joy. The wins stacked up. The legend of 22 began to grow. People started talking. I felt the momentum building under my feet.
But I need you to hear this next part clearly, my little girls. The winds change. The tide turns. Ninth grade brought major setbacks — the kind that test everything you think you know about yourself. I will tell you those stories another time. For now I only want you to remember the principle: never get too high, and never stay too low. Success is not permanent. Struggle is not permanent either. Both are weather. What remains is the foundation underneath.
That foundation is faith. We play for God and our Lord Jesus Christ, always and forever. When the scoreboard is in your favor, give thanks. When it is not, give thanks still. The same God who allowed that undefeated season also walked with me through the hard years that followed. He does not abandon His children when the wins stop coming. He uses both the mountaintops and the valleys.
Your grandfather was right. If God gives it to you, God can take it away. So use every bit of it — with humility, with gratitude, and with the knowledge that the lightning never belonged to you in the first place. It was only ever on loan.
Scripture reminds us, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” It also tells us that pride goes before a fall. Both are true at the same time. The same hands that catch touchdown passes must learn to open in prayer when the season turns difficult. The same heart that celebrates must learn to stay soft and grateful.
I love you, my little girls. I want you to chase excellence with everything you have. I also want you to hold it loosely. Celebrate the victories. Learn from the defeats. Stay rooted in the only thing that does not shift when the winds change.
Remember our way, encapsulated in three simple words: nothing else matters… Jesus is Lord.
I love you more than you will ever know.
About the Author – Nick Palazzo
Nick Palazzo is an industry recognized sports technology entrepreneur and marketing innovator appearing in numerous publications and broadcast programs, including The New York Times, the “Today” show, Mediaweek, MIN, Folio, Sports Business Journal, Forbes and Adweek, and is a frequent keynote and panel speaker at sports, media and technology industry events. Earlier in his career, Nick Palazzo was featured as a “C-Level Visionary” by Folio as part of its annual Folio:40 list of media industry influencers and innovators. Palazzo was also featured in the acclaimed book Upstarts! How GenY Entrepreneurs are Rocking The World of Business.
A graduate of Harvard University, where he finished as one of the football program's all-time leading rushers and scorers and a key member of the first undefeated championship team since 1913, Nick Palazzo is passionate about expanding the possibilities available to today’s student-athletes from under-resourced areas.
Nick Palazzo was also a nominee for The William V. Campbell Trophy aka the “Academic Heisman”, the most prestigious and desirable academic award in college football. The trophy recognizes an individual as the absolute best in the country for his academic success, football performance and exemplary leadership.
While a Harvard athlete, Nick Palazzo founded STACK which grew into a global athletic training content sensation with a mission of educating and inspiring youth athletes. STACK was the originator of athlete-centric content produced “For the Athlete, By the Athlete," with a focus on training, nutrition, skills and gear. LeBron James was the first athlete featured by the platform where his high school workout was shared with the world.
Nick Palazzo is a proud #girldad with four amazing daughters. He is also a devout Roman Catholic having been involved in the Harvard Catholic Student Society and a variety of other catholic organizations over the years. Nick Palazzo's favorite Bible verse is Romans 10:9. Jesus is Lord.
Business Site: https://www.npventures.com
Family Blog: https://www.nickpalazzo.org
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-palazzo/
X Profile: https://x.com/nick22palazzo
Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/nick22palazzo
Personal Blog: https://www.nickpalazzo.com/
Sports Site: https://www.2x2sports.com Personal Site: https://www.nickpalazzo.net
Nick Palazzo
Nick Palazzo is a Harvard graduate, former collegiate standout, and founder of groundbreaking sports platforms like STACK. A proud #girldad to four daughters and devout Catholic, he channels his love for faith, family, and football into the 2x2 Foundation, helping under-resourced student-athletes chase their dreams—just like a certain 8th grader who had a big decision to make about where he would take his talents and then went out and delivered an undefeated season that launched a legend.
For more stories like this, follow along on nickpalazzo.org.
