Bittersweet day for Nande
Celebrates being picked, hopes to bring mother back to U.S.
By Teresa M. Walker, Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The last time Terna Nande saw his mother was 17 years ago, when she went to Nigeria for a funeral and officials refused to let her board the plane home.
Now that the Tennessee Titans made the Miami linebacker an NFL draft pick, bringing her back to the United States is among his top priorities.
"That's a big step for me. Just talking about it gets me all fired up. If I can have the opportunity to bring her over, I want to," Nande said Sunday.
Veronica and David Nande came to the United States on temporary student visas. His mother went to Nigeria with his sister following a death in the family, but they never came back. His father, David Nande, drives a taxi in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Terna was born.
Terna Nande started playing football when he was 6 and became an All-Mid American Conference selection in 2004. While at Miami, he picked up a nickname: the Nigerian Nightmare.
He dropped to the fifth round because a blindside hit left him with a lacerated liver that sidelined him five games in 2005.
The NCAA said a medical redshirt was unlikely, so Nande played the final three games and finished with 44 tackles. That was good for sixth on the team, which included his younger brother, Tersee, a free safety.
He has stayed in touch with his mother by telephone, conversations that have been more frequent than in previous years.
"It is still kind of hard because we talk maybe once every three months or something like that," he said.
"Hopefully soon enough I can go visit."
