GRIND NEVER STOPS: Eagles' Nunez Working for Opportunity

TULIO NUNEZ’S MOTHER, ALBA, DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE VENEZUELA. IT’S HOME. MOST OF THE NUNEZ FAMILY IS STILL THERE.

But if she wanted a better life for Tulio, she had no choice.

“Stuff was harder over there,” Nunez said. “My mom felt the education was way better here. It’d be better for my future.”

So, they came to Houston in 2017, when Nunez was in the seventh grade. Since then, Nunez has been a grinder. A young man with a purpose.

While Alba works for a local church, Nunez puts his heart into football and track & field at Willowridge. He wants nothing more than to play college football.

As a junior last fall, Nunez was a second-team, alldistrict outside linebacker for the Eagles. He also played running back. He will compete in track and field this spring, working on speed and strength to better his odds of playing football at the next level.

Nunez runs the 200 and 400-meter dashes, and the 4x200 and 4x400-meter relays.

“It’s really for my mom,” Nunez said. “She works so hard for me. I really want to get far and be successful because of her. I don’t want her to work anymore.”

Nunez is admirably ambitious. He would love to play at Clemson or LSU. If football doesn’t work out, he thinks he might want to be a plastic surgeon.

Nunez is overcoming a significant language barrier and doesn’t take school for granted. His favorite classes are physics and history.

He is a late bloomer as an athlete—he only started playing football in the eighth grade, taking to its physicality and adrenaline— but is quickly making up for lost time.

“If I can just do the best I can, that’s always my goal,” Nunez said. “Never give up. It’s about doing the little things right. Doing everything full speed. Some people are just out there. They don’t play hard, they don’t care. But I care. I listen to my coaches. I don’t complain. I don’t talk back. I go hard.”

Nunez has seen his work on the track the last couple of years pay off on the field. He’s quicker off the ball. He makes faster, sharper cuts. He’s excited about this spring.

“I’m fast, but it’s never enough,” he said. “That’s why I keep doing it.