WINSTON-SALEM — Late last month, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons exited Stanford Stadium with a 27-24 victory in what was the longest trip the football team had ever made for a regular-season game.
It was an important road win for Wake (4-4), who eclipsed the ACC-newcomer Stanford Cardinals (2-7) with a tiebreaking 23-yard field goal with 1:48 remaining.
While coach Dave Clawson and his players traveled to the west coast on a five-hour flight, it was the tag-team duo of retired police officers Nicky Ezell and Jon Kislingbury — Wake’s designated football equipment truck drivers — who was responsible for driving the team’s 18-wheeler a combined 5,600 miles roundtrip.
The trip consisted of a non-stop 51-hour drive from Winston-Salem to Stanford, followed by a non-stop 46-hour drive back to North Carolina.
Now in his seventh year working under Brian Daniels, director of football equipment for the Demon Deacons, Ezell recently reflected on the experience of the longest drive of his life, where he and his partner were solely accountable for transporting the team’s helmets, shoulder pads, uniforms, cleats, and everything in between.
“We had just gotten back from UConn, which was almost 14 hours one-way, and that made this trip even more challenging,” Ezell said. “We didn’t get back home until 5 a.m. on Sunday morning. That gave Brian literally a day to turn around everything that was inside of the truck, because we had to leave Tuesday at 1 p.m. in order to be sure we’d make it.”
After driving to California through Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, the truck made it to Stanford on Thursday around 3 p.m.
Stopping for just fuel, food, and bathroom breaks, Ezell confirmed that it was a smooth trip for the most part, aside from an untimely incident in Amarillo, TX, on the way to the game where the rig suffered a brief mechanical issue.
“Basically, a computer failed on the truck, causing it to only go 45 miles an hour and then only one mile an hour,” he said. “Luckily, it literally happened about 15 miles from an actual truck dealer. They were able to tell me how to reset it, and we reset it and went back to the truck dealership where they dealt with the problem. It was only about a four or five-hour delay. Thankfully, we didn’t have to go very far and we didn’t have to have it towed or anything like that.”
Feeling exhausted yet relieved to finally arrive after a series of repeating 10-hour driving shifts with Kislingbury, Ezell noted that one “carrot at the end of stick” was getting the opportunity to see his own children and grandchildren who live in the Stanford area.
He added that another factor keeping his morale and mood high was knowing that Wake Forest had a bye week coming up the following weekend, presenting an oasis of rest and recuperation off in the distance.
It also helped that the Demon Deacons came away from the journey with a win, notching back-to-back victories after a tough stretch where the team had lost four out five games.
“We’d been worried about this trip since it was first mentioned. ‘How long is it going to take you?’ ‘I don’t know’ was always the answer. I don’t know. I’m praying, but I don’t know,” Ezell said. “So it was nice to get one down so we know what to expect next year. Like I said, you still have to maintain enough time for unforeseen issues.”
Some college athletic programs contract out their equipment truck-driving duties to outside parties.
However, Ezell thinks that keeping the drivers in-house allows for a stronger bond to the team for those involved in the behind-the-scenes work. Additionally, Wake owns its own trailer, which was donated by prominent alum Johnny Foster prior to this season.
“Before that, we had a pretty old trailer, so that definitely made the situation much easier and smoother,” he added.
Looking ahead, Ezell is already thinking about a road trip to Oregon next fall that will be three hours longer than the Stanford trip. He hopes that both the traffic and weather will present safe and efficient driving conditions for that long drive to Autzen Stadium in Eugene, OR.
Regardless of the circumstances, Ezell said that he’s happy to help where he can, whether he’s trekking across the entirety of the country or assisting in setting up the locker room for the players.
“We’re definitely glad to be a part of the team.”
