CANTON — Cade Stover sat in front of his locker inside Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, slipping on a pair of brown cowboy boots to go with the faded blue jeans and plain white tee-shirt he wore.
You can take the boy out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the boy.
“I’ll always be a farmer at heart,” said Stover, the Lexington High School product and rookie tight end for the Houston Texans, “but this is a hell of a day job.”
The 24-year-old Stover made his NFL debut Thursday, catching a pair of passes in the Texans 21-17 loss to the Chicago Bears in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton.
Severe storms rumbled through Stark County late in the third quarter, bringing a premature end to the evening’s festivities that included the pregame introduction of this year’s Hall of Fame enshrinees.
“It’s really cool to play my first game back here at home. It’s special,” said Stover, who was selected in the fourth round by the Texans out of Ohio State. “There were quite a few people here tonight: mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, girlfriend.
“It was super-cool to have them be able to see the first one.”
Family and friends have always been important to Stover. His affinity for the family farm is well known.
“It’s who I am,” Stover said.
Ohio’s 2018 Mr. Football winner, Stover could have jump-started his collegiate career at Ohio State by graduating early as most high-level recruits do. Instead, he decided to play his final basketball season with his childhood friends.
“I still talk to them on a weekly basis,” Stover said. “It’s super-special to have good friends like that. Those are guys who will be in my wedding one day.”
Initially recruited as a linebacker, Stover spent five years in Columbus. He moved to defensive end, then to tight end and starred at linebacker in Ohio State’s Rose Bowl victory over Utah in 2022 before returning to tight end for good. He caught 36 passes for 406 yards and five touchdowns in 2022 and 41 passes for 576 yards and five TDs last fall.
“This guy is as tough and hard-nosed a player as they had in the program,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said after the Texans selected Stover with the 123rd overall pick. “How he was raised — I mean, this guy is everything you want in a football player and then more.”
Stover and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud were captains of Ohio State’s 2022 team. Stroud, who was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, lobbied for Stover during the pre-draft process.
“Yeah, me and Cade are brothers, man. Somebody who I had the chance to play with in college, but spend a lot of time with him off the field in college, barbecuing, just chilling, playing the game, all type of stuff,” Stroud said in a recent interview. “That’s somebody I consider my brother.”
The feeling is mutual, Stover said Thursday night.
“When you’ve got someone you already have a relationship with and someone you’ve caught passes from, it makes that transition a little easier,” Stover said.
Houston has five tight ends on the roster. Dalton Schultz is the starter, but did not play Thursday. Teagan Quitoriano started and caught a touchdown pass, but was injured and had to be carted off with a lower body injury.
Stover knows he has his work cut out for him — and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“The biggest difference is you were the two-time captain (at Ohio State). You were the big dog and then you come here and you have to start over,” Stover said. “It’s kind of refreshing in a way. At Ohio State you know the system like the back of your hand. Here you have to study your butt off every night just to be prepared for the next day. It’s so complex.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to help this team win. We’ve got a really talented group here. It’s going to be fun to see what happens.”