MOUNT VERNON — Lexington’s Cade Stover has earned a myriad of accolades in his athletic career.
But the key to reaching athletic goals was a special work ethic and relentless mindset he learned at home — and something he’s incorporated as a professional athlete.
The Houston Texans’ tight end gave the keynote address on Friday night at the Knox County Chamber Dinner in front of 635 people.
He focused on the Texans’ motto, SWARM: Special Work Ethic and Relentless Mindset, which matches his own philosophy learned here at home.
“This is something that I feel like I’ve tried to live my life by basically as long as I can,” he said.
Stover pointed out that he watched his dad and grandpa live by that ethic. However, he was unable to put it into words until he went to Houston two years ago.
When Stover heard the acronym, “it’s something that clicked with me instantly.”
Stover grew up on a small cattle operation in Mansfield. The farm was not big enough to support the family, so Stover’s dad worked a full-time job running an excavating business in Columbus.
“I watched him get up, feed [at 4:30 a.m.] in the morning, drive an hour to Columbus, and then get home at 7, 7:30 at night,” Stover said.
“Watching him do that every single day has put a perspective in me that I think resonates back to this. That is he had the special work ethic and he had the relentless mindset to make this thing go.”
Stover said his life goal is to tell his dad they can just farm and not work off the farm anymore. He found the route to achieving his dream through sports, saying athletics is “a natural gift that God gave me.”
Stover recounted his path at OSU.
“I was lucky enough to get a scholarship to go play at Ohio State, win the Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Football Player of the Year, which are two very big accomplishments for me that I’m very, very proud of, especially doing it from such a small town and a small school,” Stover said.
He started playing varsity football as a freshman at Lexington.
“Everything was easy, right? Everything kind of fell in place, and you start to realize, ‘hey, you got a real chance to be able to do something,’ ” he said.
When he arrived at Ohio State, he came from being the best player and feeling like a big, strong linebacker to the bottom of the roster.
Stover acknowledged that talent comes out of Lexington, but “it’s not what’s sitting over at Ohio State.”
“I get there and it was the biggest culture shock I think I’ve been a part of when you go look around and everybody is bigger and stronger,” he said. “They’re also more technically sound than you ever were.”
“For anybody out there, if you’re going through something, if you’re going through hardships in life, just keep your head down and just keep hammering because at some point, that rock’s going to break no matter what.”
cade stover, houston texans
Stover arrived at Ohio State as a decorated linebacker, and ended up moving to multiple positions multiple times.
“I move to the defensive end first, then tight end, back to linebacker one more time. I get my first start in my junior year finally at defensive end in the Rose Bowl and I play my best game and I’m like, I’m home. I’m finally back. I got my confidence back, because during those three years of not doing much of anything, you lose your confidence, you lose your sight of really, what you can do,” he said.
Coming off Stover’s key role in a thrilling, 48-45 Rose Bowl win over Utah on Jan. 1, 2022, Ohio State changed defensive coordinators.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder questioned whether he should leave the Buckeyes, whether he was wasting his time, whether he was cut out to be in Columbus.
“Because once again, that [goal] is the only thing on my mind,” he said. “How do I get to that place and what’s the route to be able to do this?”
Stover was moved back to tight end, yet again.
“Coach (Ryan) Day approached me and he goes, ‘Cade, I think you can be a good tight end here,’ ” Stover said. “I’m like,’ ‘I think you’re full of s—,’ to be honest with you.”
“I never played it, ever. But here we go. I said I’m going to try it. I’m going to jump in with two feet and see what I can do here.
“I ended up being the 12th two-time captain ever in Ohio State history.”
What the Buckeyes tapped into was an extraordinary athlete, who was also an All-Ohio basketball player at Lexington that led the Minutemen to the Final Four as a junior.
In addition, Stover found a kindred spirit in linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, from Cleveland. Stover and Eichenberg were roommates and co-captains.
“We both redshirted and went through the same stuff,” Stover said. “He is just such a pivotal person in my life.”
Just SWARMing
Getting through that difficult and ever-changing career at Ohio State goes back to the relentless mindset of life in general.
That journey also prepared him to go to Houston and “own who you are.”
Noting the number of players who have fancy cars or houses, Stover said he shows up every day in a white T-shirt and work boots.
“That was just something I always promised myself — to stay true to who you are no matter what, because that’s what got you to this point,” he said. “I feel like that right there is a dying breed of people like us from small communities that are blue-collar workers and really stand for what this country is built on.”
The SWARM motto held Stover in good stead when he broke his foot in the first game of his second year with the Texans. The injury took him out for eight weeks.
Still, he returned in time for the playoffs, working with former Ohio State teammate and current Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.
“I’m at the point right now again where things are stacked against me,” he said, adding that nobody wants to be unavailable because they’re physically unable to perform.
“The only thing you think about again is that farm, why you’re doing this. And even though that farm was obtained, now you’re playing for the sense of pride. And you’re still playing for that special work ethic that I watched my dad do every single day.
“Like we say in Houston, just swarming. Every breakdown, every day, you’re just swarming,” Stover said.
“You’re swarming to be the best version of yourself, you’re swarming to be the best person you can be and the toughest person you can be. Because tough times truly do make really tough people.”
