DEARBORN — In the world of sports, a little motivation and determination often go a long way. With that in mind, it’s easy to understand why Nader Abdallah has been such a success on the Ohio State Buckeyes football team.

After all, there might not be another football player in the country who has more fan support than Abdallah, who became a pioneer the first time he walked onto the football field as the only 100% Palestinian player to ever play Division-I college football.

As if the drive to represent his culture wasn’t strong enough, Abdallah also plays for his family, not just those who root for him and watch every game he plays, but also for his two deceased brothers, who he lost at two separate points in his life.

The first brother, Husam, died in an accidental shooting when Abdallah was five. The second one, Shadi, died in a trucking accident just after the Ohio State spring game in 2005.

Finally, there’s the drive Abdallah has to make a better life for him and the rest of his family. Growing up was anything but easy for the burly 6-foot-5, 297-pound defensive tackle, as his family lived in the infamously dangerous Magnolia projects of New Orleans.

But everything came full circle on January 7th, 2008, when Abdallah found himself back in his home city as a starter for the Buckeyes in the BCS National Title Game, and even though Ohio State lost, it was still one of the most emotional and happy days the 22 year-old senior-to-be’s ever had.

“It was one of my biggest dreams to win that game, but it was really all about going home seeing friends and family and them rooting for me,” said Abdallah.

“It was one of the best experiences in my life, just to know that things are going good and everything’s going to be all right. It was a great feeling even though it would have been a lot better if we would have won.”

Losing the game was a tough experience for Abdallah, who had worked hard his whole career to find his niche and to finally get the chance to play and start in his junior year as a Buckeye, but it was nothing compared to what yet another brother, Wesam, had gone through in the same city just over two years and four months earlier.

Wesam was back in New Orleans working at the Adballahs’ family grocery store, Julio’s, when Hurricane Katrina hit. He had refused to leave the store behind because of how much it meant to the family, and after the hurricane hit, he thought everything was okay. Then the levees broke, and chaos broke loose.

In normal times, no one would ever dream of messing with the massive Abdallah brothers, especially Nader, and they always did a good job of guarding the store. Even though the store was open 24 hours a day in one of the worst projects in the United States, not too many people ever seemed to cause trouble. But this was completely different.

Mobs of people began forming outside of the store, and some of them began firing guns in an effort to break in. Wesam’s only choice was to go upstairs and hide. He eventually passed out due to exhaustion and woke up when a bird flew through one of the windows. From there, his only choice was to get away as quick as he could.

“He had to sneak out in the middle of the night and swim through dead bodies in the water and it was a horrible, horrible thing,” said Nader Abdallah.

But Wesam got out and met up with a friend, who drove him to Houston where many refugees were being sheltered. Eventually, he made his way to Ohio where he and his friend were given public housing for six months to get back on their feet.

For Nader Abdallah, it was just another reminder of how precious life can be and how important it is to work hard and not take anything for granted. He had been told as much by his father growing up.

“My dad, he was raised in refugee camps and I know a lot about the history and problems and war in Palestine. He’s been through the worst of the worst so I get second-hand experience from him.”

Now that he’s had his own difficult first-hand experiences with the problems involving his brothers, he’s more driven than ever to succeed for the sake of his family and his heritage.

Abdallah battled all spring in an intense competition to keep his starting spot at defensive tackle, but he feels the competition will make him and his teammates better for the upcoming season as the Buckeyes will try to make another run at the national title game.

He also works for an opportunity to play football professionally, especially in the NFL, and if he’s fortunate enough to make it, he has plans to use his status as a platform for bringing the issues of his homeland to the forefront of the minds of people who might not know what’s going on.

“If I ever had a chance to be able to talk about the issues and use my name and my status as a great spokes model for my Palestinian peers, I would definitely do that,” he said. “That’s one of the main reasons why I do what I do so I’d be able to help my people out.

“It would be good to hear good things from a Palestinian in the media because there are always bad things coming out.”

Whether or not Abdallah gets that chance is to be determined, but at Ohio State, he’s been given every chance to pursue that dream and so far, he’s made the most of it.

He came to Ohio State from Louisiana for the family atmosphere he felt the coaches had instilled there, and he was also surprised to find a respectable Arab population in and around Ohio.

While he’s the only Arab on a team of mostly Caucasian and African-American players, he has carved out a niche as a leader and one of the most popular players on the team, even amongst guys who didn’t know any Arabs before they met him.

“(My teammates) are like ‘Wow, you know we never expected an Arab American to be like this.’ Everybody tells me I’m one of the funniest people on the team. If you’re having a bad day, come talk to me and I’ll make you feel good,” he said.

“I have a lot of common sense and street smarts and I’ve seen a lot of things happen in my life. I’m a real cool guy to get to know and I’m always trying to help people out. I feel like I’m a leader now heading into my senior season.”

The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is a big part of his life as a Buckeye football player, but unlike the late, legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, that doesn’t preclude him from taking trips up to the Great Lakes state for fun.

It was Hayes who hated “that state up north” and refused to go there unless he absolutely had to. He once according to legend refused to fill up his gas tank in Michigan and just barely sputtered across the Ohio border to buy gas in his home state because he didn’t want to help Michigan’s economy in any way.

But with all the terrible things Abdallah’s seen and heard about in his time, the rivalry doesn’t seem like quite as much of a life-and-death situation that people like Hayes have made it out to be.

He actually has a lot of friends in Dearborn and loves visiting the city because of its Arab culture.

“Guys in Columbus (Ohio), they’re cool with some guys in Dearborn so I was able to network. I like to check out the nice little hookah bars and just chill out and mingle with fellow Arab Americans there,” he said.

But while he enjoys heading up to Michigan to visit Dearborn, you won’t find him talking up the city or the state to his teammates any time soon. He’d rather keep it a secret.

“I don’t tell too many people about going to Dearborn, but I’m definitely not a Michigan fan. I’m an Ohio State fan all the way but I’m definitely not affiliated with Michigan.”