Why Alabama Matchup Meant More To Vanderbilt Football Linebacker Nick Rinaldi
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NASHVILLE—Nick Rinaldi was borderline giddy when he stood on Vanderbilt’s turf practice field on September 17 and thought about Saturday. Rinaldi had been working on the festivities leading up to Saturday’s game far before that September 17 interview and had poured himself into making Saturday a special day for his friend Reese Wiemeyer.
Wiemeyer and Rinaldi met as middle schoolers when their elementary schools funneled into the same middle school and have since become lifelong friends. Rinaldi recalls Wiemeyer helping with Dover-Sherborn High School’s track program and was a manager for its basketball program–which Rinaldi was a standout for before picking up football as a senior.
Wiemeyer has Cerebral Palsy and has difficulty controlling his body, but Rinaldi doesn’t see him in that lens. The Cerebral Palsy impacts only Wiemeyer’s motor planning and those who know Wiemeyer well know that his mind is sharp and that he’s as knowledgeable a sports mind as there is in his Massachusetts hometown.
Vanderbilt linebacker Nick Rinaldi has hosted a Special Olympics athlete at every game this season, and he believes he’s gotten more out of it than the athletes have.
— Joey Dwyer (@joey_dwy) September 21, 2026
“It will give you so much perspective.”
More @VandyOnSI: https://t.co/Cduu0rJZ5I
Wiemeyer started a soccer blog in 2021 and used it as a platform to share his thoughts via a communication device on all of the sport’s biggest storylines—as well as Americans not referring to it by the title of football. He developed a love for soccer when he moved to Sheffield, England, at four years old so that his parents could enroll him in a specialized school for children with disabilities. He’s since developed a love for American football and Vanderbilt in particular as a result of Rinaldi’s rise.
Rinaldi has always known Wiemeyer as an LSU football fan, but Saturday he wore a black Vanderbilt jersey with Rinaldi’s name and number on it. Vanderbilt and Rinaldi seemingly made a strong enough impression on Wiemeyer for him to do that without a thought. Vanderbilt staffers and Rinaldi collaborated to make Wiemeyer the program’s special guest at its Friday practice, brought him to its team dinner on Friday night, allowed him to go down the Star Walk with Rinaldi, brought him out of the tunnel with the team and honored him in stadium at the first TV timeout.
When Wiemeyer was on the big screen, Rinaldi ran over from Vanderbilt’s defensive huddle and appeared in the video shot with Wiemeyer.
Nick Rinaldi walks with his friend Reese Wiemeyer at the Star Walk.
— Joey Dwyer (@joey_dwy) November 14, 2026
A powerful moment for Rinaldi, Wiemeyer and their families that’s been in the works for a long time. pic.twitter.com/WPxJFPB6wa
“He's a guy that cares deeply for me and now for Vanderbilt now that I’m here,” Rinaldi said postgame. “If you guys can see the amount of difference it makes in his life and mine, as well, you would understand the depths that we go through to make his life fun, when he comes here.”
Rinaldi was generally down while answering questions at the podium following Vanderbilt’s 21-6 loss to Alabama, which he declared that Vanderbilt’s players have to take a deep dive into personal accountability as a result of, but his demeanor quickly changed when Wiemeyer came up. “Good question,” he said, as did Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea.
Ahead of the 2026 season, Rinaldi partnered with Special Olympics Tennessee and opted to bring one of its athletes to the Friday practice before each Vanderbilt home game and to give them seats in the north end zone for each game. Rinaldi appears to admire all the athletes he’s invited, but he always looked ahead to what it would be like when Wiemeyer came to town and got the full experience he had planned.
Rinaldi told Vandy on SI in September that his weekend with Wiemeyer would be so special to him that he could get emotional. When he walked down the Star Walk with Wiemeyer and got on the videoboard, he pumped his fist in the air as if he was drawing attention to his friend and his presence. Rinaldi believed it meant something when he welcomed Wiemeyer to Vanderbilt a year ago for its matchup with LSU, but Saturday appeared to have another level of meaning to him and the program he’s gotten to embrace his longtime friend.
“I'm so proud of Nick for finding ways to bring goodness with his spotlight and Reese is a special friend of our program,” Lea said. “It's special for Reese, but special for us, and I give all the credit to Nick, because that's his heart, that's him working for goodness and we're grateful for everything he's brought to this program as a player, but more importantly, to me as a person, he's incredible.”
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Joey Dwyer is the lead writer on Vanderbilt Commodores On SI. He found his first love in college sports at nearby Lipscomb University and decided to make a career of telling its best stories. He got his start doing a Notre Dame basketball podcast from his basement as a 14-year-old during COVID and has since aimed to make that 14-year-old proud. Dwyer has covered Vanderbilt sports for three years and previously worked for 247 Sports and Rivals. He contributes to Seth Davis' Hoops HQ, Basket Under Review and Mainstreet Nashville.
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