In a few short months on a chilly Saturday evening in Raleigh, tens of thousands of NC State football’s most rabid and rambunctious fans will flock to Carter-Finley Stadium to watch the Wolfpack’s annual clash with UNC-Chapel Hill.
It’ll be an undoubtedly electric atmosphere that night, but that fateful matchup will also play host to NC State’s senior night, making it the final game in Carter-Finley for many players on the team — including redshirt junior cornerback Shyheim Battle.
That night, Battle’s collegiate chapter of his football career will near a bittersweet end. The senior night flowers and fireworks that fill those final few pages wouldn’t mean a thing without his journey to senior night.
It all starts in his hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, designated by the area code 252. Battle grew up surrounded by football and dedicated his success to his family back home by wearing number 25 last season.
“It’s just a way for me to remember where I’m from, remember why I got here,” Battle said. “Wearing number 25 gave me something to play for. And playing for my hometown, they’re behind me; they always supported me.”
As another year passes in the 919, Battle’s sticking with the 252 trend for his jersey number, making the switch to number seven for his senior season. Those numbers don’t just signify his love for his family, though. They’re a representation of where Battle developed his most defining quality — his unwavering determination to outwork those around him.
“I’ve got to where I am today, just by putting in work, putting in hard work,” Battle said. “I was never the most talented kid in my hometown. I will always say that. But I was the one that put in the extra time to get to where I wanted to get to. … I’ve made sure I put in that time because I knew what my dreams and goals were, and I knew what I needed to do to get to them.”
Those extra hours lifting weights, running drills and watching tape made Battle primed for success after high school, all by outworking the others in the room. However, once he got to Raleigh, the Rocky Mount-native was redshirted and didn’t see action for an entire season.
Instead of resting on his laurels, Battle put in even more time in the gym, on the practice field and in the film room. His efforts were soon noticed by head coach Dave Doeren, and just a couple of reps into his second spring camp, Battle was starting at cornerback for NC State football.
“I saw guys that were four-, five-star guys that went to Georgia or Alabama, and they were no longer relevant because they got there and they were complacent,” Battle said. “So I didn’t want to be that guy because my family, they love and support me and the reason that I am here is because of them. And I want to make them proud. I want to make them happy.”
While mastering the tough mentality you need to play the position in college, Battle molded his game around putting opposing receivers on an island, just like many great cornerbacks do. To him, every snap is a challenge — an invasion of his territory on the gridiron.
“It’s a dog-eat-dog world,” Battle said. “That corner, that is your island, this receiver’s on your island. He’s disrupting your territory. I don’t want him out there — that’s the mindset. I don’t want him out here. He can’t take what’s on my plate. This is my territory. If anybody steps out there, that’s a challenge towards me.”
Akin to the legendary cornerback Darrelle Revis’ “Revis Island,” Battle has nicknamed his style of play “Battle Island.”
While playing cornerback is cold, isolating and punishing, Battle’s anything but that in the locker room. Eager to form relationships with teammates, Battle uses his family-oriented upbringing to make connections in the locker room.
“Personally, I like building the team, as far as [knowing them] personally and relationship-wise,” Battle said. “It’s not all about football. It’s about family too, and I’m big on family, so I’ll let guys know that I’m here for you. That’s really big for me.”
Battle’s effect on his teammates is palpable, especially to fellow star cornerback, junior Aydan White. When the first-team All-ACC player and arguably one of the best corners in the nation came to campus for the first time, Battle welcomed him with open arms.
“Shyheim was one of the first guys that hit me up and asked me to train and do stuff like that around campus,” White said. “So, I really appreciate him being that guy that reached out to me.”
Battle’s set to play a defining role in NC State’s story this season. More importantly, everything he’s overcome to make it to the Division I stage has led to this season and to his senior night celebration. Instead of letting others dictate his journey, Battle used his love for his family, his obsession to outwork those around him and a rigorous mindset to write his own story.
“I think each year is a unique journey,” Doeren said. “It’s a blank book, and we all have a pen that we get to write the story to. You can let other people dictate that to you or you can try to be the author of it.”
While Battle’s got full intentions of playing in the NFL next year, his collegiate career is set to crescendo on that chilly Saturday evening in Raleigh against the Tar Heels.
Battle and the Wolfpack will have to take on 11 other opponents before their showdown with Carolina, but when it comes, it’ll be a culmination of his entire journey so far — a celebration of all the extra hours, of all the times he said, “one more rep” and of all his love for the 252 — making for a film-worthy end to this chapter of his story.
“I like playing under those lights, and making plays is like making history,” Battle said. “This year around, it’s going to be senior night, and I know I’m going to be fired up, and I just know they’re gonna get everything from me that night. It’s my last game in Carter-Finley. I just know it’s going to be a movie.”
