If Nathaniel Jasper Dell Jr. had listened to his mother, he might not have been playing football. Thanks to the advice not taken, he’s making waves in the NFL right now. His rookie year proved that he had an enormous future with CJ Stroud as his quarterback. It’s been a long road for Dell, and he might not want to stop now.

The nickname that his mother gave him stuck with him throughout his life. Nobody calls him Nathaniel, especially his day ones. But there’s a hilarious origin to the story that we’re sure you’d want to know. The credit goes to his mother, who gave him the facilities to excel at the sport he loved so much. So, who are his parents?

Nathaniel Jasper Dell Jr., aka Tank Dell, was born on October 29, 1999, to Porsche Dell and Dell Sr. Unfortunately, there’s not much information about his family that’s public. The Houston Texans receiver likes to keep his private life on the hush. The tidbits of his personal life came forth after his breakout season at the Houston Cougars post which, he slingshot his way to the 2023 NFL Draft.

A young Tank Dell was declared for the NFL Draft, and his mother couldn’t be happier. Porsche Dell, his mother, a Daytona Beach resident, recalled. his childhood days when all he could do was think of football. “I was actually trying to get him into baseball around 6 or 7 years old. He was good at that, but would look at me like, ‘What’s the point of this?’ ”

It’s good that he didn’t take an interest in baseball. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have seen the guy making flashy plays on live TV. His drive to constantly improve himself is what made him an irreplaceable cog in the machine that is the Houston Texans.

“Football was his go-to ever since he was small, kid you not. He always felt it was never enough that he could be better than what he was. There was nothing really outside of football for Tank.” Unfortunately, we don’t have his father’s side of the story. Just like his mother, we know little to nothing about Dell Senior, but if there is one thing that we know it is that he taught him to be resilient.

Tank’s father, Nathaniel, remained in his life and always encouraged his son to stay away from the streets and to focus on football. “He taught me to always be a go-getter,” Dell said. “Choose football. Do everything you can to make sure you get it.”After all, he spoke from personal experience. As per Houston Chronicles, his father was always in and out of jail because he preferred “living that type of lifestyle.”

How did the young star get his name, Tank? For that, you have to know this about his childhood.

Tank Dell: A big-headed boy with a small body

That’s what his mother used to think about him. Porsche Dell thought her son’s head was bigger than his body and decided to give him a nickname. It got so popular that his friends, coaches, and everyone else started referring to him as Tank. An interesting fact about him is that he changed his legal name to “Tank.”

“Tankhead,” she said when asked about the origin story. “His head was bigger than his body.” The name eventually got shortened to Tank, and everyone just went along with it. The fact that he was smaller was true. Dell had some problems adjusting at Mainland High School in Dayton Beach, but he didn’t give up.

Terry Anthony, Mainland High School’s athletic director and wide receivers coach, touched upon Tank Dell’s iron will. Per Anthony, naysayers couldn’t deter Tank Williams from being what he wanted to be. “He was a smaller guy, and he was not ready for varsity football at that time,” Anthony said.

“He paid his dues on the JV squad his freshman year. Sophomore year, he started on JV and moved up. He never let anyone deter him because of his size. It’s what he’s had to hear all his life—that he’s too small,” Anthony added.

As his mother said earlier, all Dell wanted to do was play football. He worked hard and eventually attracted a Division 1 offer from Florida International, and the rest is history.