For many, it might be hard to see the connection between playing chess and football. However, for Maryland safety and McDonogh alum Dante Trader Jr., the parallels are obvious.
An accomplished football player, Trader doesn’t hesitate to trade in his helmet and pads for boards and clocks. In both chess and football, players have individual battles within the game and the victor may triumph by outsmarting the opponent with a superior game plan or by dominating an individual matchup.
Trader credited former Terps quarterback Taulia Tagovailoa for turning the team on to chess.
“There’s definitely some similarities. Chess keeps you on your toes,” Trader said on Glenn Clark Radio April 25. “It allows you to be able to have a counter or to move a certain way and then obviously playing aggressively offensively or defensively depending on schematics of anything. … Chess ultimately strengthens your brainpower.”
That brainpower may have helped Trader on the football field, too. The 6-foot, 190-pound safety started 12 games as a junior in 2023, finishing third on the team in tackles with 58 (38 solo). He also added two interceptions, one forced fumble and six pass breakups.
Most people struggle to star in one sport, but Trader shined in two for Maryland during the 2022-23 school year. That made his decision to pass up lacrosse this spring in order to focus on football something that Trader didn’t take lightly.
Trader says he is focusing on forging a path to the NFL.
“I just lately made a decision not to play. I was toying around with it in my head — on the lacrosse side and the football side. But ultimately, my body and stuff like that, I don’t know if I wanted to take the risk again,” Trader said. “You’re going to be playing for two years nonstop going into lacrosse to summer training to football. If God lets me play in the [NFL], I’m going into training, then Combine, then straight to rookie minicamp, so that’s a long process without a break.”
Maryland is coming off a third consecutive season with a bowl win, and spring ball brought an opportunity for the Terps to build on those successes. For college football players, spring is hardly the offseason. That time is spent training for the next campaign.
“Right now, in the spring as a older guy, it allows me to become one, a student of the game because I’m learning more stuff that I don’t already know because I already know the playbook so now you’re learning more [intricacies] of the game, watching more NFL tape, watching your old tape of small details like footwork, your eyes or how you play certain things,” Trader said. “You’re going into detail on those things because I don’t have to focus on the playbook. On the other side, I am able to coach my teammates that are out there subbing me out.”
Trader believes finding ways to grow as a player is a critical step to take in order for him to achieve success in the future. He mentioned he must have his eyes in the right spot, trust his technique and be comfortable with letting the game come to him.
Trader enters the 2024 season with a Big Ten title on his mind. He believes consistency and discipline is what can separate Maryland from its counterparts.
“Winning is hard. Let’s just make it obvious right there. Everybody’s working hard, everybody’s doing the same workout, everybody’s practicing. So how you are separating yourself is the mentality of your team,” Trader said. “… We’ve got to be strong-willed guys, we’ve got to be resilient, we’ve got to be very tough, which we show. What we lack and what we’re trying to fix is our discipline. … If you don’t have the mentality then your team is going to roll over when you face adversity or face a good team where you’ve got to perform.”
Maryland head coach Michael Locksley took his team to Baltimore and D.C. for one spring practice apiece. Showcasing the football program through the region is something that Trader says will foster a culture of sustained support for inspiring athletes.
“I’m a guy of giving back. I want to be remembered as somebody who gives back. When you walk into a room, you want somebody to notice who you are because of what you do for the game,” Trader said. “What Coach Locksley’s allowed us to do is to go out in the community and have fans that don’t normally get to see us [play] other than the games, that can’t get out there. We go talk and meet and greet them, and they get to see the Maryland Terps in their back yard play. I feel like that’s the greatest way of giving back.”
For more from Trader, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Kenya Allen/PressBox