Tennessee Pastor Rescued During Kidnapping Immediately 'Upset' By Nico Iamaleava Transfer News
The SEC may have been onto something when it introduced its ‘It Just Means More’ tagline years ago. There are countless stories that perfectly encapsulate the phrase, but this one involving a Tennessee pastor, a kidnapping, and quarterback Nico Iamaleava may just stand above the rest.
Pastor Josh Sullivan of Maryville, Tenn. reportedly arrived in South Africa with his family in 2018 and was recently abducted by a group of gunmen while preaching a sermon last week. He was held for almost a week before ultimately being rescued in a shootout that left three kidnappers dead.
It wasn't exactly what he had planned for his travels to a foreign country.
After thankfully being safely rescued, he was taken to see his family and started reaching out to folks back in the Volunteer State. Given that he was in a horrifying situation with no contact with the outside world, he missed the fallout between Iamaleava and the Volunteers.
Back at Fellowship Baptist Church in East Tennessee, pastor Tom Hatley told WVLT that one of the first things he heard from acquaintances was that Sullivan was "upset over Nico."
Nico Iamaleava has hit the portal, and one Tennessee pastor is not thrilled. (Photo by Johnnie Izquierdo/Getty Images)
Hatley explained that those with Sullivan in South Africa were told to keep the conversations with him light. Someone mentioned that Iamaleava was leaving the program and, well, he wasn't exactly thrilled with that news.
"And they said, well, you know, Nico left, didn’t you? And his wife told me last night that the biggest conversation they’ve had has been about Nico. Hey, the boy was raised in East Tennessee, what can I tell you?" Hatley told the outlet.
You can not make this kind of story up, and it's what makes the SEC and its fans so uniquely great.
We're talking about a man who traveled across the world to spread the gospel, then suddenly found himself being held at gunpoint before being held hostage, thankfully gets out of said hostage situation, and Tennessee's quarterback situation is near top of mind.
It does, in fact, just mean more in the SEC, and especially in Big Orange Country.