5 Things to Know About Nate Orchard

2. Up-and-down production

Orchard’s most successful season actually was his rookie campaign, when he started 11 of 15 games played for the Browns. He recorded his first and only career interception, picking off Chiefs QB Alex Smith, and totaled a career high in tackles (36), sacks (3.0) and passes defensed (4).

Orchard last played three games for Washington in 2020 but was waived in November of that year. He has spent brief stints with the Texans and Titans since but has not been active for a game.

Football isn’t the only sport Orchard excelled in as a youngster.

He attended Highland High School in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he played football and basketball. Orchard also competed in track as a sprinter and posted personal bests of 11.9 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 54.3 seconds in the 400-meter dash at the 2009 Region VI T&F Championships.

In football, Orchard played on both sides of the ball as a receiver and a defensive end. He totaled 58 catches for 1,351 yards and 17 touchdowns as a senior. That same season, he also recorded 62 tackles, 17.5 sacks and two interceptions on defense.

4. Changed name in college

Orchard’s full name is Napaa Lilo Fakahafua Orchard after taking his guardians’ last name in 2013. He has a compelling and moving backstory, having moved in at age 13 with his basketball coach, Dave Orchard, and his wife Katherine.

“I knew that the Orchard family was true to me, and I changed my name to theirs, knowing that these are my parents and I’m proud to call them [Mom] and Dad,” Orchard said in a 2015 interview. “So I changed my last name to theirs right before I got married.”

When Nate and his wife Maegan welcomed their first child during Nate’s time at Utah, the couple named her Katherine Mae.

After Katherine, Orchard and Maegan added two more children to their family: another daughter, Charlotte, and a son, Bo Webber.