He wore glasses as a child and by his own admission was not the most brilliant footballer.
Playing at Geelong Falcons in the TAC Cup alongside Jimmy Bartel, Luke Hodge and Gary Ablett, he was destined to remain in the shadows, but he never gave up.
Rejected after training with several AFL clubs, he moved to Ballarat to study teaching, playing for North Ballarat in the VFL before Collingwood put him on its rookie list.
Click here for Nick Maxwell's career in pics
The 2003 AFL Media Guide described him as having "neat skills and good awareness but needs to add more muscle."
What it didn't mention was that Maxwell, even when playing VFL as a rookie at Collingwood, still quailed at the thought of fearlessly backing into packs.
One day he did so when he had no other option, and having lived to tell the tale, it became stock standard for him. He played in a premiership with Williamstown that season.
What also became stock standard was for Maxwell to organise get-togethers for teammates that included card nights or barbeques. He wasn't over the top but he knew how to plan the sort of gatherings that build connections and trust.
And he returned loyalty too. He never forgot that Alan Didak had offered him a lift to a pre-season training camp when he was a rookie.
When people came at Didak, they had to get past Maxwell.
He lived with Heritier Lumumba and developed friendships with everyone on the list.
He respected Nathan Buckley and James Clement and Scott Burns and soon enough they respected him.
If you want to see where the inspiration for the type of environment Maxwell created and the way he played emerged from, you don't have to look much further than Clement.
When Buckley retired, he gave his cherished number 5 to Maxwell.
Nick Maxwell is swamped by Pies fans after winning the 2010 flag. Picture: AFL Media
Maxwell regularly made the journey back to Geelong to help out his local club St.Joseph's.
On the field he earned three Brownlow votes – his only votes – when Collingwood defeated West Coast in Western Australia in round nine, 2009.
At the time the Magpies sat 11th on the ladder, with just three wins after eight games, and many were circling for his coach Mick Malthouse's head. The Magpies would win 32 of its next 40 games to win a flag.
Missing from the team that night were Travis Cloke, Chris Dawes, Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Brent Macaffer, Ben Reid, Dale Thomas and Jarryd Blair, all premiership teammates 18 months later.
After Collingwood was eliminated in a preliminary final in 2009, Maxwell sat alone at the back of the room with his head between his legs.
It was the rarest of moments, the skipper with his head down. As always, he had not contemplated defeat … until it happened.
His wife Erin had asked him that year as he left hospital with a broken jaw whether all the pain and late nights were worth it. His answer: it was if Collingwood won the premiership.
A year later, after two arduous Grand Finals and two preliminary final losses, he stood on the dais as a premiership captain.
Six months later, Maxwell and Erin had their first child, Milla Eva, just a couple of hours before Maxwell sat at the front of a team photo in the Westpac Centre.
The hard work and the pain had paid off.
Now, he departs, as good a representative of Collingwood as the club has had.
What it didn't mention was that Maxwell, even when playing VFL as a rookie at Collingwood, still quailed at the thought of fearlessly backing into packs.
One day he did so when he had no other option, and having lived to tell the tale, it became stock standard for him. He played in a premiership with Williamstown that season.
What also became stock standard was for Maxwell to organise get-togethers for teammates that included card nights or barbeques. He wasn't over the top but he knew how to plan the sort of gatherings that build connections and trust.
And he returned loyalty too. He never forgot that Alan Didak had offered him a lift to a pre-season training camp when he was a rookie.
When people came at Didak, they had to get past Maxwell.
He lived with Heritier Lumumba and developed friendships with everyone on the list.
He respected Nathan Buckley and James Clement and Scott Burns and soon enough they respected him.
If you want to see where the inspiration for the type of environment Maxwell created and the way he played emerged from, you don't have to look much further than Clement.
When Buckley retired, he gave his cherished number 5 to Maxwell.
As captain, Maxwell did not forget where he came from. He promised the cheer squad in 2009 he would do his pre-game talk in the goalsquare in front of them.
He told rookies that season he would back them every step of the way as long as they fought to make the seniors. One of them who heard his words that day, Jarryd Blair, was a premiership teammate a year later.
He told rookies that season he would back them every step of the way as long as they fought to make the seniors. One of them who heard his words that day, Jarryd Blair, was a premiership teammate a year later.
Nick Maxwell is swamped by Pies fans after winning the 2010 flag. Picture: AFL Media
Maxwell regularly made the journey back to Geelong to help out his local club St.Joseph's.
On the field he earned three Brownlow votes – his only votes – when Collingwood defeated West Coast in Western Australia in round nine, 2009.
At the time the Magpies sat 11th on the ladder, with just three wins after eight games, and many were circling for his coach Mick Malthouse's head. The Magpies would win 32 of its next 40 games to win a flag.
Missing from the team that night were Travis Cloke, Chris Dawes, Alan Didak, Ben Johnson, Brent Macaffer, Ben Reid, Dale Thomas and Jarryd Blair, all premiership teammates 18 months later.
After Collingwood was eliminated in a preliminary final in 2009, Maxwell sat alone at the back of the room with his head between his legs.
It was the rarest of moments, the skipper with his head down. As always, he had not contemplated defeat … until it happened.
His wife Erin had asked him that year as he left hospital with a broken jaw whether all the pain and late nights were worth it. His answer: it was if Collingwood won the premiership.
A year later, after two arduous Grand Finals and two preliminary final losses, he stood on the dais as a premiership captain.
Six months later, Maxwell and Erin had their first child, Milla Eva, just a couple of hours before Maxwell sat at the front of a team photo in the Westpac Centre.
The hard work and the pain had paid off.
Now, he departs, as good a representative of Collingwood as the club has had.
