High Character Guys

[Landlord]

Come on!!!!!

you really believe Tom was giving out scollies to kids he needed to save from the streets. Bull Crap!!

He took what he could get that had National talent, and weighed the good with the bad. Hopefully coming out ahead. Which he did. It was not a charitable movement.

His entire life has been a charitable movement. You don't know much about the man and discredit his life's work and passion if you say otherwise. If you ever listen to him speak or ask him why he got into coaching, what his motivation was, what drove him, the answer has and always will be serving others, especially his players and students, based on a foundation in his faith in the Lord.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Like what Notre Dame radio announcer Allen Pickett said, that you need to have some "criminals" on your team to be successful.

That comment really had some people upset. In reality though a team does need many different personalities etc. Try to find a MNC team without a few people you wouldn't want to be alone in an alley with.

If that is really what it takes, then I will take my 9-10 wins and few/no championships. It's not worth it to me, and as a whole that is the problem with our a$$ backwards society.

Perfect example, this morning ESPN giving Tyron Matthieu an exclusive interview that was essentially a plea on his behalf to NFL teams to save him from being a dumbass, waste of talent drain on society. Why? Why give a loser like that the attention? Why not let the Rex Burkheads of the world have that chance. The glorification of these people send the wrong message. It's not all about winning and losing. When you start to believe that it is, you have developed a serious problem.

 

[HuskerThor]

The thing about our 1990's teams is that Tom didn't bring those kids in solely to win

Not true. I think Tom is the greatest coach of all time, but he did bring LP back, just to win.

 

[Hedley Lamarr]

Like what Notre Dame radio announcer Allen Pickett said, that you need to have some "criminals" on your team to be successful.

That comment really had some people upset. In reality though a team does need many different personalities etc. Try to find a MNC team without a few people you wouldn't want to be alone in an alley with.

If that is really what it takes, then I will take my 9-10 wins and few/no championships. It's not worth it to me, and as a whole that is the problem with our a$$ backwards society.

Perfect example, this morning ESPN giving Tyron Matthieu an exclusive interview that was essentially a plea on his behalf to NFL teams to save him from being a dumbass, waste of talent drain on society. Why? Why give a loser like that the attention? Why not let the Rex Burkheads of the world have that chance. The glorification of these people send the wrong message. It's not all about winning and losing. When you start to believe that it is, you have developed a serious problem.

NU's greatest teams were not full of saints. We had guys that would crack some skulls and kick babies. We need to play with a controlled rage and swag. We need some mean streaks in our OL and DL. I finally saw Martinez get in someone's face and stick up for the team. There should have been a few guys backing him up

 

[Count 'Bility]

Like what Notre Dame radio announcer Allen Pickett said, that you need to have some "criminals" on your team to be successful.

That comment really had some people upset. In reality though a team does need many different personalities etc. Try to find a MNC team without a few people you wouldn't want to be alone in an alley with.

If that is really what it takes, then I will take my 9-10 wins and few/no championships. It's not worth it to me, and as a whole that is the problem with our a$$ backwards society.

Perfect example, this morning ESPN giving Tyron Matthieu an exclusive interview that was essentially a plea on his behalf to NFL teams to save him from being a dumbass, waste of talent drain on society. Why? Why give a loser like that the attention? Why not let the Rex Burkheads of the world have that chance. The glorification of these people send the wrong message. It's not all about winning and losing. When you start to believe that it is, you have developed a serious problem.

NU's greatest teams were not full of saints. We had guys that would crack some skulls and kick babies. We need to play with a controlled rage and swag. We need some mean streaks in our OL and DL. I finally saw Martinez get in someone's face and stick up for the team. There should have been a few guys backing him up

That's all fine and dandy. It's just not what I believe. The only thing here is that we have a god's plenty of the said "saints" that should more than outweigh the "criminals". Unfortunately, they do not. I dont care. I agree with you on the "controlled rage and swag". What I'm talking about is full blown embarrassments to the program. Guys like Lawrence Phillps and Christian Peter. Guys who always seem to be followed by trouble, self-inflicted or not. If those kinds of guys are absolutely needed to win championships, I want nothing to do with it. The kicker is, I dont believe that is the case.

 

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

There are teams all over the country that could use some high character guys on their team. I'm proud of the fact that we are winning football games with them and are getting closer to being elite while not selling our soul to do so!

 

[MT949597]

Like what Notre Dame radio announcer Allen Pickett said, that you need to have some "criminals" on your team to be successful.

That comment really had some people upset. In reality though a team does need many different personalities etc. Try to find a MNC team without a few people you wouldn't want to be alone in an alley with.

If that is really what it takes, then I will take my 9-10 wins and few/no championships. It's not worth it to me, and as a whole that is the problem with our a$$ backwards society.

Perfect example, this morning ESPN giving Tyron Matthieu an exclusive interview that was essentially a plea on his behalf to NFL teams to save him from being a dumbass, waste of talent drain on society. Why? Why give a loser like that the attention? Why not let the Rex Burkheads of the world have that chance. The glorification of these people send the wrong message. It's not all about winning and losing. When you start to believe that it is, you have developed a serious problem.

NU's greatest teams were not full of saints. We had guys that would crack some skulls and kick babies. We need to play with a controlled rage and swag. We need some mean streaks in our OL and DL. I finally saw Martinez get in someone's face and stick up for the team. There should have been a few guys backing him up

That's all fine and dandy. It's just not what I believe. The only thing here is that we have a god's plenty of the said "saints" that should more than outweigh the "criminals". Unfortunately, they do not. I dont care. I agree with you on the "controlled rage and swag". What I'm talking about is full blown embarrassments to the program. Guys like Lawrence Phillps and Christian Peter. Guys who always seem to be followed by trouble, self-inflicted or not. If those kinds of guys are absolutely needed to win championships, I want nothing to do with it. The kicker is, I dont believe that is the case.

Pretty easy to say this now, what were you saying when they winning this program titles? Bet you were quite ok with it.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Well for one, Lawrence Phillips. I never wanted him back on the team to begin with. We obviously didnt need him. I was in fact embarrased that he played for us in the championship game. He had a great game too, but it was not needed. Green wouldve done just as well. 1997 was more like it. No one ever got in trouble. But there were also players that have had issues since playing at Nebraska.

Sure I look back at them championship seasons and am proud of them, and no, I would not be willing to go back in time and trade them in for teams that had no trouble whatsoever, but I'm making a point on now and moving forward. Many say it takes some criminals on a team to win championships. That I'm not willing to surrender to. It's not worth it. That crystal football and the years of worthless bragging rights are not worth tarnishing what is right now a pretty dagnabit clean record for Bo in his 5 seasons here. Pretty sure you wouldnt need a second hand to count the number of incidents we've sustained in five years. Some teams eclipse that in a month. I prefer we keep going like we are and that we win something of substance the right way.

I also know that as far as we know, it's not like Alabama's and Notre Dame's players are getting in trouble with the law all the time either. I dont want it to sound like I have that perception. I just dont have any issues with the high character guys that Bo brings into our program and try to use it as a scapegoat for only winning 9-10 football games a year.

 

[beanman]

Well for one, Lawrence Phillips. I never wanted him back on the team to begin with. We obviously didnt need him. I was in fact embarrased that he played for us in the championship game. He had a great game too, but it was not needed. Green wouldve done just as well. 1997 was more like it. No one ever got in trouble. But there were also players that have had issues since playing at Nebraska.

Sure I look back at them championship seasons and am proud of them, and no, I would not be willing to go back in time and trade them in for teams that had no trouble whatsoever, but I'm making a point on now and moving forward. Many say it takes some criminals on a team to win championships. That I'm not willing to surrender to. It's not worth it. That crystal football and the years of worthless bragging rights are not worth tarnishing what is right now a pretty dagnabit clean record for Bo in his 5 seasons here. Pretty sure you wouldnt need a second hand to count the number of incidents we've sustained in five years. Some teams eclipse that in a month. I prefer we keep going like we are and that we win something of substance the right way.

I also know that as far as we know, it's not like Alabama's and Notre Dame's players are getting in trouble with the law all the time either. I dont want it to sound like I have that perception. I just dont have any issues with the high character guys that Bo brings into our program and try to use it as a scapegoat for only winning 9-10 football games a year.

Jon Vedral says hi.

 

[Landlord]

Good on you accountability. I agree that as a fan, and even if I were a coach, those shiny trophies are not enough of a "trophy" in the metaphorical sense to sacrifice my character or the character of our program to achieve. If that is really what college football has turned into, and I think it's close but I don't think it's quite the case, where you absolutely need kids like that, then I want nothing to do with it.

 

[Goal-line]

We used to call the "fringe" guys on the team "river rats." They were the athletes who had some discipline problems and academic issues. However, I firmly believe that those guys were the hardest workers in practice because that is where they got their "props" and built their self esteem. By the time they were seniors, they had blossomed into some very solid individuals. They may not have been Academic All Americans, but they learned how to be successful in life because of what they learned on the field. Being highly academic and athletic is excellent, but don't put all your eggs in that basket.

 

[knapplc]

Where does this 'sacrificing honor to gain wins' end? Do we get shady players? Shady coaches? Shady boosters? Shady Administration? Where do we draw that line? Once you go down that road it's awfully hard to stop. That proverbial slippery slope everyone's so worried about.

I'll take the high-character guys over thugs any day. I'd rather lose with Rex Burkhead than win with Lawrence Phillips.

 

[beanman]

Come on!!!!!

you really believe Tom was giving out scollies to kids he needed to save from the streets. Bull Crap!!

He took what he could get that had National talent, and weighed the good with the bad. Hopefully coming out ahead. Which he did. It was not a charitable movement.

His entire life has been a charitable movement. You don't know much about the man and discredit his life's work and passion if you say otherwise. If you ever listen to him speak or ask him why he got into coaching, what his motivation was, what drove him, the answer has and always will be serving others, especially his players and students, based on a foundation in his faith in the Lord.

In 1993, Melissa DeMuth filed a police complaint saying Peter invited her to his room in the company of his friends, and then sexually assaulted her. Also in 1993, Peter repeatedly grabbed Natalie Kuijvenhoven, a former Miss Nebraska, by the crotch in a crowded bar and in an obscenity-laced tirade told her how much she loved it. Peter was convicted of sexual assault and received 18 months probation.

Peter was arrested a total of eight times, and convicted four times. The charges included threatening to kill a parking attendant, trespassing, public urination, refusing to comply with police, illegal possession of alcohol, failure to appear in court, and grabbing a woman by the throat.

He continued to play football for Nebraska. After the 1993 conviction, Nebraska coach Tom Osborne suspended Peter for one game, a spring exhibition.

According to Redmond, Osborne apologized to her in 2000, saying, "I just want you to know I'm sorry for everything, and I didn't do right by you."

http://www.boston.co...tims/?page=full

and more

"I don't tell Tom Osborne how to run the football department," Lancaster County Attorney Gary Lacey says, "and he should stay out of the criminal justice system. He hasn't done that at all." According to Lacey, Osborne has taken it upon himself to interview witnesses in criminal cases, offered very public opinions on the probable innocence of players who have yet to stand trial and attacked the credibility of witnesses testifying against his players. In January 1994 he and an assistant even locked away a gun that had allegedly been used by one of his players in the commission of a felony.

"That's Osborne using his influence to disrupt the criminal justice system," Lacey says. "Osborne talks to witnesses. Whether he tried to influence them or not...someone with his reputation would have an effect."

http://sportsillustr...07153/index.htm

Was it his faith in the Lord that made him largely ignore Peter's transgressions and suspend him for the spring game and nothing of any significance? Don't act like he's a saint. He wanted to win and had plenty of thugs on his teams. I don't believe for a second that things were squeaky clean under his watch. And frankly, which program is squeaky clean? Crap like this goes on all over and to act like we were any different is being ignorant.

 

[Landlord]

Where does this 'sacrificing honor to gain wins' end? Do we get shady players? Shady coaches? Shady boosters? Shady Administration? Where do we draw that line? Once you go down that road it's awfully hard to stop. That proverbial slippery slope everyone's so worried about.

I'll take the high-character guys over thugs any day. I'd rather lose with Rex Burkhead than win with Lawrence Phillips.

Thank you Knapp. This doesn't seem to be a popular opinion in our culture, or our state or messageboard as microcosms.

I still can't believe people have the audacity to claim that TO brought in all the troubled guys of the 90's with the primary goal of winning before anything else. How disrespectful. You hear him talk about Lawrence today and he still sounds like he lost one of his own sons.

 

[Count 'Bility]

Well for one, Lawrence Phillips. I never wanted him back on the team to begin with. We obviously didnt need him. I was in fact embarrased that he played for us in the championship game. He had a great game too, but it was not needed. Green wouldve done just as well. 1997 was more like it. No one ever got in trouble. But there were also players that have had issues since playing at Nebraska.

Sure I look back at them championship seasons and am proud of them, and no, I would not be willing to go back in time and trade them in for teams that had no trouble whatsoever, but I'm making a point on now and moving forward. Many say it takes some criminals on a team to win championships. That I'm not willing to surrender to. It's not worth it. That crystal football and the years of worthless bragging rights are not worth tarnishing what is right now a pretty dagnabit clean record for Bo in his 5 seasons here. Pretty sure you wouldnt need a second hand to count the number of incidents we've sustained in five years. Some teams eclipse that in a month. I prefer we keep going like we are and that we win something of substance the right way.

I also know that as far as we know, it's not like Alabama's and Notre Dame's players are getting in trouble with the law all the time either. I dont want it to sound like I have that perception. I just dont have any issues with the high character guys that Bo brings into our program and try to use it as a scapegoat for only winning 9-10 football games a year.

Jon Vedral says hi.

John Vedral did not get in trouble in '97. It was '96. Try me. I say hello. In fact, Vedral was not even part of the team in '97. He was a senior in 96. Missed the last 2 games with a DUI, as well as Terrell Farley. NO ONE GOT IN TROUBLE IN 1997. The closest was an incident involving Wistrom right before the Lombardi award ceremony at a bar. He was punched int he face defending a woman and did NOT retaliate. This is all recalled on basic memory. Feel free to nitpick the facts, for I'm sure I missed on something, for I'm usually only 98% correct.