Great new Husker Football Book coming out soon

A lot of young kids will be going through this in a few months. From "No Place Like Nebraska", a little snippet from OLineman Brenden Stai about arriving on campus in the fall for the very first time:

"...when (my family) left, I remember feeling this overwhelming feeling of being abandoned.

All of a sudden I didn’t know if I was in the wrong place, not knowing anybody, ‘Did I make the wrong decision?’ And it didn’t take long once I transferred from George’s house to down at the University to get ready for fall camp. I think it was about two weeks before the varsity squad, and obviously, at this time they had the freshman football squad. I think I stayed in Schramm dorm for camp and ended up transferring to Abel Hall. You had that feeling of being abandoned and being lonely and missing everything, literally. But the coaches, the trainers -I didn’t really know a whole lot of players- but the sense of family when I first got there to Nebraska was amazing. Not only that, but outside of that, the people instantly gave me a feeling of, ‘Hey, I’m in the right place.’ It was a huge turning point in my life.

So here I was, 18 years old, I had direction and knew what I wanted to do -but had to make a commitment to actually going about it on my own, and not a lot of people do that- and not a lot of people understand what goes into that, there’s a psychological rollercoaster ride when you do that. There’s a the feeling of loneliness and wanting to go back to what you’re used to, and I remember thinking about when I made my decision and what I wanted to do: and I wanted to get away. I wanted to experience something completely different than my whole life previous to that, and Nebraska was definitely the road to take. And looking back on it now, it was the best decision I ever made."

 
He continued on with this:

"Q: Do you recall the first person on the team you befriended?

BS: Yeah, I have good memories. The first was walking into the training room, the south endzone training room where the varsity would get taped, where the varsity locker room was. I didn’t know anybody except Jerry Weber and Jack Nickolite and Doak, as far as trainers go. I didn’t know anybody, and I look over and here’s this guy up on the tables getting his ankles taped, and I hear “Brenden!” And I turned around and look at this guy, and he said “How are you doing?” My first, intial thought was, ‘This guy,.. this guy is gigantic! I can’t believe how big he is!’ And for whatever reason I just blurted out, ‘Hey, are you Mike Petko?’ He says, “No, I’m Rob Zatechka. I’m a freshman like you. I’m playing in the All-Star game here at the stadium.” I was like, ‘What?! Are you kidding me?!’ I’m looking at this guy and he’s 285 lbs. –and I’m 240 lbs. soaking wet. Wet behind the ears coming in -and I look at Rob and he’s got a full-on beard, looks like he’s been in the program 4 to 5 years. So that was really my first memory, was meeting Rob."

 
Finishing off the workweek with a great quote by Brenden Stai from the book:

Notable quote #2:

Brenden Stai on the Pipeline’s role, “…we all put a lot of effort into trying to establish a different culture as far as a team, Nebraska dominating. Wearing them out and dominating. And every time you walk out and line up on that line and those other guys are just, “Oh no, here they come again.” That’s the mindset that we wanted…”

 
This little snippet from former NU Safety Toby Wright (a true warrior) brings with it some incredible insight into the team dynamic and competition for playing time back in the 1990's. It also has a very funny twist. You just can't make this kind of stuff up:

"TW: And I came to find out, even Mike Minter… at the last game of the season I find out he’s my cousin, did you know that? And we were rivals. We were rivals at the position and I rarely talked to him and glared at him, and you know how it goes. We went through all that stuff, because, “You’re the young Model T and I’m the old one, and your time will come when I’m leaving.” That’s another funny story, Paul, how my Dad was visiting and looked at him one time and told me, “That’s your cousin.”

Q: Tell me about it…

TW: What happened was, during the season Coach Darlington was switching me and Mike off, and I’d get really steamed and mad. I wanted to play every down. I mean every down.

And what happened was, I made a hit on Kordell Stewart on the sideline which was kind of close to being a late hit out of bounds. (And we didn’t get flagged for it, Paul, but I know Coach Darlington was pissed off at me) He told me, “There you go, being reckless again.” And I go, ‘Hey, I didn’t even get a penalty for it.’ So I was taken out. Then something happened and Coach Osborne looked over at Coach McBride on the sidelines and said, “Where’s Toby?!” And I’m standing right next to Coach McBride and he goes, “Get back in there!” So I’m like, ‘Okay. Beautiful!’ And then I see Coach McBride and Coach Darlington going back and forth… and then he sends Mike Minter in. I’m like, ‘Are you crazy!? I am not getting out of the game right now!’ So me and Mike kind of get into it right out there on the field. They had to almost call a timeout, you know? Guess who got the brunt of that one?

Q: I’m guessing it was you…(laughs)

TW: And Mike Minter, he’s only trying to do what the coaches are telling him to do. And the coach is trying to push him in there, of course, because he has like three more years, you know? So I come out and they call timeout, and Coach is just ripping me to pieces. So at halftime I’m sitting there -and I remember leaning over to Mike Minter- I told him, I said, ‘After the season, you know… I’m going to kick your a$$. We’re gonna deal with this after the season. But I’m not going to mess with you now, don’t worry about it.’ We made it official that we were going to have it out after the season. (And this was like the third game of the year or whatever it was, I forget)

So we go the whole year and are working through things as a team and I’m talking to Mike Minter; we just know we’re going to address things in that fashion, right? Well, we’re playing Oklahoma (and my Dad is from Oklahoma. Born and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma) and I had like an interception and like 8 tackles, I had a pretty good game. And I bring my Dad into the locker room after the game and I’m introducing my Dad to everybody, going from locker to locker: ‘This is my Dad. This is my Dad.’ and I get to Mike Minter’s and I didn’t even bother to introduce him: I just skipped to the next locker. So when that happened my Dad kind of looked at him and kept going. So later on I’m sitting there in my jockstrap and my Dad is still looking over at Mike Minter. And I go, ‘Why are you looking at him over there like that?’ And it’s the last game of the season, you know, and I’m already going, ‘I’m gonna get him anyway.’

Now listen to this, Paul: my Dad turns to Mike and says, “Hey boy, what’s your momma’s name?” And Mike looks up to him and says something like, “Ophelia” or something like that, and my Dad turns to me and says, “Boy, that’s your cousin.” And I’m looking at him and am like, ‘No way!’ (exasperated) And I look at my Daddy and I tell him, ‘No way! I was gonna tear his a$$ apart, Dad.’ And he was like, “No boy, that’s your cousin.” And needless to say, me and Mike became real good friends. And we talked after that and everything was good and he had a stellar career. He was my Dad’s cousin. Incredible."

 
It's been a busy week putting in some finishing touches before the book goes to final layout before release. Been getting some really great photos from the former players to insert into the book also...behind-the-scenes shots that nobody's ever seen before. Now I'm flying back home to Nebraska this weekend, as my dad is in poor health. Wish me and my family well, will you? Here is a little snippet until I return....

This one is from former place-kicker Tom Seiler who was from Las Vegas and now teaches back there in a pretty rough school. I thought it was kind of cool how the Husker Brotherhood is still alive and well:

"I had a kid in math who was a huge Angels fan and I asked the kid, “Who’s your favorite player?” He goes, “Oh, you wouldn’t know him. He doesn’t play there anymore.” I said ‘Who is it?’ he said, “Darin Erstad.” And I go, ‘I know Darin Erstad.’ And the kid absolutely, he had no clue that I played football at the University of Nebraska, and I tell him, ‘I played with Erstad.’ And he was, “No you didn’t.” So I told Erstad about it. And the kid’s pretty poor -real poor- and Erstad actually sent him a bat with his autograph on it and saying, “To Edgar, Go hard!” "

 
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch said:
It's been a busy week putting in some finishing touches before the book goes to final layout before release. Been getting some really great photos from the former players to insert into the book also...behind-the-scenes shots that nobody's ever seen before. Now I'm flying back home to Nebraska this weekend, as my dad is in poor health. Wish me and my family well, will you? Here is a little snippet until I return....

This one is from former place-kicker Tom Seiler who was from Las Vegas and now teaches back there in a pretty rough school. I thought it was kind of cool how the Husker Brotherhood is still alive and well:

"I had a kid in math who was a huge Angels fan and I asked the kid, “Who’s your favorite player?” He goes, “Oh, you wouldn’t know him. He doesn’t play there anymore.” I said ‘Who is it?’ he said, “Darin Erstad.” And I go, ‘I know Darin Erstad.’ And the kid absolutely, he had no clue that I played football at the University of Nebraska, and I tell him, ‘I played with Erstad.’ And he was, “No you didn’t.” So I told Erstad about it. And the kid’s pretty poor -real poor- and Erstad actually sent him a bat with his autograph on it and saying, “To Edgar, Go hard!” "
Click to expand...
Erstad is awesome. Listening to him talk about the team last year before Fall ball started was so inspiring. He may still be learning the Manager's job, but he'll get there. If anybody could make themselves into a manager out of a raw ball player, it's Erstad.

I was flipping through channels the other day and caught something about Nebraska on BTN, and they had Erstad's picture as a punter on and it was so freaky to see him in pads. I remember how freaky it was to think of him as a baseball player originally, now it's weird to think of him as a football player. But the guy was nails on Special Teams.

How many D1 baseball managers can say they had four tackles in a National Championship season during their college career?

 
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch said:
Hey Everybody, I'm really jazzed today. Got some great news relating to my book project:

1) Charlie McBride and Tom Osborne have both read the final chapter and gave it a resounding thumbs up! They were impressed.

2) Charlie has agreed to write the Foreword for the book...and if you know Charlie at all, it's gonna be a worthwhile bit of reading.

3) T.O. has also lent me a favorable snippet of recommendation - a 'blurb'- as they call it in the publishing world. It's a huge boost of credibility!

4) My photographer sent me shot that I plan to use as the cover photo. It's a gathering of all the championship rings from the '93-97 seasons. Let's put it this way: it's very impressive, and will make any Husker fan's chest swell witih pride as we look back on those days 20 years ago. GBR!!
Click to expand...
Man....that is aaaaaaaaaaaaaawesome!

 
Back home again. My Dad starts chemotherapy in two weeks. Please with him well and pray that all goes well.

In the meantime, the book will soon be available...I'm guessing 3 weeks or so. Here is a little snippet about summer conditioning and how things went down back in the day:

"Christian Peter was a motivator. There was a role everyone had. When you get to that phase where there’s leaders and there’s followers, I don’t think any of us were followers. Every one of us were leaders, but you had to allow someone to be a motivator. Christian was really good at yelling and psyching us up and coming out like a crazy man, who just took us to the next level… There were quiet guys on the team and then there were really nasty, bad guy football players, too. Everybody had their role and everybody came together, and that’s why we played so well… We all had that special bond and everyone had certain roles. And when certain people spoke, you shut up and you listened and you gave each other respect. And it worked." – Brian Nunns, Walk-on OLineman

 
Here's a little tidbit from former NU Nutritionist Dave Ellis, who's trained Super Bowl Champs, Navy SEALs and more....

Dave Ellis on team culture: “There’s no ‘chance happening.’ This is why teams succeed: You always have guys who take control in that locker room, and then have a presence on the field or the court that eliminates the most selfish, self-centered, ‘what’s-in-it-for-me’ guys, and makes them champions.”

 
Hey everybody, today's little tidbit is from a "Zeke" Cisco, a walk-on DBack form Michigan. Pretty revealing stuff about the culture of the Nebraska Football Walk-on:

"Q: What was your main contribution?

MC: Boy, I don’t know. I was lucky enough to hang around and letter for three years. The guy I ended up living with was Troy Branch -who had no white guys in his high school- living with a white guy who had no black guys in his high school, from opposite ends of the world. But the one thing he used to say -and we’ve talked about this many times- it was just that you couldn’t ever take a break from going hard, because there was always somebody standing there waiting. And I took a lot of pride in always being the guy standing there waiting. There was Tyrone Byrd and Reggie and Steve Carmer, and we were there and we were ready and we were treated great.

And the things you guys did for us in the weight room? You took time with us. That’s how I knew I could compete, that’s how I knew I could get out on the field. So I got a chance to return punts, a guy who could do this or that. I was always waving my hand to go out there, even if it was just to be in a tackle on the field. And you know, maybe that was the coach’s son in me, but I knew my role. I knew where I belonged. I wasn’t bitter about it. I was really happy with the opportunity I got. I was pretty happy, to be honest with you.

Q: What would you say you were the most proud of?

MC: Surviving? (laughs) Lettering. You know, when I first got the notice that I’d lettered I about cried, to be honest with you. It just blew me away. There was just so many good people there athletically. I remember walking from the athletic office over to the bookstore, thinking, “Geez, I can’t believe this. This is really something.” To be able to do that for three years was huge for me, to step across that big, fat, white line on the field. Like most people inside the Berlin Wall at that time, you had to get across that sucker, you had to find a way to get out. And I just absolutely refused to give in. And it never went my way, but that was okay. All these people were just, ”Hey, just keep doing this, keep doing that,” and that was awesome.

I participated in three championship teams, I went to bowl games, I traveled to Japan, I made 150 great friends that if something happened to me and I picked up the phone? I could call anyone and they‘d pick up the phone and they’d say, “What can I do to help?”"

 
knapplc said:
NoPlaceLikeNebraskaPKoch said:
It's been a busy week putting in some finishing touches before the book goes to final layout before release. Been getting some really great photos from the former players to insert into the book also...behind-the-scenes shots that nobody's ever seen before. Now I'm flying back home to Nebraska this weekend, as my dad is in poor health. Wish me and my family well, will you? Here is a little snippet until I return....

This one is from former place-kicker Tom Seiler who was from Las Vegas and now teaches back there in a pretty rough school. I thought it was kind of cool how the Husker Brotherhood is still alive and well:

"I had a kid in math who was a huge Angels fan and I asked the kid, “Who’s your favorite player?” He goes, “Oh, you wouldn’t know him. He doesn’t play there anymore.” I said ‘Who is it?’ he said, “Darin Erstad.” And I go, ‘I know Darin Erstad.’ And the kid absolutely, he had no clue that I played football at the University of Nebraska, and I tell him, ‘I played with Erstad.’ And he was, “No you didn’t.” So I told Erstad about it. And the kid’s pretty poor -real poor- and Erstad actually sent him a bat with his autograph on it and saying, “To Edgar, Go hard!” "
Click to expand...
Erstad is awesome. Listening to him talk about the team last year before Fall ball started was so inspiring. He may still be learning the Manager's job, but he'll get there. If anybody could make themselves into a manager out of a raw ball player, it's Erstad.

I was flipping through channels the other day and caught something about Nebraska on BTN, and they had Erstad's picture as a punter on and it was so freaky to see him in pads. I remember how freaky it was to think of him as a baseball player originally, now it's weird to think of him as a football player. But the guy was nails on Special Teams.

How many D1 baseball managers can say they had four tackles in a National Championship season during their college career?
Click to expand...


Erstad is from Jamestown, North Dakota, which is where I grew up.

One of my mom's co-workers is actually first cousins with him, and she used to babysit me from time to time (she had two little boys around my age so we got along well). Well obviously, everyone in that town was an Angels fan, and I was spending the night one night and who else but Erstad comes in the door. Signed a dollar bill for me, and it was such a surreal experience. Just hanging out for the night. I have got to find that dollar bill....

 
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