Sam Keller

Landlord

Banned
It's the offseason, right?

That means wasting more time than we usually waste talking about things that matter even less than the usual things that don't matter.

I present Exhibit A and B:

I would get rid of the brief Sam Keller history. If he never transfered here and they acutaly gave Ganz a fair shake at the starting QB spot, the '07 season could have been so much better. He had so much hype but failed to show, plus he really made the team about SAM KELLER, totaly glory boy.
The least responsible? Whoa there, reaching quite a bit with that. Not a chance in hell he's the least responsible. The dude wasn't very good. I'd of taken Ganz starting every year he was here over that kid. Who knows how Ganz may have done those other years, but we saw how he did when he was in there. We saw how Keller did when he was in there,so based on the facts given, I'd take Ganz in a heart beat. If you disagree with that, you weren't watching the same football team I was.

Now these really bug me. More than they should. Here's why:

1. There is no substantial evidence that the quarterback battle between these two was fixed. To my knowledge, no player, nor coach, nor anyone associated with the program has alluded to Ganz not being given a fair shake that spring/fall, which, given the reports of Ganz being a locker room favorite, would seem odd if it was so obvious he was being slighted. Further, while both quarterbacks did well in the Spring game, the prevailing opinion of writers and also fans was that Keller was the better of the two, Further still, I recall a preseason bit mentioning the quarterbacks trying to gun a ball through a small square in a net 30 yards away, with Keller being the only one to accomplish the feat. Here's a small snippet from an AP article on the matter:

"Those within the program say the two entered preseason work neck-and-neck. But most outside the program expect Keller to take the first snap when the Huskers open against Nevada on Sept. 1.

"I understand that the media and a lot of the fans have given it to Sam," Ganz said. "But this is my fourth year. I'm not going to back down to anybody, no matter who it is. That's not my personality.""

We all know what Joe Ganz went on to do his senior season, but his three games his junior year had a lot of big numbers, including interceptions. Maybe, it's possible that he could or should have been starting longer, but sometimes players are practice warriors and sometimes they need the game experience to thrive. Either way, it's unfair to say that Keller was handed the starting position.

2. Hype is generated by the fans - by you, not by the players. Even still, he didn't fail to show. He was a good quarterback and he put up good numbers. His stats over 9 games:

205/325 (63.1%) for 2,422 yards, 14 TD and 10 INT - 133.7

By comparison, here are the 2006 Big XII Offensive Player of the Year Zac Taylor's numbers through 9 games:

150/231 (64.9%) for 2,065 yards, 18 TD and 3 INT

As you can see he was on pace to reset single season records before being injured.

3. He did not make the team all about Sam Keller. He came in with a reputation as a wild party boy, but subdued all of it in his time here, put his nose down, and did work. Here are some various quotes that don't prove this, but that support it:

Keller packed a few bags, then hopped on a plane to Nebraska to make it for the start of classes last year. His dad drove his possessions from Tempe. His girlfriend from Arizona State transferred with him, helping to ease the transition during a most unexpected redshirt year. In that year off, any notions of his old party-boy image or on-field arrogance disappeared.
“I’ve got one last crack at this thing, and I’m going to do everything I can for this program and for myself and the future,” Keller said before referring to his girlfriend. “Most of the time when I’m not relaxing, I’m just spending time with her or catching a horse race or hanging out with teammates.”
“We can take positives from this. Nobody’s going in the tank, nothing’s going to happen. We’re going to go back, we’re going to fix it and everything is going to be fine. I’m just proud of the guys for not going in the tank. We just kept fighting until the final whistle was blown.”
Obviously there is stuff going wrong, but we just go back and fix them. We got enough guys with character and we got enough guys on the team that want to fix it, so we just go out and fix what we need to fix.”

"The only way to go is up. Any time you’re faced with a little adversity, or in our case, a lot of adversity, the only way you can go is up. The only way we can go from here is up. If we just stay together and make it happen, then that’s what we can do. Bad things have happened to good people before. It happens every day. The ball doesn’t bounce the way you want it. Things don’t go your way in life, but sometimes, they do. When they don’t, you can’t point fingers, get upset or let life become a downer just because things aren’t going your way. You have to go and make them go your way. It’s unfortunate that you have to wait a whole week to be able to do that on the field, but it starts tomorrow. We have to go up, stay together, and we can’t make excuses. We have to bond and become closer. This is not a good feeling. This is not what we want. This is not what anybody had envisioned. It’s extremely difficult to deal with, but you have to choose the way you’re going to go. The way I’m going to go and this team is going to go is up, because there’s no other way to go."

"I get a feeling that guys are hurting and they want this corrected. They want everything to be okay. It’s not that easy, when you’re hurting inside so bad. I know some guys are just searching for what’s going wrong. Some guys are confused or angry, but a lot of guys, myself included, don’t really know how to deal with this kind of situation and the weight of this situation."

"It’s really, really tough. Extremely tough. We’re just trying so hard to win and make something happen. We all play together and we felt good coming in to this one and there’s not much you can say really. You just have to keep trying and working hard and try to stay focused."
Not only is the accusation that Sam Keller made it all about Sam Keller unfair and unfounded, to paint Joe Ganz as the ultimate team player in contrast is also erroneous. I saw Joe and several teammates at a party after the Texas A&M loss that season - they showed up wearing shirts that said, "Got Ganz?" Literally the definition of making it about yourself.

4. People look at Ganz in hindsight and forget two different key elements - that he was better as a senior than he was as a junior, and that Callahan went into full Air-Raid mode at the end of Ganz' junior year.

Yes, we saw what he could do, but it wasn't exactly the same circumstances, was it? Ignore his senior season for a moment, because it's not applicable. Look at his junior year.

He got to pass 50 times against Kansas. He completed 50% of his passes. He had four touchdowns and four interceptions. What's overly impressive about that?

He went balls out for 510 yards against a Kansas State team that got the entirety of Bill Callahan's frustration and attempts to save his job. An absolute monster game no doubt, but don't act like the coach didn't try to put up the biggest numbers he possibly could. Unless you don't remember us going for it on 4th and 20 in the fourth quarter.

Then he got to pass 58 times against Colorado (completing 53%, wow!), with three more interceptions, one of them a pick six to start the second half when we had a good lead.

True2tRA, you're right, we did see what he did when he was in there - he did a handful of good things and a pretty big handful of average to bad things as well. I was watching the same team as you, I think (2007 Nebraska Cornhuskers, right?), but fail to see any compelling evidence whatsoever that Ganz was any better of an option, let alone an obviously better option.

Rant over. Stop being asshats that demonize former players that came in here and gave everything they had to the best of their ability, doing everything asked of them.

 
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I've always presumed the Keller hate was misplaced Callahan hate. I've been making these points, although not in this detailed of a fashion, for years.

I'm a huge Joey Ganz fan. He was a hell of a lot of fun to watch, damned frustrating at times, but overall a great guy to have on the team. Kinda feel the same way about Keller. Keller gets a bad rap.

 
Keller played his heart out during the 2007 season, and it wasn't fair that he was on a team that virtually packed it in during the USC game.

 
Keller played his heart out during the 2007 season, and it wasn't fair that he was on a team that virtually packed it in during the USC game.

Also not fair that he gets sh#t on by the majority of our fanbase.

The guy with a broken collarbone that was jumping around like a giddy 7 year old on the sideline when Courtney Grixby returned that kickoff for a touchdown against K-State loved his school and team while he was here.

 
I've always presumed the Keller hate was misplaced Callahan hate. I've been making these points, although not in this detailed of a fashion, for years.

I'm a huge Joey Ganz fan. He was a hell of a lot of fun to watch, damned frustrating at times, but overall a great guy to have on the team. Kinda feel the same way about Keller. Keller gets a bad rap.
I've never been a big Keller fan but I do think some of the hate is misplaced Callahan hate. I also think the hate comes from Keller not living up to all the hype prior to him playing at NE. It's no fault of his own but we were made out to think he would lead us to the promised land before he ever played a down here (seems to happen a lot).

That whole season was a sh#tshow and I think he takes the blame for far more of it than he should. It's kinda like how Martinez has played his heart out here and yet still takes all the criticism in world from some fans like he's solely responsible for a lot of our losses.

 
I have no ill feelings towards Keller and actually surprised that his name was put in the other thread. I also remember the media and fans basically expecting Keller to be the starter from day one.

Ganze was never looked at as a real option by fans at QB until he actually got the chance. I remember during that time I would always include him in the mix in discussions about QB depth and I was repeatedly told that Joe would never take a snap as a regular starter at Nebraska.

 
I believe some of the hate was also the social perception of Keller. He was a "bro" coming from one of the biggest party schools in the country. Have any of you ever ran into Joe Ganz out on the town? I probably wouldn't buy him a beer, but that's just me.

 
A lot of Shawn Watson hate was misplaced Callahan hate.

The Syrian Civil War might be misplaced Callahan hate, too. Always hard to tell.

 
I believe some of the hate was also the social perception of Keller. He was a "bro" coming from one of the biggest party schools in the country. Have any of you ever ran into Joe Ganz out on the town? I probably wouldn't buy him a beer, but that's just me.
I had a "Be a Better Person" class with him, because we both got DUI's. He seemed like a cool dude the little I talked to him.

 
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I don't hate the kid. I said I didn't think he was very good and I would take Joe Ganz over Keller any day. I don't even think its close. As much as WE the horrible people can blow things out of proportion as to Kellers career vs. Ganz's, I see no difference in the way you just blew this whole thing out of proportion.

 
My disdain regarding Sam is less about his on the field actions, and more about his joining the O'Bannon suit and killing a franchise I love because he didn't want to work a real job.

 
Why at Huskerboard if you say one guy is better than the other you instantly f'ing hate the other ?
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I believe some of the hate was also the social perception of Keller. He was a "bro" coming from one of the biggest party schools in the country. Have any of you ever ran into Joe Ganz out on the town? I probably wouldn't buy him a beer, but that's just me.
I had a "Be a Better Person" class with him, because we both got DUI's. He seemed like a cool dude the little I talked to him.
Are you a better person now?

 
I believe some of the hate was also the social perception of Keller. He was a "bro" coming from one of the biggest party schools in the country. Have any of you ever ran into Joe Ganz out on the town? I probably wouldn't buy him a beer, but that's just me.
I had a "Be a Better Person" class with him, because we both got DUI's. He seemed like a cool dude the little I talked to him.
Are you a better person now?
Obviously.

 
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