Tells Us your Football Story

[TGHusker]

I thought it would be interesting to find out each other's experiences in playing football - also coaching football.  Some of you guys are expert at the Xs and Os of the game.  

Go ahead and don't be shy - tell us what you accomplished and any interesting stories.  It isn't boasting if it is true.  So, re-live some of your past glories with us.  

 

We all have football in common and it would be neat to hear the stories - at least I think so.  A good way to getting to know each other better is hearing each other's stories.  

 

 

My Story:

I went to a small town HS in SD (42 in my graduating class).  Played 11 man football but played both ways  - blocking TE on O and outside LB on D or Free safety.  My senior year (1974 class) our team was picked to

share the conference title with another school. However, small town football is make or break by the # of players coming out.  My senior year, only a few juniors came out.  Our senior starting QB got knocked out

of the season wt an ACL injury during the 1st game.  Thus we ended up with a backup who was a sophomore & who cried in the huddle when he got sacked!   So, us seniors didn't have much support.  We played the other team we were picked to win the conference with and which ended up 2nd in the state and beat them in every phase of the game except the final score.  The before mentioned Soph QB,  completed a pass to a wide open Line Backer  who took the ball 95 yards the other way to win the game by one score.  We didn't gel until mid-season and ended up 3-5 even though we had the state's best RB, the state's best OT, the state best kicker for our class - 3 all staters. Plus, a couple of honorable mentions. 

 

My 'claim to fame' was being a 'hitter' - I loved to tackle and tackle hard.  Yes, I had a couple of flags thrown at me - good thing there wasn't a targeting penalty then.   Favorite moment: a strip tackle and recovery of a flair pass to my side of the field - I got there when the ball did and hit the guy, causing the fumble and recovering it and setting us up for the winning FG at the end of the game by our all state kicker and beating a previously undefeated team while getting our first win - we won our last 3 games. The last 2 by an average of 35 points.  The all state RB had 355 yards in one game and 280 in the other game. 

 

My favorite position was free safety which I played as a junior.  I wasn't all that fast, just had a nose for the ball.  I could roam wherever I wanted to and in one game I had 3 interceptions.  Free safety, in my opinion, is the greatest position to play in all of football.  Always in the action.   My coach said I was the best blocking TE he'd ever coached. I loved the cross block wt the tackle.  It was fun blocking for an all state RB.    I had one pass thrown to me that year by the before mentioned Soph QB - it was 10 yards beyond me.  

 

I didn't play in college.  

 

[Gage County]

Long story short, I watch football on tv.

[TGHusker]

1 minute ago, Gage County said:

Long story short, I watch football on tv.

Hey that works.  

[Stone Cold]

My mom married my step dad in 85.  That is when i was introduced to Nebraska football.  Fast forward about 5 years and my stepdad started saying things like, man you could play for Nebraska football one day.  High school came around and i was sitting in one of the rooms with not a lick of football experience waiting to try out for the team.  I was in the D room and they were just sitting around snapping desks in half.  I was no way or shape ready for where i needed to be.  High school finished with a missed chance to win our state championship.  2 years latter i walked on.  

[JJ Husker]

Back in ‘82 I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile. If coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind. Ohhh, man I wish I could go back in time. I’d take state.

[Undone]

1 hour ago, JJ Husker said:

Back in ‘82 I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile. If coach woulda put me in fourth quarter, we would’ve been state champions. No doubt. No doubt in my mind. Ohhh, man I wish I could go back in time. I’d take state.

 

/thread

[LaunchCode]

Every Monday morning you could tell when our HS assistant football coaches pulled into the school parking lot by the sound of empty beer cans rattling around in the back of their truck as they drover over the parking lot speed bumps.

 

A big rattle meant they went home Friday not happy and we were going to be doing some "extra" running that night.  A really really big rattle meant they went home Friday night ready to party and no extra running at Monday's practice.  

[teachercd]

3 minutes ago, LaunchCode said:

Every Monday morning you could tell when our HS assistant football coaches pulled into the school parking lot by the sound of empty beer cans rattling around in the back of their truck as they drover over the parking lot speed bumps.

 

A big rattle meant they went home Friday not happy and we were going to be doing some "extra" running that night.  A really really big rattle meant they went home Friday night ready to party and no extra running at Monday's practice.  

Haha!  I work with an old timer, dude retired from one district and came over to mine.  He tells stories like yours.  Loading up the school van to go "scout" other teams, was just a huge excuse to load the school van up with a cooler full of beers and go out drinking for the night while "scouting"

[skers83]

I used to be really good at Madden.

[JJ Husker]

Seriously tho…..

 

I played 3 or 4 years of the beginner/little league type stuff. It was full pads, full contact, not like the flag football stuff they have for little kids today.

 

Didn’t play football again until my senior year in high school. The head coach drove our detassling bus that summer and he worked on me all summer. I had played varsity tennis (same season) my fresh, soph and junior years but the tennis coach pissed me off by replacing me on our #2 doubles team for the state tournament because the other kid was a senior (even tho I could wipe the court with him). My doubles partner wasn’t happy about it either. Anyway, that’s why I decided to give football a try. Pretty sure that tennis coach still hates me for not coming back as a senior.

 

I played fullback (2nd string) sparingly but I started most games at linebacker. Our I Back was a stud. He prob woulda played both ways and been ahead of me on the depth chart but he was basically our whole offense so I got to LB. I was okay, nothing great. Fullback on our team was basically strictly blocking for our 250 yards a game I back with maybe 1 or 2 fullback dives thrown in so linebacker was the better deal. 
 

We were one of the smallest class A teams in Nebraska. Played the likes of Lincoln East, Lincoln High, Fremont, Norfolk, Grand Island etc. We kinda sucked. Went 2-7 beating only South Sioux City and Kearney. The only real players on our team were the aforementioned I Back and our Junior punter. Both of those guys were offered to walk on at UNL. The I back didn’t do it and the punter was with the team for 2 or 3 years. I don’t believe he ever kicked in a game. Laughingly I actually was offered a scholarship for some little podunk in Iowa (Drake if I recall). I never considered it at all. They must’ve been extremely hard up because I really was barely average. The man himself, Tom Osborne, scouted our game at Lincoln High. No, I didn’t make an impression on him 

 

About my only claim to fame was playing against Tom Rathman and Harry Grimminger. Rathman played the fullback (point) in a wishbone offense. Ran my a$$ over quite a few times that game. I might have solo tackled him once and helped on a few others. He was a beast. We lost like 42-7. Some of us starters were tired of getting abused late in the game so one play the DE on my side grabs a guys facemask and windmills him to the ground. 15 yard penalty and the coach pulls him. So the very next play I just run up to the O tackle in front of me and throw a hard forearm into his facemask, it unbuckles his strap, basically end up hitting him in the chin and he falls over backwards. I get flagged and coach pulls me. Mission accomplished 

 

Only other highlights were getting a concussion on a kickoff return team vs Lincoln East and, in our game against Kearney, I was in a goal line pileup at the pylon and a ref got stuck in there and I heard his leg snap as my body went into him. We kept them out of the EZ tho.

[Enhance]

When I was about 12 or 13, Eric Crouch told me I ran the option well and had a really clean pitch. That's about the peak of my football playing career because I had to stop football later that year.

[Savage Husker]

My dad didn’t think to register me for football in 4th grade because I didn’t meet the minimum weight requirement. I barely made it as a 5th grader and somehow managed to become the starting Halfback and also played Fullback. The following year my dad talked my buddy’s mom into finally letting him play - “if my son can play, your son sure as heck can play.” Welp, he took over at halfback and tore it up, he later went on to earn a scholarship at Washington.

 

The undersized, slow to develop gene continued through high school. Was reluctant to play sophomore year but went to the first week of practice. I hated it, I remember looking around and thinking to myself how I don’t belong here, but I had made a commitment and stuck out the season. Tail end of the season I was on scout team D playing safety - all 5’4 120lbs. One play was a toss sweep and drifted to my left, but then saw the WR cut toward the backfield and I read the reverse. I redirected and pinned my ears to start my angle of pursuit to the other sideline, however, a 6’4 265lb LT head hunted me and blind side blocked me, he just blew me the fuuuuck up. He lifted me off the ground, mouth piece went flying, and I landed gasping for air as the wind was knocked out of me. I peeled my b!^@h a$$ off the field and told myself I’m never playing football again after the season ends. Completely legal block and turned out to be my lesson about keeping your head on a swivel.
 

To this day and through rule changes, I still have no remorse over watching someone get crack blocked. 

[Head Coach Scott Frost]

Won a national Championship and then also as a player won a national championship

[Spacer]

Was on track to be a top Heisman contender...

... Then I took an arrow to the knee.

[CheeseHusker]

I went out for football in 8th grade and quit after three weeks. Our first game kept getting post-poned, so it was three weeks of practice. I got bored and decided I'd rather sit on my couch eating Fruity Pebbles and watching old game shows. No regrets.

Not sure there was really a position for me, to be honest, considering I wouldn't hit puberty for another 18 months.