Carl Nicks looks to fix burned bridges

[Nexus]

The biggest news out of Nebraska's Wednesday's practice? Honestly, it came from someone who played his last down as a Husker in 2007. The hulking figure in a Kobe Bryant jersey with a giant Super Bowl tattoo on his left bicep. Is that... is that ... Carl Nicks? It was quite a sight considering just a couple years ago Nicks was banned from Nebraska's Pro Day by Bo Pelini after some off-the-field trouble that the Husker coach viewed as a bad example for his players.

 

But on Wednesday, the New Orleans Saints starting left guard came back, talking to Pelini after the practice. He wanted to come back for the spring game, but he told the media he also returned to Lincoln to make amends for what he called some "immature stuff" on his part.

 

"I figured its about time to put some of the water under those bridges I burned," Nicks said. "For about a good three or four months, I had blamed Bo for it. I'm blaming other people, and at the end of the day I looked in the mirror, I figured once I got a little older, played a little professional ball, I realized how good I had it and how bad I treated everybody here.

 

"Now, I'm a little older, I can come back, maybe talk to some of the younger kids, get some better relationships that I burned a little bit, and just go from there. Just trying to be responsible."

 

About that Super Bowl win? A dream come true, he said. But it also made him think about his time in Lincoln.

 

"When the clock ended and the confetti came, I almost started crying," Nicks said. "I just got to my knees and prayed. I really thought about all the stuff I've been through in life. And I thought about high school and I thought about Nebraska, and it really hit me, like, 'I need to go back there and really set things right.' Because I didn't go out the right way. I always want to be affiliated with Nebraska in a positive way and I'm the first guy saying, 'Go Nebraska.' Nebraska shirt every Saturday. So it's a blessing to be back here and welcome."

 

LINK

[zoogs]

Wow, good for Carl.

[Husker_x]

Man I totally missed that story where Nicks pissed off the coaching staff. Anyone care to elaborate?

 

Whatever it was, the more Super Bowl champs we can have hanging around, the better. Hope it all got squared away.

[huskerscott]

Anybody catch Nicks quote after the Super Bowl......"Im going to motherfreakin disney land." But he used some other word than "freakin."

 

I hope Carl does make amends, You dont wanna leave a place at odds with the man in charge, especially Bo.

[Husker Richard]

Anybody catch Nicks quote after the Super Bowl......"Im going to motherfreakin disney land." But he used some other word than "freakin."

 

I hope Carl does make amends, You dont wanna leave a place at odds with the man in charge, especially Bo.

 

 

 

Hahaha, ya I did catch that. It was a great quote. I would also like to hear the details regarding what caused Bo to ban him from pro day.......

[huskerscott]

Anybody catch Nicks quote after the Super Bowl......"Im going to motherfreakin disney land." But he used some other word than "freakin."

 

I hope Carl does make amends, You dont wanna leave a place at odds with the man in charge, especially Bo.

 

 

 

Hahaha, ya I did catch that. It was a great quote. I would also like to hear the details regarding what caused Bo to ban him from pro day.......

 

They played on Schick and Nick for DAYYYYS it seemed after the Super Bowl...... I cracked up everytime.

[GMoose]

Good for Carl. Becoming a true cornhusker

[AR Husker Fan]

Man I totally missed that story where Nicks pissed off the coaching staff. Anyone care to elaborate?

 

Whatever it was, the more Super Bowl champs we can have hanging around, the better. Hope it all got squared away.

See THIS THREAD. Bear in mind - as the article states - this came on the heels of Purifoy's problems with alcohol and the law. Bo had laid down the law by the time Nick's was arrested.

[redout22]

With the success he has had and after winning the superbowl it is great to see him mature. Always was a fan of him. Hopefully the recruits at the Red/White game recognize him.

[carlfense]

McKewon's take:

 

http://nebraska.statepaper.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2010/04/14/4bc66e4ca2748

 

The best story of Nebraska’s spring camp sported a Kobe Bryant jersey, a new tattoo and a diamond-studded watch worth more than my annual salary. The giant man inside those accessories, Carl Nicks, waited anxiously for a meeting with a man he barely knew.

 

The starting left guard for the Super Bowl-winning New Orleans Saints had come Wednesday to tell Bo Pelini he was sorry. To rebuild a bridge he burned.

 

“The way I left, it was bad,” Nicks said. “I felt I needed to do it. It was long overdue.”

 

In January 2008, Nicks had just exhausted his eligibility at NU. Bo had just taken over.

 

“Football season was over, we weren’t going to a bowl game,” Nicks said. “I figured was I going to get drafted so I said ‘I’m just going to focus on football, not even go to class and just work out.’”

 

In March 2008, he was arrested for refusing to leave a disorderly house during a party raid.

 

Not long after that, Pelini barred Nicks from NU’s pro day workouts. Character questions about an affable, easygoing kid suddenly cropped up.

 

Nicks slipped to fifth round of the Draft. His talent and skills probably called for the third round.

 

It worked out, of course - Nicks started 19 games for New Orleans last year and isn’t likely to forfeit the job soon - but some thought Bo was petty for making an example of Nicks. Bo had his reasons - setting the tone on skipping class, for one thing - but the punishment seemed extreme.

 

At the time, Nicks agreed.

 

"For about a good three or four months, I had blamed Bo for it," he said.

 

But he gets it now.

 

“I screwed the school with the scholarship, burned a lot of bridges, a lot of bad blood,” he said.

 

Once Nicks reached the NFL, he saw his teammates, and how warmly they regarded their alma maters. Although he “always had a good connection with the players,” matters with the new coaching staff were unresolved.

 

Then New Orleans won the Super Bowl. As it happened, Nicks said he knelt down on the turf prayed. He thought about his trials in life. High school. College. Bo's banishment.

 

Set it right, he told himself.

 

So Nicks knew he was coming to Saturday’s Red/White Spring Game. He flew in Wednesday and called Wince Morris, NU’s assistant director of football operations.

 

Can I come to practice? I want to talk to Bo.

 

“For him to be like, yeah, come down after all that was a good sign for me,” Nicks said.

 

They didn’t talk long. Practice and all that.

 

“I thought it was real important for me to say, ‘You know what, I made some mistakes in the past,’” Nicks said. “‘I’m older and wiser and I’m here to apologize and I respect what you’re doing and I respect the decision you made then.’”

 

Bo was “real respectful, nice, very open to what I had to say, very honest,” in response, Nicks said. A good first step.

 

It says something for Bo, of course. Says something for Nicks, too.

 

But it says even more about college football.

 

See, Nicks is an accomplished man at the highest level of the game. A millionaire. Better yet, a winner. But Wednesday he was just a teammate of some of the Huskers on the field: Mike Smith. Keith Williams. Jacob Hickman, who’s doing a bit a volunteer work. An ex-Husker, reconnecting with family, which included reporters who smiled and joked and shook his hand.

 

It felt like what it was: A homecoming.

 

And even though you’ll be told, hour after hour, second after second, that college football is a big, soulless business for winners, losers, trophies, weight rooms, practice facilities, TV contracts, conference realignments and some unholy union called the BCS, it isn’t really about that.

 

It’s about this: “Without me playing at Nebraska, I don’t know that I would have went to the NFL.”

 

And this: “Whatever I’ve got to do to make it right so I can be a part of this school, I’m going to do it.”

 

And this: “Once you sweat, struggle and cry with some of these guys, they’re going to be your teammates forever.”

 

Yeah, they’re just Nicks’ words.

 

But they’re Nebraska.

[knapplc]

I couldn't be happier for Carl. All the money in the world doesn't buy peace of mind. And we've seen time after time the Pro athlete who "makes it" and suddenly thinks he doesn't owe anybody anything, or that the world owes him something. It's great to see a guy transcend the millions and find that wisdom. It's great to see a guy on top of the world humble himself when nothing external made him do it.

 

Best story of the week, right here.

[openheart5]

Thats good to see. A little humility goes a long way in my book.

[Husker Richard]

I couldn't be happier for Carl. All the money in the world doesn't buy peace of mind. And we've seen time after time the Pro athlete who "makes it" and suddenly thinks he doesn't owe anybody anything, or that the world owes him something. It's great to see a guy transcend the millions and find that wisdom. It's great to see a guy on top of the world humble himself when nothing external made him do it.

 

Best story of the week, right here.

 

 

Nicely said. I agree 100%.

[NUance]

Glad to see Nicks back in the fold, so to speak.

 

 

And that Superbowl Disneyland quote—-kinda funny, but maybe not the best PR move. For Nicks or Disney.

[Street Novelist]

I'm glad Carl set things straight and realized how immature his actions were; even better is hearing Bo accepting the apology and taking the time to talk to him.