Damn good article on Crick!!!

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

NE Statepaper

 

NEBRASKA FOOTBALL: Jared Crick's Journey Just Beginning

Commentary: Different from Suh, Cozad native focuses on improvement, community

By Samuel McKewon

 

August 31, 2010

 

To understand the expectations in front of Nebraska junior Jared Crick, a quick stroll around the north side of Memorial Stadium is an apt place to start.

 

You’ll see, like a bulwark hovering over a broad sidewalk, NU’s weight room, soon to get $2 million in upgrades thanks to a donation from Crick’s former trench buddy, Ndamukong Suh. Beyond the weight room is a hall where Suh’s many trophies - the Lombardi, Outland and Bednarik among them - are gathered in a trophy case, a No. 93 jersey serving as a backdrop.

 

Just outside North Stadium is a statue of Brook Berringer standing next to Tom Osborne. Crick won the Berringer Memorial Scholarship for his work in the community, and will receive it before Saturday’s season-opener vs. Western Kentucky.

 

And 100 yards away, a little further east, is an entryway to the Hawks Championship Center. Reporters gather, putter around, talk football and wait for post-practice interviews. And aside from head coach Bo Pelini, Crick talks more than any Husker coach or player. He’s often intercepted by one or two scribes before eventually being swallowed up by the entire press corps.

 

He’s the unofficial voice of the defense, a cog in the community and the man named Suh, Part 2.

 

NFL agents send him brochures, call him, call his mom and dad even more.

 

“My parents just tell them, ‘Leave my son alone,’” Crick told reporters.

 

And we haven’t even begun to discuss the preseason All-American lists.

 

***

 

One thing about Crick is that he’s quick. With everything. Quick first step on a pass rush. Quick to answer a question, the words tumbling out in a blunt, there-you-have-it manner. Quick to smile. Quick to shrug off a hint of praise.

 

“I couldn’t care less,” Crick is fond of saying when it comes to accolades.

 

He uses the same refrain when talking expectations. They knock on his door like an unpaid paperboy. First-team this, all-world that. Like those agents who’d love to represent a probable first-round NFL Draft pick.

 

On the flip side of the coin are doubters that Crick, who finished last year with 73 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, can duplicate that season minus Suh - with his python arms and suffocating strength to match - playing next to him.

 

Crick steadfastly remains Crick. Big smile. Proverbial shrug. A central Nebraskan’s typical humility.

 

“I’ve never been a big talker,” he says.

 

***

 

The Brothers Pelini fiercely defend him. Bo thought Suh’s 2009 season became “so magnified” that it’s created “overblown” expectations for Crick.

 

Sacks. Tackles for loss. Forced fumbles. A defensive tackle can forego all of those flashy numbers in a game and still make a huge impact.

 

But the critics -

 

“I’ll invite them in and they can watch film with me,” Bo said, “and I’ll show them he’s a pretty good football player.”

 

And Carl, NU’s defensive coordinator and Crick’s position coach?

 

“I don’t think he has anything to prove,” he said.

 

If you really want to raise their ire, suggest that Crick was the sole beneficiary of teams double-teaming Suh. Heck, even Crick admits, to some extent, he benefited from it. Made teams pay for it. Abused Baylor’s offensive line for a NU-record five sacks because of it.

 

Bo scoffed: “That isn’t the way football works.”

 

Carl challenged: “Suh’s getting double-teamed? Show me that on film…that wasn’t happening.”

 

Continued Bo: “You can also say that Suh benefited playing next to Crick. It’s two-way street. It’s a team game. That’s the reality of it.”

 

***

 

Crick doesn’t remember watching Brook Berringer play football at Nebraska. It was a little before his time, and if that stuns you, check for gray hairs in the mirror.

 

“But I know his story,” Crick said. “I know what he did for his community, I know what he did for his team. Just how unselfish he was. That’s kind of how I like to think of myself, an unselfish guy. Team comes first.”

 

Crick said he was “a little emotional” when he found out he won the scholarship. Because it’s not really about on-field value, but off-the-field experiences. Reading to kids. Working with World War II veterans. Visiting Husker fans in the hospital - some of them without much time, but a lot of character and hope.

 

“My worst day doesn’t hold a candle to their worst day,” Crick said.

 

***

 

When Ndamukong Suh would appear for press conferences, he’d arrive with massive headphones wrapped around his neck, soon to engulf his ears. He’d listen to music while staring out at the expanse of Memorial Stadium from the press box. He’d fix his gaze at some point on the horizon and lock down into some kind of fierce focus that he could easily turn off, but often only his sister dare to disturb.

 

Crick is not Suh. He’s a Cozad native who, as he heads to the microphone, shakes a quick joke with a Kearney TV reporter who just saw Crick’s dad. Reporters slap him on the shoulder. Some regard him as if to say, You’re not quite him. Good kid, heckuva player, but let’s see you fill his shadow.

 

But to Crick, Suh never cared about the numbers or the accolades. Shrugged off the hype and expectations. Although Suh’s brief NFL career reveals a player more media willing and savvy than Crick describes - Subway deals, quarterback hunting and Nike specials attest to it - Crick nevertheless appreciated one thing about his former teammate above the rest of it.

 

“He didn’t care how good he was,” he said. “He just wanted to improve every day.”

 

That’s how Crick will tackle 2010.

 

“At the end of the season if I have the same credibility and same hype that I had at the beginning, then I did my job.”

 

[NUance]

On the flip side of the coin are doubters that Crick, who finished last year with 73 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, can duplicate that season minus Suh - with his python arms and suffocating strength to match - playing next to him.

I've been a HUGE fan of Crick every since he committed to us as a recruit. But I am skeptical he can do as well as last year without Suh taking on the doubleteams.

[n.e.husker]

On the flip side of the coin are doubters that Crick, who finished last year with 73 tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, can duplicate that season minus Suh - with his python arms and suffocating strength to match - playing next to him.

I've been a HUGE fan of Crick every since he committed to us as a recruit. But I am skeptical he can do as well as last year without Suh taking on the doubleteams.

 

I hear ya nuance, but im am more excited about our depth. We will be fresh and wont have to rely on 4 or 5 playing the whole game, we are 2 deep(maybe more) across the line. I do not see our production dropping off as a unit, maybe individually for crick compared to last year but that remains to be seen. We will see more attention given to our rush end this year and that will free up the middle for Crick, Baker, Moore and Randle.

 

GBR

[Lava]

I've been a HUGE fan of Crick every since he committed to us as a recruit. But I am skeptical he can do as well as last year without Suh taking on the doubleteams.

 

 

Directly from the article:

 

If you really want to raise their ire, suggest that Crick was the sole beneficiary of teams double-teaming Suh. Heck, even Crick admits, to some extent, he benefited from it. Made teams pay for it. Abused Baylor’s offensive line for a NU-record five sacks because of it.

 

Bo scoffed: “That isn’t the way football works.”

 

Carl challenged: “Suh’s getting double-teamed? Show me that on film…that wasn’t happening.”

 

Continued Bo: “You can also say that Suh benefited playing next to Crick. It’s two-way street. It’s a team game. That’s the reality of it.”