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LJS
Dan Alexander was never typical.
He was the biggest, fastest and strongest I-back in Nebraska history.
He was a semi-truck at the bike rack. At 6-feet, 255 pounds, 5 percent body fat and 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash, he was impressive.
He was named to the All-Big 12 team and to the league academic team, was a two-time Husker lifter of the year and a team co-captain. He won national and team honors for his charity work.
The only change now is that he plays football indoors with the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.
Alexander’s biography on the AFL Web site begins with: “Freakish athlete who made huge strides for the Kats.”
The bio adds the praise: “Considered one of the better pure runners in the AFL.” That’s akin to being the better pure typewriter repairman.
Running backs in indoor football run the ball as often as NBA players shoot 10-foot jumpers and American League pitchers get hits.
Alexander is changing that perception. He scored six touchdowns Saturday in a big victory against Kansas City. He scored five touchdowns in a victory against the Utah Blaze. He has 24 touchdowns in just eight games and he has eight games left to break the rushing touchdown record of 26 in a season.
“The league is mostly passing, but we’ve practiced some running drills for the first time in a couple of years and our line has practiced run-blocking, too,” Alexander said. “And we’re winning by running the ball a lot.”
Alexander still runs over defenders and, at times, hunts down defenders to hit.
“I was running for a touchdown a couple of weeks ago, and I kind of went out of my way to hit a guy. He really got mad.
“I was taught at Nebraska that you deliver the hit before you get hit,” he said.
Usually Alexander doesn’t have to seek defenders. The indoor field is 50 yards long by 85 feet wide. “They usually find you before you find them,” he said.
The collisions are often enhanced by the foam-covered wooden walls that surround the field.
“Those boards don’t give that much,” he said. “I keep a picture in my office of a linebacker hitting me at the waist and a DB hitting me high and I’m kind of twisted in an L-shape and way into the boards.”
Alexander gave up football when he was cut by the St. Louis Rams in 2003. He played with Tennessee in 2001 and Jacksonville in 2002.
“Getting moved around, the politics, asking my wife to move, all added up to quitting,” he said.
It was time to start working for a living. Alexander jumped into the real estate business in Nashville, Tenn. Business was slow at the beginning.
A friend, Pat Sperduto, head coach of the Kats and a scout for the Titans, said Alexander should give the AFL a try.
The big back from Wentzville, Mo., fell in love with football again.
Until a rules change this year, everybody played both ways. Alexander was a solid back and a decent linebacker. “I hit a lot of quarterbacks but I never got that quarterback sack,” he said. “I’d play defense if they wanted me to.”
Alexander’s life started to fall into place, too. He and his wife, Amy, are expecting their first child May 31. He posted his first $1 million real estate listing last year.
He’s also learning more about housework, because Amy is supposed to ease up on her job as a social worker.
There is still time for Alexander to work with the communities in Franklin, Tenn., where he lives, and Nashville. He is a board member of Safe Haven Community Center, a member of Youth Encouragement Services, helped his wife and others start The Refuge Center for family counseling and domestic violence. He was named one of the 25 Most Beautiful People in Nashville by Nashville Lifestyles.
“Nebraska and Tom Osborne kicked that all off for me,” he said. “Giving back was the way of life when I was at Nebraska. It’s the way I choose to live.”
Dan Alexander was never typical.
He was the biggest, fastest and strongest I-back in Nebraska history.
He was a semi-truck at the bike rack. At 6-feet, 255 pounds, 5 percent body fat and 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash, he was impressive.
He was named to the All-Big 12 team and to the league academic team, was a two-time Husker lifter of the year and a team co-captain. He won national and team honors for his charity work.
The only change now is that he plays football indoors with the Nashville Kats of the Arena Football League.
Alexander’s biography on the AFL Web site begins with: “Freakish athlete who made huge strides for the Kats.”
The bio adds the praise: “Considered one of the better pure runners in the AFL.” That’s akin to being the better pure typewriter repairman.
Running backs in indoor football run the ball as often as NBA players shoot 10-foot jumpers and American League pitchers get hits.
Alexander is changing that perception. He scored six touchdowns Saturday in a big victory against Kansas City. He scored five touchdowns in a victory against the Utah Blaze. He has 24 touchdowns in just eight games and he has eight games left to break the rushing touchdown record of 26 in a season.
“The league is mostly passing, but we’ve practiced some running drills for the first time in a couple of years and our line has practiced run-blocking, too,” Alexander said. “And we’re winning by running the ball a lot.”
Alexander still runs over defenders and, at times, hunts down defenders to hit.
“I was running for a touchdown a couple of weeks ago, and I kind of went out of my way to hit a guy. He really got mad.
“I was taught at Nebraska that you deliver the hit before you get hit,” he said.
Usually Alexander doesn’t have to seek defenders. The indoor field is 50 yards long by 85 feet wide. “They usually find you before you find them,” he said.
The collisions are often enhanced by the foam-covered wooden walls that surround the field.
“Those boards don’t give that much,” he said. “I keep a picture in my office of a linebacker hitting me at the waist and a DB hitting me high and I’m kind of twisted in an L-shape and way into the boards.”
Alexander gave up football when he was cut by the St. Louis Rams in 2003. He played with Tennessee in 2001 and Jacksonville in 2002.
“Getting moved around, the politics, asking my wife to move, all added up to quitting,” he said.
It was time to start working for a living. Alexander jumped into the real estate business in Nashville, Tenn. Business was slow at the beginning.
A friend, Pat Sperduto, head coach of the Kats and a scout for the Titans, said Alexander should give the AFL a try.
The big back from Wentzville, Mo., fell in love with football again.
Until a rules change this year, everybody played both ways. Alexander was a solid back and a decent linebacker. “I hit a lot of quarterbacks but I never got that quarterback sack,” he said. “I’d play defense if they wanted me to.”
Alexander’s life started to fall into place, too. He and his wife, Amy, are expecting their first child May 31. He posted his first $1 million real estate listing last year.
He’s also learning more about housework, because Amy is supposed to ease up on her job as a social worker.
There is still time for Alexander to work with the communities in Franklin, Tenn., where he lives, and Nashville. He is a board member of Safe Haven Community Center, a member of Youth Encouragement Services, helped his wife and others start The Refuge Center for family counseling and domestic violence. He was named one of the 25 Most Beautiful People in Nashville by Nashville Lifestyles.
“Nebraska and Tom Osborne kicked that all off for me,” he said. “Giving back was the way of life when I was at Nebraska. It’s the way I choose to live.”