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That list is missing a lot of players great players which is the amazing part.
Husker football or the true heart of the program wasn't even about the Tommie Frazier's or Mike Rozier's who played for us. The walk on program to me is what embodied the entire program. It was also an indicator to me anyway that Nebraska kids could and can flat out play football. The kids in Nebraska grew up idolizing the program. It meant something to them. Nebraska is a unique program in that it's walk on program to me anyway truly was an integral part of what made the program so successful to begin with. Saying that it is over blown is mind boggling.
The reason I say it's overblown is because it's really all that people are hanging onto now. For numerous reasons, it's been over 15 years since NU has last won a conference championship. The "Winning Tradition" that everyone loved in the Devaney/Osborne eras hasn't been there in recent history. So some fans who can't talk about NU winning championships have replaced that by hyping up a mythical walk-on program.
I don't think it's
all that people are hanging onto, but it's something. Just look at that list. It's not just in-state players, but guys like IM Hipp, Jarvis Redwine, Jimmy WIlliams, Jared Tomich. And it doesn't include a lot of other starters and 2nd stringers. It gave us enormous depth, so that injuries and scholarship players that didn't pan out didn't leave us with gaping holes. It added to the competition at nearly every position that pushed everyone. Then there are the intangibles, like statewide pride.
It's been over 15 years since a conf championship. And how long has the walk-on program been diminished? Random coincidence, or ...?
You mention Hipp, Redwine, Williams (I don't include
Tomich because he wasn't a true walk on, he was a Prop 48 guy who just paid his own way for year 1) and those guys were from the late 70s and early 80s. Other than a punter/kicker or fullback, NU hasn't had many walk-on guys who were stars at impact positions in the past 15 years.
The "diamonds in the rough" and late-bloomers are less frequent now-a-days because of better training and instruction of these kids at younger ages. Guys arrive at college in great athletic shape with strong technique so it's nearly impossible for a walk-on to develop to be better than a stud recruit. Also, the cost of college attendance has risen so significantly that in-state kids can't really afford to walk-on at NU to give it a shot. Instead, they are going to mid-majors or FCS teams.
There are numerous factors in why the walk-on program has "diminished" in the past 15 years. It's just that in my opinion, it's gets a little old when people bring up the walk-on program as a reason why NU hasn't been as successful in recent years.