HuskerfaninOkieland
Heisman Trophy Winner
I was wondering who was carrying the flag. Great article!!
Huskers.com
For Oldest Walk-On in Nebraska History, Fahie Knows Why ‘It’s Not About Me’
Randy York's N-Sider
There truly is no place like Nebraska.
How else do you explain the decision to have the oldest walk-on in Husker history lead the football team out of its famous Tunnel Walk on the ninth anniversary of 9/11?
Meet Tyrone Fahie, a 6-3, 255-pound senior defensive end from Virginia Beach, Va. The son of Floyd and Dafney Fahie (pronounced Foy) was born in the nation's capital and will be 28 years old three days after Nebraska completes its non-conference schedule.
Hardly a household name, perhaps because he's only played in one game in four years, Fahey was nevertheless the team's choice to lead the 6th and 7th-ranked Huskers into battle against Idaho Saturday.
When Memorial Stadium's hallowed gates swung open, shortly after two WWII fighter planes flew over, there was Fahie, flanked by two police officers and two firefighters, all five carrying American flags. What a sight it was to see a Nebraska football uniform in the midst of this nation's real heroes in uniform (military, police officers and firefighters).
It was an appropriate sight because no one is prouder to wear a Big Red uniform than Fahie, who spent six years in the U.S. Navy and was deployed twice to the battlefields of Iraq.
One experience heavily influenced the other. Going from a battlefield that means life or death to another that means winning or losing makes Fahie one of the unique walk-on stories in Nebraska history.
Know up front that he enlisted in the Navy at age 17 after getting his high school diploma, and understand that he didn't play a down of football during his last three years of high school.
Fahie Went Nine Years Without Football
Consider, if you will, the odds of making the Nebraska team after nine full years without a ball in your hand or a tackle in your mind.
Fortunately, he had a dream in his heart and that gives him the insight and the wisdom to understand the secret to one of Bo Pelini's all-time favorite expressions - "It's Not About Me."
You've heard it. We've all heard it -- Pelini preaching to his players and his coaches almost every day that "It's not about me."
If it's not about me, I asked Fahie, who is it about?
"Everyone else," he replied. "You learn that on the battlefield. You learn to care about everyone but yourself and when you do, everyone comes together, and everything gets easier ... and better."
It gets easier and better for the team, right?
"Right," Fahie said. "Everything you do should be for the benefit of the team, not yourself. I'm in graduate school, and I'm still on the Scout Team. But I'm doing my part every day to help this team win."
He is working hard - on the field and in the classroom where he will complete his master's degree next spring in business administration to keep up with his mom, who is finishing her doctorate degree at the University of Central Florida at the same time.
Once You're Part of a Team, You Quit Worrying
Fahie is sacrificing, encouraging and doing everything he can to help his band of brothers on the football field.
He admits he was apprehensive about his first tour of duty in Iraq and confesses a certain fear factor in hearing bombs and rockets going off all around him. Then, one of his combat leaders gave him some friendly advice.
"Once you're part of a team, you quit worrying about yourself," his leader told him. "It's not about you. It's about everyone else. You practice and you prepare to go to battle together. You realize that the worst thing you can do is get someone killed if you don't concentrate on what we're asking you to do."
Sacrifice is the key word here. When you focus on what benefits everyone else, you quit worrying about what might go wrong for you.
"On the battlefield, there is a certain mantra," Fahie said. "If you see it explode, and you hear it explode, it didn't kill you, so you're fine. You can't worry about all the other stuff because when you do, you can't do your job."
When Pelini plasters signs in the football offices, the hallways, the meeting rooms and the locker room - signs that say "Focus on the process. Compete and get better every day" - Fahie says a battle-tested mindset is implied.
"You're not focusing on yourself," he said. "You're focusing on the team, doing everything you can to make everyone around you - and next to you - better."
Nebraska's Offense a Testament to Focus
Somehow, in the process, you get better yourself. Look at Nebraska's top three quarterbacks. They're all better than they were last year because they've pushed each other selflessly and relentlessly. The same is true of the running backs, the wide receivers and the offensive line. Even the nation's best defense against scoring in 2009 is using that mantra to improve in 2010.
Perfection is never achieved, and success is a never-ending journey.
Fahie, who became a Navy Petty Officer, 2nd Class, setting up and monitoring communications between military units and SEAL Team One, will never forget meeting Casey Sok, a St. Paul, Neb., native in boot camp.
The two became quick friends, and the conversations often revolved around Nebraska football. In 2005, before leaving for a six-month tour in Falluja, one of Iraq's most dangerous cities, Fahie made his first pilgrammage to Memorial Stadium.
He fell in love with the sights and the sounds and after hearing about Nebraska's walk-on tradition, he made a vow to return someday and see if he could write his own chapter in a book that knows no boundaries.
Fahie was one of two players who survived an 85-player walk-on tryout in 2007, and he's still living his dream to be Rudy whenever the coaches call his name.
Fiance's Father is a Retired Firefighter in Omaha
There are no promises about entering a game, but when Fahie heard what his role was Saturday, he was so locked in to the job that he decided it should be a surprise to everyone, including his fiance, Kristen Kennelly, the daughter of a retired Omaha area firefighter.
He has a close friend from high school, Rashan Stroman, who enlisted at the same time he did and is now on duty in Japan. Stroman told Fahie earlier in the week that he planned to watch Nebraska play Idaho on the Armed Forces Network.
"Maybe you'll get in the game," Stoman told his buddy.
"Maybe I will," said Fahie, saying nothing about the honor of leading every one of his teammates onto the field.
"I love being a part of this team," Fahie said, "and I can't believe it's been nine years since 9/11."
On that day, Fahie and Sok were in training camp in San Diego.
"I was asleep, and Casey came in to wake me up, telling me I had to see something on TV," Fahie recalled. "I walked in still sleepy and watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center. For me, it was like an out-of-body experience. I didn't know what was going on, and it felt like time had stopped."
It stopped for a few seconds again Saturday when Fahie stood with the police officers and firefighters and made one of Memorial Stadium's grandest entrances.
The good thing about this out-of-body experience was it being triumphant, not tragic.
Memorial Stadium All About Sacrifice, Freedom
"Every time we step inside Memorial Stadium, it reminds us of the freedoms we enjoy and the sacrifices others have made," Fahie said, adding that "We should never take for granted what police officers and firefighters do. They put their lives on the line every day, too. just like the military."
In other words, they all know why "It's not about me."
Now, hopefully, you know that, too.
Huskers.com
For Oldest Walk-On in Nebraska History, Fahie Knows Why ‘It’s Not About Me’
Randy York's N-Sider
There truly is no place like Nebraska.
How else do you explain the decision to have the oldest walk-on in Husker history lead the football team out of its famous Tunnel Walk on the ninth anniversary of 9/11?
Meet Tyrone Fahie, a 6-3, 255-pound senior defensive end from Virginia Beach, Va. The son of Floyd and Dafney Fahie (pronounced Foy) was born in the nation's capital and will be 28 years old three days after Nebraska completes its non-conference schedule.
Hardly a household name, perhaps because he's only played in one game in four years, Fahey was nevertheless the team's choice to lead the 6th and 7th-ranked Huskers into battle against Idaho Saturday.
When Memorial Stadium's hallowed gates swung open, shortly after two WWII fighter planes flew over, there was Fahie, flanked by two police officers and two firefighters, all five carrying American flags. What a sight it was to see a Nebraska football uniform in the midst of this nation's real heroes in uniform (military, police officers and firefighters).
It was an appropriate sight because no one is prouder to wear a Big Red uniform than Fahie, who spent six years in the U.S. Navy and was deployed twice to the battlefields of Iraq.
One experience heavily influenced the other. Going from a battlefield that means life or death to another that means winning or losing makes Fahie one of the unique walk-on stories in Nebraska history.
Know up front that he enlisted in the Navy at age 17 after getting his high school diploma, and understand that he didn't play a down of football during his last three years of high school.
Fahie Went Nine Years Without Football
Consider, if you will, the odds of making the Nebraska team after nine full years without a ball in your hand or a tackle in your mind.
Fortunately, he had a dream in his heart and that gives him the insight and the wisdom to understand the secret to one of Bo Pelini's all-time favorite expressions - "It's Not About Me."
You've heard it. We've all heard it -- Pelini preaching to his players and his coaches almost every day that "It's not about me."
If it's not about me, I asked Fahie, who is it about?
"Everyone else," he replied. "You learn that on the battlefield. You learn to care about everyone but yourself and when you do, everyone comes together, and everything gets easier ... and better."
It gets easier and better for the team, right?
"Right," Fahie said. "Everything you do should be for the benefit of the team, not yourself. I'm in graduate school, and I'm still on the Scout Team. But I'm doing my part every day to help this team win."
He is working hard - on the field and in the classroom where he will complete his master's degree next spring in business administration to keep up with his mom, who is finishing her doctorate degree at the University of Central Florida at the same time.
Once You're Part of a Team, You Quit Worrying
Fahie is sacrificing, encouraging and doing everything he can to help his band of brothers on the football field.
He admits he was apprehensive about his first tour of duty in Iraq and confesses a certain fear factor in hearing bombs and rockets going off all around him. Then, one of his combat leaders gave him some friendly advice.
"Once you're part of a team, you quit worrying about yourself," his leader told him. "It's not about you. It's about everyone else. You practice and you prepare to go to battle together. You realize that the worst thing you can do is get someone killed if you don't concentrate on what we're asking you to do."
Sacrifice is the key word here. When you focus on what benefits everyone else, you quit worrying about what might go wrong for you.
"On the battlefield, there is a certain mantra," Fahie said. "If you see it explode, and you hear it explode, it didn't kill you, so you're fine. You can't worry about all the other stuff because when you do, you can't do your job."
When Pelini plasters signs in the football offices, the hallways, the meeting rooms and the locker room - signs that say "Focus on the process. Compete and get better every day" - Fahie says a battle-tested mindset is implied.
"You're not focusing on yourself," he said. "You're focusing on the team, doing everything you can to make everyone around you - and next to you - better."
Nebraska's Offense a Testament to Focus
Somehow, in the process, you get better yourself. Look at Nebraska's top three quarterbacks. They're all better than they were last year because they've pushed each other selflessly and relentlessly. The same is true of the running backs, the wide receivers and the offensive line. Even the nation's best defense against scoring in 2009 is using that mantra to improve in 2010.
Perfection is never achieved, and success is a never-ending journey.
Fahie, who became a Navy Petty Officer, 2nd Class, setting up and monitoring communications between military units and SEAL Team One, will never forget meeting Casey Sok, a St. Paul, Neb., native in boot camp.
The two became quick friends, and the conversations often revolved around Nebraska football. In 2005, before leaving for a six-month tour in Falluja, one of Iraq's most dangerous cities, Fahie made his first pilgrammage to Memorial Stadium.
He fell in love with the sights and the sounds and after hearing about Nebraska's walk-on tradition, he made a vow to return someday and see if he could write his own chapter in a book that knows no boundaries.
Fahie was one of two players who survived an 85-player walk-on tryout in 2007, and he's still living his dream to be Rudy whenever the coaches call his name.
Fiance's Father is a Retired Firefighter in Omaha
There are no promises about entering a game, but when Fahie heard what his role was Saturday, he was so locked in to the job that he decided it should be a surprise to everyone, including his fiance, Kristen Kennelly, the daughter of a retired Omaha area firefighter.
He has a close friend from high school, Rashan Stroman, who enlisted at the same time he did and is now on duty in Japan. Stroman told Fahie earlier in the week that he planned to watch Nebraska play Idaho on the Armed Forces Network.
"Maybe you'll get in the game," Stoman told his buddy.
"Maybe I will," said Fahie, saying nothing about the honor of leading every one of his teammates onto the field.
"I love being a part of this team," Fahie said, "and I can't believe it's been nine years since 9/11."
On that day, Fahie and Sok were in training camp in San Diego.
"I was asleep, and Casey came in to wake me up, telling me I had to see something on TV," Fahie recalled. "I walked in still sleepy and watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center. For me, it was like an out-of-body experience. I didn't know what was going on, and it felt like time had stopped."
It stopped for a few seconds again Saturday when Fahie stood with the police officers and firefighters and made one of Memorial Stadium's grandest entrances.
The good thing about this out-of-body experience was it being triumphant, not tragic.
Memorial Stadium All About Sacrifice, Freedom
"Every time we step inside Memorial Stadium, it reminds us of the freedoms we enjoy and the sacrifices others have made," Fahie said, adding that "We should never take for granted what police officers and firefighters do. They put their lives on the line every day, too. just like the military."
In other words, they all know why "It's not about me."
Now, hopefully, you know that, too.