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Word on the street: Herian ready to come back for Huskers
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
RELATED STORIES
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2007 NU football commitments
PIERCE, Neb. - If Main Street is the place to be seen in this small northeast Nebraska town, where cars brake to let pedestrians cross and waves come from nearly every passer-by, then it's no surprise that Matt Herian was last spotted a half-block or so away.
Matt Herian's health has been somewhat of a mystery to Nebraska fans since the tight end fractured his left leg in an October 2004 game. The senior has remained quiet throughout his period of rehabilitation.
Around the corner and just a little out of sight is The Car Shop, an unassuming place where locals gather even if there isn't something wrong with their cars' transmissions.
It's perfect for Herian, the Nebraska senior tight end, allowing him to enjoy a soft drink and conversation without the usual questions about his health and his playing status for the coming football season.
"This is just a place he can come and not be asked how hes doing," said Carl Martinson, the garage owner whose son Chris is one of Herian's best friends.
Quotable
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• "This is going to be his shot. It's going to make or break him for getting into the pros. I just talked to him on the Fourth of July when his parents and he were having dinner down in Hadar. He's ready."
• Rick Sirek, Nebraska fan and resident of Pierce, Matt Herian's hometown on Herian's ability to return from a 2004 leg injury for the Cornhuskers.
"Thats why I think he likes coming here and just talking with the guys, about beans and corn or 'coon hunting and fishing.
Folks in Pierce generally don't badger Herian about the broken left leg that has sidelined him for 20 months. Most realize he's already gotten his share of questions from Husker fans and the news media.
There's a hopeful sympathy, more than anything, for the situation that took him from NFL prospect to question mark.
"I think everybody's just hopeful that he can come back and play like he was able to play before," said Greg Warneke, co-head coach at Pierce High last season. "We know he's worked pretty hard to get back to where he was. And from what he tells us, he's back to where he needsto be."
And that's good enough for people around town, whether they hear it first-hand or through the grapevine.
Pierce (pop. 1,774) is like most Nebraska towns in that it comes to a halt on fall Saturdays once the Huskers kick off. And as in other towns, there was always something different about it when one of their own played.
More of an anticipation, more of a connection, more of a sense of pride when the former Pierce Bluejay did something to help the cause.
The American Legion post - on Main Street, of course - would fill hours before games. The patrons would roar when Herian caught a pass. Explode if it went for a touchdown.
"It's nice to have a hometown boy in there to watch, that feeling that you know somebody," said Cindy Riggert, the Legion post proprietor. "There's a guy who says that when he does something good you can hear us two blocks away. We support him pretty good."
So Riggert well recalls the Oct. 30 game in 2004 when an NU teammate and a Missouri linebacker crashed into Herian from behind. The longer Herian was down along the Husker sideline, the clearer it became that it wasn't going to be good news.
"It was just dead quiet," Riggert said.
It has somewhat remained that way around Pierce, a farming community 15 miles northwest of Norfolk that never before shipped a player of Herian's caliber to NU.
In addition to missing the final three games of 2004, Herian didn't play in 2005 after the leg failed to heal properly and required a second surgical procedure. Until he took part in the last few days of spring practice and the spring game in April, there remained serious concerns about what he might be able to do in 2006.
"It's a lot more fun when he's in there," said Rick Sirek, a Pierce insurance agent and 30-year Husker season ticket-holder. "He's got such a great drawing from here. Whenever I was not going to go to a game, I'd have people coming out of the woods wanting my tickets. It wasn't quite the same last year."
Herian himself has never quite understood the fuss. He's humble and reserved. His father Jim farms and works at the Goodyear plant in Norfolk, while his mother Diane works for an implement dealer.
If Herian was back over the winter and made a Pierce girls basketball game to watch his sister, Kylie, he might try to sneak out before the final buzzer. When he was around this summer, he might have been seen out on the nine-hole golf course or at The Car Shop, just a little out of view.
Those who have visited with Herian talk about how big he looks or the monster drive he hit the other day. His wedding next Saturday to Lindsay Collison of Pierce will be quite the deal.
Then the anticipation and buzz surrounding football surely will pick up. When Husker practice starts Aug. 3, the locals will hope the reports are that Herian has returned to his All-Big 12 form. That he'll be a weapon at tight end, something their Huskers have lacked since he went down.
"This is going to be his shot," Sirek said. "It's going to make or break him for getting into the pros. I just talked to him on the Fourth of July when his parents and he were having dinner down in Hadar. He's ready."
You wouldnt know for sure over at The Car Shop. They don't ask. And nobody's telling him that he's carrying the town's football hopes on his back.
"I think everybody just really, really wants to see him do well this season," Martinson said. "I think if theres one person who deserves great things, its him. But whether that happens or not, hes still Matt."
Word on the street: Herian ready to come back for Huskers
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
RELATED STORIES
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
»
NU football schedule
»
2007 NU football commitments
PIERCE, Neb. - If Main Street is the place to be seen in this small northeast Nebraska town, where cars brake to let pedestrians cross and waves come from nearly every passer-by, then it's no surprise that Matt Herian was last spotted a half-block or so away.
Matt Herian's health has been somewhat of a mystery to Nebraska fans since the tight end fractured his left leg in an October 2004 game. The senior has remained quiet throughout his period of rehabilitation.
Around the corner and just a little out of sight is The Car Shop, an unassuming place where locals gather even if there isn't something wrong with their cars' transmissions.
It's perfect for Herian, the Nebraska senior tight end, allowing him to enjoy a soft drink and conversation without the usual questions about his health and his playing status for the coming football season.
"This is just a place he can come and not be asked how hes doing," said Carl Martinson, the garage owner whose son Chris is one of Herian's best friends.
Quotable
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• "This is going to be his shot. It's going to make or break him for getting into the pros. I just talked to him on the Fourth of July when his parents and he were having dinner down in Hadar. He's ready."
• Rick Sirek, Nebraska fan and resident of Pierce, Matt Herian's hometown on Herian's ability to return from a 2004 leg injury for the Cornhuskers.
"Thats why I think he likes coming here and just talking with the guys, about beans and corn or 'coon hunting and fishing.
Folks in Pierce generally don't badger Herian about the broken left leg that has sidelined him for 20 months. Most realize he's already gotten his share of questions from Husker fans and the news media.
There's a hopeful sympathy, more than anything, for the situation that took him from NFL prospect to question mark.
"I think everybody's just hopeful that he can come back and play like he was able to play before," said Greg Warneke, co-head coach at Pierce High last season. "We know he's worked pretty hard to get back to where he was. And from what he tells us, he's back to where he needsto be."
And that's good enough for people around town, whether they hear it first-hand or through the grapevine.
Pierce (pop. 1,774) is like most Nebraska towns in that it comes to a halt on fall Saturdays once the Huskers kick off. And as in other towns, there was always something different about it when one of their own played.
More of an anticipation, more of a connection, more of a sense of pride when the former Pierce Bluejay did something to help the cause.
The American Legion post - on Main Street, of course - would fill hours before games. The patrons would roar when Herian caught a pass. Explode if it went for a touchdown.
"It's nice to have a hometown boy in there to watch, that feeling that you know somebody," said Cindy Riggert, the Legion post proprietor. "There's a guy who says that when he does something good you can hear us two blocks away. We support him pretty good."
So Riggert well recalls the Oct. 30 game in 2004 when an NU teammate and a Missouri linebacker crashed into Herian from behind. The longer Herian was down along the Husker sideline, the clearer it became that it wasn't going to be good news.
"It was just dead quiet," Riggert said.
It has somewhat remained that way around Pierce, a farming community 15 miles northwest of Norfolk that never before shipped a player of Herian's caliber to NU.
In addition to missing the final three games of 2004, Herian didn't play in 2005 after the leg failed to heal properly and required a second surgical procedure. Until he took part in the last few days of spring practice and the spring game in April, there remained serious concerns about what he might be able to do in 2006.
"It's a lot more fun when he's in there," said Rick Sirek, a Pierce insurance agent and 30-year Husker season ticket-holder. "He's got such a great drawing from here. Whenever I was not going to go to a game, I'd have people coming out of the woods wanting my tickets. It wasn't quite the same last year."
Herian himself has never quite understood the fuss. He's humble and reserved. His father Jim farms and works at the Goodyear plant in Norfolk, while his mother Diane works for an implement dealer.
If Herian was back over the winter and made a Pierce girls basketball game to watch his sister, Kylie, he might try to sneak out before the final buzzer. When he was around this summer, he might have been seen out on the nine-hole golf course or at The Car Shop, just a little out of view.
Those who have visited with Herian talk about how big he looks or the monster drive he hit the other day. His wedding next Saturday to Lindsay Collison of Pierce will be quite the deal.
Then the anticipation and buzz surrounding football surely will pick up. When Husker practice starts Aug. 3, the locals will hope the reports are that Herian has returned to his All-Big 12 form. That he'll be a weapon at tight end, something their Huskers have lacked since he went down.
"This is going to be his shot," Sirek said. "It's going to make or break him for getting into the pros. I just talked to him on the Fourth of July when his parents and he were having dinner down in Hadar. He's ready."
You wouldnt know for sure over at The Car Shop. They don't ask. And nobody's telling him that he's carrying the town's football hopes on his back.
"I think everybody just really, really wants to see him do well this season," Martinson said. "I think if theres one person who deserves great things, its him. But whether that happens or not, hes still Matt."
