Kevin Thomsen

knapplc

knapplc

International Man of Mystery
Amid all the justifiable hoopla over this or that star player making star plays, one of our very own, a walk-on from Elkhorn, played a major role in Nebraska's most important win of the season. Ladies and Gentlemen, Kevin Thomsen:

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Bio from Huskers.com
2010 Outlook

Junior Kevin Thomsen has made a pair of position switches during his Nebraska career, but will enter fall camp with hopes of earning playing time on the Nebraska defensive front. The 6-2, 240-pound Thomsen worked this spring at defensive end where he is among a group of players looking to join the playing rotation alongside two-year returning starter Pierre Allen.

A walk-on from Elkhorn High School, Thomsen spent the 2009 campaign as a reserve linebacker, after spending his first two years in the program at fullback.

2009 (Sophomore)

Thomsen was a reserve linebacker, but did not see game action.

2008 (Redshirt Freshman)

Thomsen was a reserve fullback, but did not see game action in 2008.

Before Nebraska (Elkhorn HS)

Thomsen was a first-team Class B all-state selection by the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star following a standout senior season for Coach Mark Wortman at Elkhorn. Thomsen helped the Antlers to a 12-1 record and Class B state runner-up finish.

Thomsen recorded 61 tackles, including a pair of sacks, and four interceptions from his defensive line position, while he also rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns. Thomsen also earned first-team All-Omaha area accolades from the World-Herald. Thomsen threw the discus and shot put for the Elkhorn track team.

Personal

Kevin is the son of John and Mary Thomsen and was born on Oct. 14, 1988. He is majoring in nutrition, exercise and health science and has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll four times. He has volunteered his time at Skyline Elementary and the Omaha Heart Walk, as well as team hospital visits.
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Some snippets from articles around the land:

From the Old Weird Harold
Junior Kevin Thomsen, an unused defensive end from Elkhorn, was Meredith's backup.

And Thomsen, in the first game action of his career, executed his assignment flawlessly in relief of Meredith, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said.

“He did it perfectly,” Pelini said. “Never had any busts.”
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From the JournalStar
With the help of some blanket secondary coverage, the Huskers sacked Gabbert six times, including one sack by junior defensive end Kevin Thomsen, who coaches also used as a stand-up defensive end, in his first action as a Husker.

Thomsen's name is not recognizable to most Husker fans, but coaches thought the 6-2, 240-pound Elkhorn native had the right ingredients to be a pest against Missouri.

"He was perfect for the role in which we needed him," Papuchis said. "He is, by nature, kind of a hybrid defensive end/linebacker. And when we made the decision to have a stand-up defensive lineman, he fit that role really well. He's a guy that could go in there and have enough punch and thump to play like a linebacker, but ran well enough to do the things we needed to do."

Husker coaches definitely showed one thing for sure Saturday: They aren't afraid to roll the dice.

Just consider Meredith's role, the snaps given to Thomsen, and the decision to start Courtney Osborne and Austin Cassidy at safety for the first time all year in the biggest game of the season.

"I think the changes that were made this week were probably more obvious to the naked eye," Papuchis said. "But Bo and Carl have never been afraid to make changes if they think it's to the betterment of the team."
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From The Independent
And when Meredith was out of the game, Pelini said Nebraska relied on little-known Kevin Thomsen. The junior defensive end from Elkhorn wasn’t even listed on the Huskers’ game roster for the Missouri contest, but recorded a sack and handled his assignments almost flawlessly, Pelini said.

“Never played before (but) he’s a good athlete,” Pelini said of Thomsen. “We put him in that role, backing up Cameron and he went in there and did it perfectly. He didn’t make any busts.

“There was a lot on his shoulders for a guy who hadn’t played before.”
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Hooray Walk-Ons!!

 
This is a great story that I keep hoping the media will pick up on before it's lost in the fog of the remaining games.

 
because the sad truth is, something like this that is what nebraska is all about, very likely wouldnt have occurred 5 years ago. Or a guy like Fahie. Basically i was using shorthand to explain my complete joy at this young mans hard work and contribution-and towards Bo's obvious ability to actually coach someone.

 
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mmmtodd said:
because the sad truth is, something like this that is what nebraska is all about, very likely wouldnt have occurred 5 years ago. Or a guy like Fahie. Basically i was using shorthand to explain my complete joy at this young mans hard work and contribution-and towards Bo's obvious ability to actually coach someone.
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I think that's unnecessary vilification...

Fahie was given the chance to join this program by Bill Callahan, as he joined after tryouts in the spring prior to the '07 season.

It's not as if the walk-on program was dead in his day, or as if the program has been brought back to Osborne levels in Bo's. Guys that earned their way onto the roster through tryouts were guys like Matt O'Hanlon, or Mike Caputo, living the walk-on dream, courtesy of the previous staff. Or heck, a guy like fullback Thomas Lawson, who walked on in 2004 and lettered three times, with three touchdown receptions in 2007 as our #1 (if sparingly used) FB. Even this guy Thomsen, topic of this thread, seems to have walked on under Bill Callahan...

Things are obviously different now, but it's not as if it's night-and-day, good-and-evil, that sort of thing...

 
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mmmtodd said:
f#*k you bill callahan
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No kidding! I know what he was thinking but... what was he thinking?!

He downsized the walk-on program far more than was useful. Someone's going to have to try pretty hard to convince me Callahan actually saw how important the walk-on program was/is to Nebraska's success.

 
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Brian Christopherson wrote a nice article about Thomsen and the other backups who got PT Saturday.

LINK

He'd been in the program four years, but had never played a down, never once covered a kick on special teams.
Kevin Thomsen did not know if he'd ever play in a game for Nebraska.

He kept clocking in anyway, busting his butt to beat the odds. Call him a dreamer, but pushing ahead with full gusto is the only way he knew how to go about it.

Click link for the rest of the article
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