Lil Red...now you know the rest of the story

HuskerfaninOkieland

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The story behind NU's Lil' Red has now been told

By KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Oct 10, 2008 - 12:53:09 am CDT

All Nebraska fans know Herbie Husker and his 8-foot-tall sidekick Lil’ Red.

 

Herbie was born in 1974 when Lubbock, Texas, cartoonist Dirk West drew the cover for the Cotton Bowl. Nebraska assistant athletic director Don Bryant said he wanted a mascot to look like the drawing.

 

That marked the demise of Harry Husker, who supplanted Mr. Cornhead in 1964, who took over for short-lived Huskie Husker, who supplanted Corn Cob Man Head, who first appeared in 1942.

 

Paul Rea was vexed that not much was known about Lil’ Red.

 

About all we knew was that Lil’ Red, a brainstorm of former NU assistant athletic director Barb Hibner, was inspired by the Omaha Lancer.

 

The Husker bubble boy, powered by a student and a small blower, proved to be a favorite of kids and adult fans everywhere.

 

“I wanted to tell why a 4-year-old boy, with his ‘N’ hat on sideways, wearing coveralls, was the mascot for Nebraska,” said Rea, author of the book “Legend of Lil’ Red.”

 

Before Rea’s creation, not much was known about Lil’ Red. We knew Lil’ Red could make his head disappear into his body and that he could bounce on his head, deflate and inflate on a whim.

 

Former Nebraska athletic director Bill Byrne was so taken with Lil’ Red, he conspired to hide the body of Herbie Husker in 1994. Husker Nation was in an uproar at the perceived injustice. Herbie survived and now plays second fiddle to Lil’ Red.

 

But Rea, a local bankruptcy attorney, figured the biggest little Husker needed some deep background.

 

Thus “Legend of Lil’ Red,” conceived, written and produced by Rea, and illustrated by Nathan Voss, was born.

 

“I wanted something fun, interesting and something that tells a story,” said Rea, who has put his own money into publishing a book that will probably fill more than a few Christmas stockings this year.

 

Rea was coaxed into doing the book by friends, relatives and a burning desire to tell a story of a little farm boy who finally gets to a Nebraska game and learns about “Not the victory, but the game.”

 

“The hardest part, besides putting my savings on the line, was reciting the book to the university and getting the idea approved,” Rea said. “I was pretty nervous.”

 

Giving birth to the story and pursuing the year-long project, Rea focused on keeping a reverential tone for his favorite mascot of his favorite team.

 

Rea grew up in Ralston, earned a degree in photojournalism at Kansas, his J.D. at Nebraska and served in the U.S. Naval Reserve. Voss grew up in Lincoln and now lives in Omaha.

 

“This is a project of love and admiration,” Rea said. “After years of listening to Lyell Bremser on the radio, I was a sophomore when I went to my first game.

 

“The Huskers grabbed my heart. It meant so much to me and all the people around me.

 

“I wanted to give Lil’ Red some heart and meaning, too.”

 

“The Legend of Lil’ Red,” published by Mascot Publishing, has 64 pages and available at most local bookstores for $16.95.

 

Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.

 

 
Alot of people dont understand that Lil Red is for the children at a game. I got alot of grief about Lil Red here in Manhattan "you guys have a stupid inflatable corn boy runnin around" my response was "well I guess that's better than a guy with a purple mouse head running around" After they looked at Willie Wildcat more closely they turned to me and said "S@*t your right!" I think some of the stuff Lil Red does is hilarious. I dunno guess he just brings out the kid in me
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All lies and propoganda spread by some "lawyer" who went to undergrad school in KANSAS?!? We ALL know how Lil Red came about...

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And that just ain't natural!

 
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Lil' red if for the kiddies, got to have something for them to grow up with and still follow the Huskers
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Alot of people dont understand that Lil Red is for the children at a game. I got alot of grief about Lil Red here in Manhattan "you guys have a stupid inflatable corn boy runnin around" my response was "well I guess that's better than a guy with a purple mouse head running around" After they looked at Willie Wildcat more closely they turned to me and said "S@*t your right!" I think some of the stuff Lil Red does is hilarious. I dunno guess he just brings out the kid in me
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All i know is that i cant concentrate on husker nation, football or anything if you keep puttin those dam seductive pictures of your wife on the computer. You freeky freak you probally had fun after that photo shoot.

 
'l'il Red is 4 swingers'--like 'hskrprid' and his wife, who's pics look

like something on 'AdultFriendfinder'! JUUST kidding...

(P.s., nice trailer dude!)

 
Lil red and his bouncing silliness rules. I love that mascot, he is really fun. If you think a scary mascot helps win games, well, that is delusional.

 
Lil red and his bouncing silliness rules. I love that mascot, he is really fun. If you think a scary mascot helps win games, well, that is delusional.
True.

Ever played with the mascots on the NCAA Football games on playstation or xbox?

The Syracuse Orange Dudes are impossible to tackle! IMPOSSIBLE!

 
jayhawk said:
Lil red and his bouncing silliness rules. I love that mascot, he is really fun. If you think a scary mascot helps win games, well, that is delusional.
The inflatable punching bag scares me a little.

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I envision Lil' Red as Big Boy's jealous, bitter illegitimate spawn, who tried to open his own chain of restaurants but failed, and is now reduced to shooting Runzas and children's coloring menus out of a t-shirt cannon to fans during Nebraska games.

A History of Nebraska Mascots (Photos)

 
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Huskerballz said:
I don't care how touching his history is. He still sucks.
Lil red is about as ugly as the clod head that was the mascot in the late 60's-early 70's. I'm with Cy...Lil Red is the real reason that Nebraska football has fallen on hard times!!

 
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Now if I could only get this made up in time for Halloween...I'd get LOTS of Candy (Thrown at me as they all run away in fear).

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