Husker_Power
Starter
BY CHRISTOPHER BURBACH AND JOSEFINA LOZA
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
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A superstar from the glory days of Nebraska football, Johnny Rodgers, plans to seek a pardon for holding up a Lincoln gas station in 1970.
Rodgers was a 19-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln freshman when he and two other men robbed a gas station attendant of $91.
The Husker wingback from Omaha pleaded guilty in 1971 to felony larceny. He was sentenced to two years' probation.
The conviction didn't affect Rodgers' college football career — he stayed on the team, helped Nebraska capture two national championships and won the Heisman Trophy. His speed earned him the nickname "Johnny the Jet."
But now the conviction is holding Rodgers back. Rodgers and two other partners in a corporation called Jets Inc. are opening Jets All Sports Bar and Grill at 3231 Harney St.
Rodgers will own just 24 percent of the corporation, because Nebraska law prohibits a corporation from obtaining a Nebraska liquor license if a convicted felon owns 25 percent of it or more, said Mike Kelley, an attorney for the corporation.
Rodgers, now 56, and his partners would like him to own more of the establishment, Kelley said. Also, although Rodgers may be a host and work the tables as a sports celebrity, his role in running the business is constrained by the conviction.
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant, set to open next week, will offer burgers, fries, chicken wings, steak, fish, wine and beer. It will feature 18 flat-screen TVs and a 120-inch projector screen.
Décor, menu items and TV programming will highlight NU memorabilia and photos of famous Nebraska entertainers, such as Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando and Nick Nolte.
Rodgers said the restaurant-bar, which he hopes will capitalize on condominiums and other development in midtown, will host karaoke contests, bands, tailgate parties, autograph sessions and a bus that Husker fans can take back and forth to the games.
"It's a family-friendly neighborhood restaurant," Rodgers said. "It'll be the Husker-Heisman headquarters. I do so much charity work; it'll be nice to have just one place where people can find me."
Removing the constraints on Rodgers' involvement in the restaurant is one reason for seeking the pardon. Also, Kelley said, "John would like to be formally forgiven by society."
Rodgers must make a formal application to the Nebraska Board of Pardons, whose members are the governor, attorney general and secretary of state.
Kelley said it's an involved process that requires a lot of documentation and eventually a public hearing. The pardon request has not yet been filed. It may take six months before a hearing. And the board might then turn the request down, Kelley said.
But he said he's confident that Rodgers can show that he has been rehabilitated and has become an asset to the community.
"This is why a pardon exists," Kelley said. "John has clearly established that (the robbery) was something that was in his very younger days. It was a complete anomaly to his personality. He would like to put it behind him."
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITERS
LINK
A superstar from the glory days of Nebraska football, Johnny Rodgers, plans to seek a pardon for holding up a Lincoln gas station in 1970.
Rodgers was a 19-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln freshman when he and two other men robbed a gas station attendant of $91.
The Husker wingback from Omaha pleaded guilty in 1971 to felony larceny. He was sentenced to two years' probation.
The conviction didn't affect Rodgers' college football career — he stayed on the team, helped Nebraska capture two national championships and won the Heisman Trophy. His speed earned him the nickname "Johnny the Jet."
But now the conviction is holding Rodgers back. Rodgers and two other partners in a corporation called Jets Inc. are opening Jets All Sports Bar and Grill at 3231 Harney St.
Rodgers will own just 24 percent of the corporation, because Nebraska law prohibits a corporation from obtaining a Nebraska liquor license if a convicted felon owns 25 percent of it or more, said Mike Kelley, an attorney for the corporation.
Rodgers, now 56, and his partners would like him to own more of the establishment, Kelley said. Also, although Rodgers may be a host and work the tables as a sports celebrity, his role in running the business is constrained by the conviction.
The 2,500-square-foot restaurant, set to open next week, will offer burgers, fries, chicken wings, steak, fish, wine and beer. It will feature 18 flat-screen TVs and a 120-inch projector screen.
Décor, menu items and TV programming will highlight NU memorabilia and photos of famous Nebraska entertainers, such as Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando and Nick Nolte.
Rodgers said the restaurant-bar, which he hopes will capitalize on condominiums and other development in midtown, will host karaoke contests, bands, tailgate parties, autograph sessions and a bus that Husker fans can take back and forth to the games.
"It's a family-friendly neighborhood restaurant," Rodgers said. "It'll be the Husker-Heisman headquarters. I do so much charity work; it'll be nice to have just one place where people can find me."
Removing the constraints on Rodgers' involvement in the restaurant is one reason for seeking the pardon. Also, Kelley said, "John would like to be formally forgiven by society."
Rodgers must make a formal application to the Nebraska Board of Pardons, whose members are the governor, attorney general and secretary of state.
Kelley said it's an involved process that requires a lot of documentation and eventually a public hearing. The pardon request has not yet been filed. It may take six months before a hearing. And the board might then turn the request down, Kelley said.
But he said he's confident that Rodgers can show that he has been rehabilitated and has become an asset to the community.
"This is why a pardon exists," Kelley said. "John has clearly established that (the robbery) was something that was in his very younger days. It was a complete anomaly to his personality. He would like to put it behind him."