Andrew might know.
Why a kid who didn't crack the all-district football team as a high school senior drops his Division II scholarship to carry Mace and handcuffs around a Target parking lot.
What prompts that 19-year-old living with Mom and Dad to rise before dawn and punish his muscles and joints because, six months later, there's a 2 percent chance he'll win a walk-on spot at Nebraska.
How this man, a husband with bad knees and tuition bills, returns to the practice field every day to watch hot-shot recruits steal his chance again and again.
When precisely a Husker career destined to end quietly turned a corner.
Where to start in telling Matt O'Hanlon's story.
Yes, Andrew would know. Best friends are good at knowing that kind of thing.
Tryout
Maybe start here, in a northeast Ohio steel mill, where Matt O'Hanlon's father burned scrap metal. At 26, he decided he didn't want to grow old with a torch in his hand.
So he joined the Air Force and became an intelligence officer. Moved the family to Denver, where Matt was born, then Germany, then Bellevue.
He taught his son to chase what he wanted. Don't settle.
Competitive drive? Matt had it from the day he put on a uniform.
On the soccer field, he had a propensity to draw an official's red card. On the T-ball diamond, he once fielded a ball in the outfield and sprinted to home plate to tag out a runner.
As a sophomore at Bellevue East, O'Hanlon started at quarterback against eventual state champ Millard West. On a third down, he kept the ball on a play called “6G Keep.”
West's all-state lineman, Nick Leaders, flattened O'Hanlon before he could reach the marker.
O'Hanlon staggered to the sideline and East coach Jerry Lovell checked on his quarterback. “He had snot bubbles running out his nose,” Lovell said.
You OK?
Uh-huh, O'Hanlon said.
Well, what play do you want to run to start the next series?
“6G Keep,” O'Hanlon said. He wanted another shot at Leaders.
No, no, Lovell said, that's probably not a good idea.
O'Hanlon planned to walk on at Nebraska, but Steve Pederson hired Bill Callahan midway through his senior year, and O'Hanlon didn't receive any attention from the new coaching staff.
He reluctantly accepted a scholarship to South Dakota. A few weeks of fall camp crystallized what was in his gut: He was going to be a Husker whether they wanted him or not. So he packed his green Escort and headed home.
“I just didn't want to go through my whole life with what-ifs.”
That fall, as his friends started college, O'Hanlon was working 30 hours a week as a Target security guard.
“I got to wear the whole outfit. I had my Mace, my handcuffs. Never got to use them, unfortunately.”
At 5 a.m., he awoke daily to train. He polished his 40-yard dash and vertical jump. He waited.
In January 2005, he enrolled at NU and inquired again about walking on. Assistant Scott Downing directed him to a tryout. O'Hanlon called every few days to double-check time and place.
On a February night at Cook Pavilion, O'Hanlon got in line with 50 or 60 other wannabe Huskers. They were competing for one roster spot.
He ran the 40-yard dash in 4.61 seconds. He finished a pro-agility drill in 3.91 seconds. He jumped vertically 38 inches. He walked away satisfied, but unsure.
“I had put about six months of my life into a 20-minute tryout.”
A week later, he was driving home from church when the call came. He walked in the house, concealed a grin and said to his family, “Well, I made it.”
Not exactly.
