Big Red Report: Huskers committed to attend are Mike Minter and Mike Rucker
A large contingent of former Husker football players will converge on Lincoln for Spring Game Weekend on April 15-16. Among the players on hand for the Red-White Spring Game will be a group of former Nebraska players currently playing in the National Football League.
Patriots guard Hochstein looks forward to return
Former Husker Russ Hochstein, a member of the Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, said he's heard that at least 20 ex-Huskers will be on hand for the April 16 Red-White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.
Hochstein, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound guard from Hartington, will be among them.
"First of all, I enjoy coming back to Nebraska, and the Spring Game is a fun tradition," Hochstein said Saturday. "It's always good to see the former players who are coming back."
Hochstein, who spent the last three-plus seasons with the Patriots, said he hasn't heard the buzz that the team is considering former NU middle linebacker Barrett Ruud as an early round selection in the April 23-24 NFL Draft.
"The draft is such a crapshoot, you just never know," Hochstein said.
Hochstein, who lives in Plainville, Mass., was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2001 draft. He was obtained by the Patriots in October of 2002 when they signed him to the practice squad. He's made six career starts for the club while also seeing action as a fullback in goal-line situations and a tight end in three-tight end sets.
"When I first got into the league, I was just trying to stay alive and make a team," he said. "Then my goals changed, and I wanted to become a starter."