You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
You should upgrade or use an alternative browser.
TE/DT David Harvey
- Thread starter Eric the Red
- Start date
Eric the Red
Team HuskerBoard
Harvey article
Tight end Harvey looks to get noticed Reply
Even at home in Maryland during spring break, David Harvey was eager to return to Nebraska. He was excited about spring football, "real excited," he said after a recent practice.
"I'm having a good time. I missed playing."
The freshman tight end redshirted in the fall, spending most practices on the scout team, lining up against veterans such as Adam Carriker, Jay Moore and Stewart Bradley, while trying to learn the playbook. "When I first got here, it (playbook) had me," said Harvey.
Now, however, it's "coming along. I think I'm doing a pretty good job."
Harvey has waited a long time for this opportunity. He was among the first to commit in coach Bill Callahan's 2005 recruiting class, settling on the Cornhuskers during the summer before his senior year at McDonough High in La Plata, Md. He announced his decision in early July.
As with most freshmen, he arrived the next summer to prepare and aspired to playing without first redshirting. "Of course, everybody wants to come in and play," he said.
"But when you're not ready, I guess you know."
And he knew he wasn't ready, or at least in retrospect he did.
For one thing, his summer preparation was limited. He had undergone shoulder surgery last March and "still wasn't prepared to do much. I was just here running, doing what I could," he said.
Though the shoulder "wasn't hurting so much" by summer's end, he was held out of practice the first couple of weeks of training camp, putting him further behind the other tight ends.
Still, he wasn't certain he would redshirt. When he was able to practice, the coaches told him to try his "hardest," to be ready. But "I guess the first couple of games we were doing all right at tight end," he said. "I saw they really probably didn't need me too much, so I figured I'd redshirt."
Redshirt or not, he continued to try his hardest, which apparently paid off. "We caught glimpses of him in the Alamo Bowl practices," Callahan said during his pre-spring news conference. "We saw some flashes. We're going to get a good look at him and see what he's capable of doing."
The road from Alamo Bowl to spring practices took a detour, however. Harvey underwent surgery for a groin injury, a sports hernia, the third week in January. While his teammates were working in winter conditioning, he was rehabbing. He didn't start running until "a week or two" before break.
As a result, he did some running at home during the break to be ready.
Harvey is a young tight end, and not because he won't turn 19 until mid-May. He didn't focus on the position until his senior year in high school. The teams on which he played as a sophomore and junior in Sumter, S.C., "didn't use tight ends as much," he said. So he was a defensive end, primarily.
He excelled at both positions his senior season and drew recruiting attention for both. When he signed a letter of intent, the Nebraska's coaches "were still debating whether I was going to play offense or defense," he said. "But once I got here, it was pretty clear I was going to play tight end."
Tight end or defensive end, "it didn't matter to me," he said.
The redshirt season also was a benefit physically. He got stronger and gained weight; he's 250 now and the coaches have told him "by the time I leave, I'll be bigger."
With 10 tight ends on the spring roster, Harvey has had to make the most of every opportunity. "I think I'm learning OK, but I think I still make a lot of mental mistakes," he said.
"I guess I just have to eliminate those and I'll be all right. Physically, I'm doing OK. Mentally, that frustrates me more. But I guess it's going OK so far."
He's been waiting for this, and he tries to make the most of every practice.
No games for which to prepare? No problem. "It's fun," he said.
Tight end Harvey looks to get noticed Reply
Even at home in Maryland during spring break, David Harvey was eager to return to Nebraska. He was excited about spring football, "real excited," he said after a recent practice.
"I'm having a good time. I missed playing."
The freshman tight end redshirted in the fall, spending most practices on the scout team, lining up against veterans such as Adam Carriker, Jay Moore and Stewart Bradley, while trying to learn the playbook. "When I first got here, it (playbook) had me," said Harvey.
Now, however, it's "coming along. I think I'm doing a pretty good job."
Harvey has waited a long time for this opportunity. He was among the first to commit in coach Bill Callahan's 2005 recruiting class, settling on the Cornhuskers during the summer before his senior year at McDonough High in La Plata, Md. He announced his decision in early July.
As with most freshmen, he arrived the next summer to prepare and aspired to playing without first redshirting. "Of course, everybody wants to come in and play," he said.
"But when you're not ready, I guess you know."
And he knew he wasn't ready, or at least in retrospect he did.
For one thing, his summer preparation was limited. He had undergone shoulder surgery last March and "still wasn't prepared to do much. I was just here running, doing what I could," he said.
Though the shoulder "wasn't hurting so much" by summer's end, he was held out of practice the first couple of weeks of training camp, putting him further behind the other tight ends.
Still, he wasn't certain he would redshirt. When he was able to practice, the coaches told him to try his "hardest," to be ready. But "I guess the first couple of games we were doing all right at tight end," he said. "I saw they really probably didn't need me too much, so I figured I'd redshirt."
Redshirt or not, he continued to try his hardest, which apparently paid off. "We caught glimpses of him in the Alamo Bowl practices," Callahan said during his pre-spring news conference. "We saw some flashes. We're going to get a good look at him and see what he's capable of doing."
The road from Alamo Bowl to spring practices took a detour, however. Harvey underwent surgery for a groin injury, a sports hernia, the third week in January. While his teammates were working in winter conditioning, he was rehabbing. He didn't start running until "a week or two" before break.
As a result, he did some running at home during the break to be ready.
Harvey is a young tight end, and not because he won't turn 19 until mid-May. He didn't focus on the position until his senior year in high school. The teams on which he played as a sophomore and junior in Sumter, S.C., "didn't use tight ends as much," he said. So he was a defensive end, primarily.
He excelled at both positions his senior season and drew recruiting attention for both. When he signed a letter of intent, the Nebraska's coaches "were still debating whether I was going to play offense or defense," he said. "But once I got here, it was pretty clear I was going to play tight end."
Tight end or defensive end, "it didn't matter to me," he said.
The redshirt season also was a benefit physically. He got stronger and gained weight; he's 250 now and the coaches have told him "by the time I leave, I'll be bigger."
With 10 tight ends on the spring roster, Harvey has had to make the most of every opportunity. "I think I'm learning OK, but I think I still make a lot of mental mistakes," he said.
"I guess I just have to eliminate those and I'll be all right. Physically, I'm doing OK. Mentally, that frustrates me more. But I guess it's going OK so far."
He's been waiting for this, and he tries to make the most of every practice.
No games for which to prepare? No problem. "It's fun," he said.