No, this is not a football story today. This is a sad story.
I was in Omaha yesterday and on the way home to Lincoln, I was listening to KFAB. The 3:00pm hourly news cast came on and one of the stories leads delivered by the female reporter was..."Joba Chamberlain's mom pleads no contest to drug charge..."
Frankly, I almost drove off the road I was so mad. What does Joba have to do with the bad choices made by his mom other than some reposter relishes the idea of bringing someone nice down? Joba is nice. Joba is a great role model. Joba is a true hero because he OVERCAME his home problems and went on to become a HERO. Yes, a HERO!!!.
But, apparently he can't overcome reporters who think their job is to verbally perp walk an innocent man.
I couldn't wait to get to my computer and let my views be known to KFAB. The great voice of Husker National has just thrown a beanball at a great guy.
Shame on you KFAB. Go back to Journalism School or start playing music all day.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Saturday, October 31, 2009
The Small Town Guy
LINCOLN NE-Mark Blazek is a small town guy. He never wanted to leave small town Nebraska and there was only one college he ever wanted to attend. He had the big dream of so many young boys and the courage of just those few who have made the Nebraska walk-on program legendary in college football.
"I had a chance to go to college on a full-ride scholarship playing basketball," the 35 year old Valparaiso lawyer turned banker recalled. "I had just enough money to go to Nebraska for one year. There was no other financial help around for me so I had a year to get it done. I could have gone to one of the academies but I didn't want to leave Nebraska for that long."
Get it done was exactly what this defensive safety prospect from Raymond Central High School did. He enrolled at Nebraska, walked-on and in no time at all, he made the 4th.string.
"You have to have a little luck to succeed," he said and luck came from a most unlikely source. It would be the year of the ticket scandal at Nebraska resulting in NCAA sanctions. Players who didn't follow the rules about handing out student athlete tickets to the satisfaction of the NCAA had to step aside. Blazek went from 4th string to 2nd string in the blink of a questioning NCAA eye.
His first year money was also running out so he needed to make some decisions. "I heard about the Nebraska National Guard program and how they would pay for college if you signed up." The recruiter came out to visit Mark and his parents and signed him up. "My dad was out of work at the time so he signed him up, too. We took the test together and were sworn in together."
Blazek's National Guard detour found him roaming around a Ft. Knox training battlefield in a tank. That's not bad training when you consider the size of oncoming offensive college linemen. The following fall, he traded his Nebraska National Guard tank helmet for a white one with a red stripe and a red N on the sides. His first game was against the pesky South Carolina team who brought the fight to Nebraska in a home and away series.
"Early on, the coaches were looking at me as a corner but I knew I wasn't fast enough," he noted. Blazek was one of the last guys with average speed and a big heart to play in the secondary. To win the big ones, the Nebraska coaches knew they would need more speed at those positions. But for now, the coaches picked a competitive small town kid with lots of personal drive.
"We went out to play UCLA for my senior season opener," he recounted, "and by the end of the first quarter, they were up something like 28 to 0." That game was not one of the best memories in Husker Football history. But, there was a bright spot.
"Troy Aikman was UCLA's quarterback," Blazek said. "I picked off one of his passes and got hit by one of our guys, Charles Fryer. I was just worried about hanging onto the ball until Fryer started pulling me up. 'Get up and run, get up!' Fryer hollered at me." Blazek did just that and returned the interception for a seventy-five yard touchdown. It may still be Aikman's longest interception for a touchdown.
Aikman's revenge came a little later in the game. UCLA had Nebraska backed up to the three yard line and ran an option Blazek's way. All that stood between Aikman and the goal line was a pulling 300 lb. guard who set his sights on Balzek. The result was much worse than another UCLA touchdown. Blazek suffered a torn hamstring muscle.
"No one knew how to treat that injury," Blazek said. "I could jump OK but I had lots of pain on any forward motion." Blazek spent the remainder of his football career doing what many of the players really wanted to do all of the time. "I couldn't practice. The trainers had me rest all week and just play on Saturday. That's what a lot of the guys wanted to do anyway. They would come out in sweats and I was dressed. Coach Osborne sent those guys back to put on pads and told me to put on sweats and take it easy. It really was funny."
Blazek went on to some post season honors including Academic All-American and Honorable Mention Big 8 and was also selected to play in the Japan Bowl. "We were at a press event and were all wearing our school jerseys. Aikman was there and I went up to introduce myself," Blazek explained. "He knew who I was when he saw my jersey."
Blazek did have some thoughts about playing pro football. His wife Kim is related to former Husker Brett Clark who went on to play for the Washington Redskins. "Brett told me I could play pro but I was ready to move on," Blazek said.
Blazek graduated from Nebraska’s Law School, worked for a Lincoln firm and went back home to Valparaiso and took a position as a Senior Vice President of a local bank. He still serves in the Nebraska National Guard and works closely developing leadership qualities for the Nebraska Bankers Association.
Does he have any words of wisdom for young want-to-be Huskers? "You must develop discipline and a good work ethic," he said. "The most athletic players don't always play. You have to be there at the right time and work hard. If you do, you will get your chance at Nebraska."
The young boys of Valparaiso don't have to look far to find a real Nebraska hero. They have a former Nebraska Safety who now stands guard with the Nebraska National Guard. Major Mark Blazek has given all he can to play and stay in Nebraska. Not only does he love Nebraska; he honors Nebraska with his dedication. There are no bigger hearts than the one beating in this small town guy.
The Unsung Hero
LINCOLN NE-If you are a devout Husker fan, get out your tape of the 1972 National Championship game with Alabama. Fast foreword to the last play of the first quarter and you’ll find Johnny Rogers galloping down the field for a 77 yard Nebraska touchdown. Watch carefully as the wall forms and three Husker defensive linemen take out seven Alabama players and spring Johnny for another of his famous “put ‘em in the aisles” runs.
But today isn’t Johnny’s day. It belongs to one of those three linemen. His number was 55 and his name is Bill Janssen. Bill didn’t get to finish that game because he sprained an ankle in the second quarter.
Janssen came to Nebraska from Red River High School in Grand Forks, North Dakota. His father was in the US Air Force. Bill was a 6’4”, 215 pound giant and learned his football skills in Texas on another Air Force assignment.
“When I moved to North Dakota, I was on the sports interest sidelines," Janssen recalled. "Hockey was the big sport and I didn’t know anything about it."
No problem.
Nebraska took notice of a very talented football player in hockeyland. A visit from Husker coaches Carl Selmer and Monte Kiffin, plus a little arm twisting from Bill’s older brother Carl, who played football for the Air Force Academy, made the decision easy. Bill became a Husker.
One of his early memories of Nebraska Football was at a freshman meeting with Coach Bob Devaney.
“Coach Devaney walked into the field house dressing room and started asking us a bunch of questions,” Bill said.
“How many of you guys played on teams where you won more games than you lost?” Devaney asked.
“Maybe a third of the guys raised their arms. Then Devaney wanted to know how many guys played on teams where they lost more games than they won. Again, about a third of the hands went up. Then he asked, how many of us had a high school coach who told us it was too bad we lost because we played so well? All of the hands went up.”
“Well that’s bullshit,” Devaney told us. “Your coach didn’t tell you the truth. Football is a game of mistakes. When you make fewer mistakes than the other guy, you win. We eliminate mistakes at Nebraska. That’s why we win at Nebraska.”
But there was a time or two when Nebraska didn’t win. “You learn even more from those days," Janssen said. "I remember that very long bus and plane ride home from California when UCLA, under the arm of Mark Harmon, beat us 20-17 in 1972. Their fullback, McAlestar, blew right over the top of me on a play when they needed some big yardage to stay in it. Doug Dumler and I were the captains when our 31 game winning streak came to an end. That wasn’t fun.”
His best memory is the second national championship game against Alabama. “My best performance was that first quarter punt return against Alabama. I am very proud of what we did on that play. Kiffen told us that it could be available for us and sure enough, when we got it set up and Johnny turned on the juice, it was. I think it broke Alabama’s back. We were 13-0 and had another National Championship. That was a fun ride home.”
Janssen was drafted in the eighth round of the by Pittsburgh but pro football just wasn’t as fun as college football for him.
"Football takes a toll on you and it was taking a toll on me," Bill said. "It was time for me to move on.”
His toughest assignment came about the same time. He and his wife were expecting twins. The twin daughters, Monica and Heather were born three months premature. Heather only survived for a day.
“I was only 24 and dealing with that,” he said as a softness takes over his eyes. It’s clear that his daughter Heather took a large part of her dad’s heart to another special place. “I committed myself to being the best dad I could be
If you met Bill on the street, you probably wouldn’t know about his football playing days. “I don’t lead with that,” he says. "I even thought long and hard about whether I should wear this,” he said as he makes note of the large gold ring on his right hand with the big red stone and a diamond in the center. It’s a 1971 National Championship ring.
“It’s big and some would say, a bit gaudy, but when you consider the broken bones and the bruises, I guess I have earned the right to wear it. I guess I will always be proud that I was one Nebraska's unsung heroes.”
Indeed you are a hero, Mr. Janssen. Indeed you are.
Great name. Great hands.
LINCOLN NE-You can be sure plenty of folks will remember "the play." It came in the second quarter of the 1973 Orange Bowl game against Notre Dame when Johnny Rogers threw a touchdown pass to Frosty.
"I wasn't supposed to be in for that play," Frosty Anderson said. "We knew the play would be there and it would be an easy six." It was and the rest of the night was a disaster for the Fighting Irish. But, that's not the game that Frosty thinks of as his best game.
"The Wisconsin game was my best game," he said. "We kept getting behind and then I finally scored and put Nebraska ahead. I thought that would do it but Wisconsin came back and scored. That's when Tony Davis went to work with one of his three rushes for about 30 yards each." Nebraska won.
"Someone came up and made a comment that I had something like nine catches and 160 yards," Frosty said. "I didn't think much about it even though it turned out to be an I-back type of performance."
It's not surprising Frosty might turn in a memorable performance against a Big 10 team. He comes from Big 10 roots. His father, Forrest, Sr. who was better know as "Forddy" coached basketball at Michigan State. The family moved to Scottsbluff where his dad accepted a basketball coaching position. Frosty became a standout for Scottsbluff and caught the eye of Nebraska coach Jim Ross during a Scottsbluff-Fremont game.
Coach Devaney knew Frosty's dad from his days as an assistant football coach at Michigan State.
"I always assumed I would be headed for Michigan State but when the Nebraska offer came, I thought what the heck and signed," he said. Not bad decision when you consider that only two years later, the young Scottsbluff star would be wearing a National Championship ring.
Like all freshmen players in those days, Frosty started in the Nebraska freshman football program. That team only had one loss. "We lost to the Kearney State first team," Frosty said. Their quarterback was a former Scottsbluff player, too
"Jim Walden was our freshman football coach," Frosty said. "He was my first experience with a 'south-mouth' and he preached three things: be ag-ile, be mob-ile and be hos-tile. Frosty red-shirted his sophomore year.
"I'm what was known as hope of the second team," he said. "To play at Nebraska, you have to be top-notch, be accountable for what you do, and be patient. That's just the way it is." Frosty got knocked around on the scout team and was "Blackshirt bait" before he earned his day in the Memorial Stadium sun.
His first varsity touchdown came on a Van Brownson pass during a Utah State game. "It was off of a hook pattern out and up," Frosty remembered as a smile came across his face "He almost overthrew me and I had to lay out for it but I got it."
Patience and practice paid off as the talented split end inched up the depth chart. He made the ABC Sports highlight films with a clutch 3rd. down and 15 yard catch against Colorado. "It was a precise seventeen yard down and out pattern and I caught it."
Not everything went the Husker's way during Frosty's senior year. "We went to California to play UCLA and Mark Harmon and they beat us. I lost my starting job at that game," Frosty said. Oklahoma also throttled Nebraska, 27-0. "It took almost seven years before I stopped taking that Oklahoma defeat personally."
In spite of the losses, Frosty earned All-Conference honors at his split end position and also academic honors. "I met Mark Harmon at the academic event and he told me they were really afraid of Nebraska. I was surprised by that."
The pro scouts noticed Frosty, too. The New Orleans Saints drafted him in the eighth round as a wide receiver. His pro career lasted two years. During his first season, he went in late in the first half against the New York Jets, with Joe Namath at the helm, and separated his shoulder. "They had to keep me because of my contract, but I got cut the next year."
That ended football for Frosty Anderson Frosty is still in great shape and is an avid runner. "Not the marathon stuff," he quickly pointed out. "I don't have time for that."
If he turns around in his office chair just a little, he can look out his 11th floor office window and see Memorial Stadium but the football memories don't consume him. "When you have kids, you soon find out that they aren't impressed that you played for the Huskers. They just want their diapers changed. It didn't take long for me to move on."
He has become a unique fan, too. "People need to remember that they are just kids. Kids don't hear you. Nobody had to tell me we played a bad game or we lost a game. We knew it. It's just a game."
Not in Nebraska, Frosty, especially with a great name like Frosty.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
How to Light a Rocket
LINCOLN NE-Tommie Frazier may not have known the dentist working on his teeth was a Nebraska football legend, too. Both of these men were quarterbacks. Both had a part in big winning steaks. Tommie and team created one of the longest winning streaks in NCAA history and Dr. Harry Tolly and team ended the longest winning steak in conference history.
"October 31,1959 wasn't a very nice day--kind of a rainy and dreary day," Dr. Tolly said "It was also Homecoming and Halloween.” Oklahoma got the ball first and took it right down the field and scored. Most folks expected that," he says as a smile comes across his face. "The fans didn't expect us to do the same thing. We even went for a two point conversion but didn't get it. That didn't matter so much. We discovered they weren't super human and we could play with them." Tolly knew Oklahoma's seventy-four game conference winning streak was in trouble.
"It was a close game all of the way," Tolly points out. "We continued to hang in there with them and during the second half, the stadium started to fill."
Crowds in those days were often sparse and on this dreary day with the dreadnought of college football in town, the stadium had plenty of great seats in the East and West stadium. No North or South stadium existed, other than the knothole section, nor were there any plays for those additions. Memorial Stadium could seat 48,000 folks and Coach Jennings thought that was more than the state of Nebraska would ever need.
"I guess people were listening on the radio and suddenly realized a little college football history was unfolding at the stadium. There were around 32,000 fans there by the end of the game. That was the largest crowd I had ever seen in that stadium."
"Pat Fisher ran a punt return to the Oklahoma three yard line and if he hadn't had a sore leg, they would have never caught him," Tolly recalls. "Ron Meade did everything on that day and Don Fricke and Lee Zentic had a good game, too. Lee recovered a blocked pun and ran it in for a second half touchdown that really got us going."
It was worth the late afternoon hustle to get a seat in the drizzle. On the last play of the game, Meade made an end zone interception of Oklahoma's last hope at a another notch in their seventy-four game winning streak. Nebraska 25. Oklahoma 21. History had been made in Lincoln.
"The crowd went nuts," he says with a laugh. "The fans ripped the goal posts down and fans paraded them through the streets of Lincoln. Folks were still in the stadium after we had showered and come out of the field house."
The celebrating continued the next day with a goal post snake parade from the campus to Chancellor Hardin's home. He came out and greeted the students and called classes off on Monday to mark the Oklahoma win.
Tolly took a short detour on his journey to this day of fame. After graduating from North Platte High, he attended Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. "Guess you could say I had my red-shirt year in high school."
His father was a coach and this very happy "upsetter" of a quarterback was following in his dad's footsteps. He was an education major and planned to go on for an advanced degree and become a coach, too.
"I had a scholarship opportunity at both Dartmouth and Nebraska. But even back then, if your were a Nebraska guy, you wanted to play for Nebraska. I took the Nebraska offer."
With full-ride scholarship in hand, he packed his bags and headed for his destiny in Lincoln. His first varsity start came in the fall of 1957. "I don't remember what game," he says. It wasn't a memorable year--one win and nine losses. "We beat Kansas State 14-7."
His junior season was a little better--three wins and seven losses. "We beat Pittsburgh and Penn State and Iowa State that year." His grin and memory were both improving. His senior year was even a little better with four wins and six losses but this may have been the Nebraska team that "started" the rivalry with Oklahoma.
A couple of pro scouts asked if he was interested in a pro football career but he wanted to move on to his coaching future. "Mick Tinglehoff, Pat Fischer, and Ron McDole went on to play in the pros so we were well represented," he points out.
"I had an opportunity to become a graduate assistant for Bill Jennings after graduation and decided to take it," he recalls. He liked Bill Jennings and admired his approach to coaching. "We practiced a lot and some say we left some of our best games on the practice field, but I think Jennings was on the right track."
Jennings proved the point again the following year by beating Oklahoma again in Norman, 17-14, but his time at Nebraska was over and the new coach from Wyoming was setting up shop in Lincoln.
"I liked Bob Devaney but I was having second thoughts about coaching so I applied for dental school and was accepted."
"I told Coach Devaney about my chance to go to dental school and he told me to take it. He said if I had a chance to go to a professional school, I should do it because it would be a lot more secure than coaching." Young Coach Tolly left the sidelines for the last time during the spring of Coach Bob Devaney's first year at Nebraska.
"I knew Coach Devaney would be successful," Tolly recalled. "One of the first things he did was take those lights off of the back of the Coliseum. So much for those long Jennings practices. The players loved that."
And who did Coach Devaney name to the newly vacated graduate assistant post? "Some guy named Osborne," Tolly says with a big grin. "That was my other big contribution to Nebraska football. I made room for Tom Osborne."
Tommie picked the right dentist. After all, who would know more about smash mouth football, winning the big one, and creating a winning smile than Dr. Harry Tolly, number 21, the quarterback from the Oklahoma-beating Husker team of 1959. Harry Tolly and his teammates taught a bunch of damp Husker fans how to light a rocket, and an entire state soon learned how much fun it is to watch it fly.
Welcome
So much glory in so little time! When you think about it, a college football star has a very short time to be in the spotlight. Only four years. And in some cases, only one or two. In still other cases, only one play.
But that fame can last a lifetime. But is it a lifetime? Is there more to life than football to a really great football player? (I define a really great football player as one who had the talent to play college football and hung in there to do so.)
That was the basis for a series of interviews I did a few years back. Those interviews turned into a newspaper column titled...A Story From the Stands. My goal was to find out what some of those great Nebraska Football stars where doing with their lives and see if I could learn something about what they learned from football and how that has helped them succeed.
So, here are the stories. I enjoyed writing them and hopefully, I will do some more interviews shortly. Enjoy!
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