Remember When . . .

I’ve been a Husker my entire life, I never had a choice and neither will my kids. I was born in Nebraska where both of my parents were born and raised. When my wife is about to have our kid there is a chance when that water breaks that I will drive up north (don’t worry there will be time) and cross into the Nebraska border just so my kid will be born with scarlet blood.

As far back as I can remember we hung the Nebraska flag every Saturday and watched the games. One of my earliest Husker memories was the 1993 National Championship where we missed the game winning field goal against Free Shoes University. Tommie Frazier was MVP of that game IN A LOSS. The next Christmas I got a Frazier jersey and that meant every following Saturday was Frazier day. I wore the jersey and pretended to be him running around the driveway and throwing the ball (not often though, we didn’t throw the ball up north). Nebraska went back to back the next 2 years pretty much destroying every one in their path on their way to 2 National Championships. Being young and impressionable I thought that Nebraska would always be on top. They made it look easy and were all over the news. When I hit junior high they won another national crown in 1997 (split with Michigan – for political reasons of course, if Dr. Tom hadn’t retired I don’t know if a split would have happened). I still had the same #15 scarlet jersey which still fits to this day because Santa brought a big size.

My grandparents have had season tickets for as long as they’ve been alive. On the 40 yard line behind the Nebraska bench about 30 rows up. Best seats in sports, not even close. I’ve gone to a game about every year since I was a kid and have been very fortunate to do so. When I was about 6 my grandma, mom, brother, and myself made a day trip to Lincoln and snuck on the field and played for awhile (which is documented on a very grainy family video which I show all my friends and get called names for – they just don’t understand it’s awesomeness). One of the games that sticks out in my head was Lawrence Phillips first game back from suspension after beating his girlfriend. They played Iowa State and my mom had gotten tickets. She warned me to not talk to anyone and just look down. There were more women’s rights and domestic violence advocates there that I can even begin to explain (yup, they were still wearing red as it’s still Nebraska after all and I would bet they went and watched the game after their pep rally). They all yelled at us for going to pay to see ‘those monsters’ and heckled my mom for ‘influencing a young man with hating women’. All good stuff but I still loved ‘those monsters’.

Watching Florida now is like a blast from the past. The Gators are led by a quarterback that can beat you with the pass or the run and who also wears #15. Tim Tebow has 2 National Championship rings like Frazier, except for one of Tebow’s was as a backup. Tebow’s Gators can be the first team since the ‘93-95 Huskers to win 2 National Championships in 3 years. Tommie Frazier was MVP of all 3 games (one of those MVP efforts was on the losing end, first time an MVP was crowned from the losing team EVER) and Tebow has an MVP under his belt. Tebow does have the Heisman Trophy to his name and Frazier finished second to Eddie George. It does need to be stated however, that Frazier missed 7 games that season with a blood clot in his leg and had Lawrence Phillips bringing negative publicity to the team.

Statistically, Tebow has an edge on Frazier. In four seasons, Frazier completed 49.5 percent of his passes (232 of 469) for 3,521 yards, 43 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He rushed 342 times for 1,955 yards (5.7 average) and 36 touchdowns. In three seasons, Tebow has completed 65.8 percent (448 of 681) for 6,390 yards, 67 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He's rushed 475 times for 2,037 yards (4.3) and 43 touchdowns. Most of his stats are from the previous 2 seasons as he played behind Chris Leak his freshman year.
Touchdown Tommie has a 33-3 record as a starter, including two national championships in three consecutive years playing for the title. Tebow is 22-5 as a starter, with one national title as a starter and a second title as a reserve.
If Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators win the National Championship this year and Tebow wins his second Heisman, Tebow will go down as the most decorated and arguably the best college football player ever and probably deservedly so but watching the Florida Gators brings back memories of my youth as a Huskers fan. Unfortunately the Huskers have fallen on hard times lately as Steve Pederson ran the program into the dirt and botched the firing of Frank Solich, letting Bo Pelini go, and the subsequent hiring of Bill Callahan. Nebraska will eventually be back as a national power in time, give it time. Florida grows its own hometown prospects in its backyard and with Urban Meyer at the helm; Florida will be able to keep them in house. September 5th, college football will reign supreme in the sports nation’s eyes and yes, I will probably sport the #15 scarlet and cream for another season…Hail Varsity.