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By Mary Voboril
Of about 100 Nebraska
football players who suit up
for a home game, often fewer
than half get to play. Many of
the others label themselves
bench-sitters, the
never-starters.
What of these unsung
spurriers, often arriving from
high school teams on which
they had been superstars? How
do they feel about having to
put in as many hours practice
and risk as many injuries for
the chance of a few minutes of
play when the team is
touchdowns ahead? And where
do they end up?
Surprisingly, some end up in
the pros. Some with the FBI.
Others in coaching. Still others
in graduate school. And, to
hear them tell it, life as . a
nonstarter on a Nebraska
football team isn't that much
different than that of a regular.
Despite the injuries, lost
glory and long practices, seven
former Huskers, all nonstarters,
had few regrets about Nebraska
football None indicated he
was sorry he had chosen
Nebraska, although he might
' have gone to another school
and achieved national farae.
Backups for a winning team
"The biggest regret was
seeing great athletes excluding
myself-who had to sit on the
sidelines during a gridiron
clash, when they easily could
have played on any other team
in the nation," according to
Henry Jennings, a monster man
who came to NU in 1968 from
Kimball.
Each of the seven had been
recruited by other national
football powers and speculated
that he probably couid have
played more at another school.
"But i would rather be a
backup player for a winning
team than a starter for a losing
team," said Bob Wineman, an
NU left halfback who had been
recruited by Iowa State, Ohio,
Pittsburgh, Michigan, Indiana
and Colgate as well as
Nebraska. He played high
school ball in Steubenville,
Ohio.
Jerry Wilks, now head
fnoi tli -o2ch 2nd athletic
director at Omaha Holy Name,
was recruited by about .. 25
schools, including Ohio State.
He said he thinks he might'
have been a starter there.
"1 was enrolled there and
th.inj'cd my mind," said the
Grand Kapids, Mich., recruit.
"At Ohio State I might have
played more, but I don't think
I couid have taken the agony
of losing. They only won five
games in three years their
saddest three years in Woody
Hayes' tenure," Wilks came to
NU in 1963, and played left
tackle.
Fluke in college choice
It was something of a fluke
ihat Doug 'fucker ended up
not only playing for Nebraska
but pitying for former Head
Coach Bob Devaney.
A quarterback at
Davenport, Iowa, West High
School, Tucker was awarded an
appointment to West Point
during his senior year (1962).
At that time Devaney was
winding up his career at
glory
Wyoming, and Carl Selmer,
then in Wyoming with
Devaney, offered Tucker a
scholarship.
"I told him I was going to
West Point, but that deal fell
through," Tucker said. "Before
Selmer could get back to me,
I'd had . a recruiting trip to
Nebraska and had met Bill
Jennings (Devaney's
predecessor- and his crew. I'd
decided to go to Nebraska I
guess the flair of the Big 8 or
playing big time football had
something to do with it.
"Carl Selmer came back to
Davenport and asked me if I'd
like to visit Wyoming. I said,
'No, I've decided on Nebraska
and don't want to waste your
money flying out to your
school.' Anyway, I never did
meet Bob Devaney, and it's
probably a good thing I didn't.
If I'd gone out there to meet
him, I probably would have
gone to Wyoming."
Tucker now is a special
agent . with the FBI in
Washington, D.C.
Stars lose status
The players all lamented
that they had not been able to
play more." ' ' " "'"
"It's not "the itfSWst thing in
the world to be a star for years
and suddenly find yourself a
third or fourth stringer," said
Rich Coppa, who came to NU
as a center in 1963 but later
quit the team.
Another player said the
unfamiliar feeling of suddenly
being No. 2 was "a
psychological battle."
"I wasn't used to being on
second string defense," said
Bruce Harding, who had
started at quarterback for
Bellevue High his sophomore
year. "I was impatient. I
wanted to be first. Where some
players came from, they were
the very best, but when you
came to Nebraska, you were
only one of the guys. It got to
me to the point that I was
having trouble sleeping."
Harding, now a life
insurance salesman in Omaha,
came to Nebraska in 1966,
when the Huskers already had
seven quarterbacks, including
Fiuk Patrick and bob
Churchich. Later Harding was
switched to the strong side
defensive line.
Liabilities
The players outlined
benefits that came simply from
being, a Cornhurker football
player, but along with the good
things went the liabilities. One
of them was injuries,
Jennings sprained a
shoulder, "which arouses
consciousness if I sleep on it
more than one hour," bruised
and scarred a kidney and
sprained both ankles - one
serious enough to leave bone
chips and calcium deposits
throughout his lower leg.
"However, I consider myself
lucky," said Jennings, now
with the armed forces in
Arizona. "I've seen several
other football players
permanently damaged and
hampered for life, from knee
injuries in particular."
In retrospect he decided
that such injuries really can't
be classified as regrets,
"because any guy wanting to
play football takes the risk of
being injured." He also noted
that the Nebraska football
team "has some of the best
doctors and trainers in the
country on their side to help
alleviate and correct the
hazards" that accompany
football.
Injuries linger on
Bob Hill, now in training to
become a physical therapist,
said he had two knee injuries,
although neither was severe
enough to require surgery. He
also had hyperextended
tendons and said he probably
will suffer from arthritis at an
earlier age.
Everyone who plays
football will suffer with that," ,
he said. Recruited from East
St. Louis, 111., Hill was an NU
freshman in 1 963.
Harding said that in most
cases the pain a player feels "is
something you don't think
about because it is with you all .
the time. The body will adapt.
You can come out of practice
and not even know where the
bruises and cuts come from."
He described his Husker-related
injuries as "nothing perrhaheni'
- sprained ankles arid a head
injury.
"It's the nature of my
bones," he said, laughing.
"Some people have chronic
colds; I have chronic ankles."
Chronic ankles helped keep
him out of the. military, he
said, and he suffered head
injuries when he went in to
make a tackle and was kicked.
Tucker, who played
quarterback behind Dennis
Claridge and Bob Churchich in
the early Devaney years, was
injured in practice.
"It's pretty ironic," Tucker
said. "I never was injured in all
Allstaters gather for study of arts
On Wednesday, June 12,
students from the eighth to the
twelfth grades wjj )e on
campus to participate in the
Nebraska Allstate program.
These students, whose inter
rsis all focus nn hn nrts, viH
attend classes, rehearsals and
presentations during their 16
pim 9KWm A'
.
I--: "V .
4H
-A
Incoming freshmen were on campus this week taking part in UNL's
the years of playing football
until the last practice before
the Oklahoma game my senior
year. I went out on an option
play, made a cut and broke my
foot. I went to Oklahoma,
though on crutches."
Lucky breaks
But the breaks were not all
related to injuries. Playing for
Nebraska had its advantages,
particularly in the classroom
and when one ran afoul of the
law.
"I've had a number of
things happen to me that came
out well because I was a
football player," said Coppa,
Major
to aid
A new major designed to
prepare students to work with
physically or. mentally
handicapped children will be
offered in the fall by the
College of Home Economics at
the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln.
The students will be trained
t? . .qejp.trje child with,
.socialisation skills .and
everydf y jctivities outside of
the classroom,' help the child
fit in as. part of the classroorri
and work with the child at
home who cannot take part in
school activities. The graduate
will also be able to act as a
consultant for agencies
working with the handicapped.
Helen Suiek, associate
professor of human
development and the family
(HDF) at UN-L, said there is a
good job demand for people
with this type of training. The
handicapped are being
mainst reamed into society, she
added. Nationally, there has
been more concern for the
days at the University of
Nebraska Lincoln.
In addition to the workshops
that have been held in the past,
such as chorus, orchestra and
band, Allstaters in the music
i!:viin !!! a!so have the
option of attending workshops
on swing choir and jazz band.
utters
3
now a clerk for Burlington
Northern in Lincoln.
Once a history midterm was
scheduled for a Friday on
which the Freshmen had to
play an out-of-town game.
Coppa talked with the history
professor, who said he could
make up the test some other
time. Coppa said he never did
have to make it up, with no
apparent effect on his course
grade.
"If they know you're a
football player, generally
they're a little easier on you,"
he said.
(Continued on Page 10)
designed
disabled
handicapped and an effort to
get them out of institutions,
she said.
A pproximately
24,000-33,000 Nebraska
children are handicapped.
Legislation aimed toward
normalization of the
' handicapped has encouraged
them, to be part, of the. public
, &oi, ysUnu ....Chatten.
..Swanson, child development
specialist of the Nebraska
Office of Mental Retardation,
said public schools will need
backup help to accommodate
the increased number of
handicapped enrolled. She
predicted that some teachers
will return for additional
training to be better able to
help their handicapped
studnets. "Often teachers
dealing with the severely
handicapped, need depth of
understanding in development
of social, chysical and mental
processes," according to Dr.
Lois Schwab, associate
professor of HDF.
The other divisions of the
program include dance, speech
(which includes theatre and
debate), and art.
This year over 300 students
have registered for the Allstate
program. This is an increase in
about 20 over last year.
5
J
i
freshmen orientation program.
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