Tampa Bay picks Thomas in first round
By Jeff A pel
Senior Kdilor
Nebraska outside linebackers
coach Tony Samuel w as not surprised
when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
selected former Cornhuskcr All
American Broderick Thomas Sunday
in the first round
of the National
Football League
draft.
Samuel said
he thought either
Kansas City,
Tampa Bay or
Pittsburgh would
select Thomas in Thomas
the draft’s opening round. While
Kansas City selected former Ala
bama outside linebacker Derrick
Thomas and Pittsburgh chose former
1
Georgia running back Tim Worley,
Tampa Bay used its sixth selection to
nab Broderick Thomas,
“I'm definitely glad to see him get
drafted early,” Samuel said. “It’s
well deserved.”
Thomas was the th.td defensive
player selected in the draft. The first
was Derrick Thomas, who was the
fourth selection overall. The Atlanta
Falcons selected former Florida State
comerback Deion Sanders with the
fifth pick.
The first player selected was for
mer UCLA quarterback Troy
Aikman, who was chosen by the
Dallas Cowboys. The Green Bay
Packers then selected former Michi
gan State offensive tackle Tony
Mandarich. The Detroit Lions fol
lowed by selecting former Oklahoma
State tailback Barry Sanders.
Samuel said Thomas’ natural abil
ity made him an attractive NFL pros
peel. He said Thomas is the best
player he has coached during his 10
year career.
“He’s the best player I’ve been
around," Samuel said. “Broderick is
an impact player. That’s the bottom
line.’’
In addition to Thomas, the list of
players that Samuel has coached in
cludes Garin Vcris, a former Stanford
defensive end who now plays for the
NFL’s New England Patriots.
Samuel said the biggest adjust
ment Thomas will have to make is
learning how to compete against a
multitude of players that possess high
skill levels. He said that although
Thomas faced good players through
out his college career, he did not
consistently face the quality of com
petition he’ll play against in the NFL.
“He will be having to adjust his
ability so he can learn more tricks of
the trade,” Samuel said. “But his
-1
youth, his aggrcssivi.iK;>> miu ms
desire to make plays is going to take
him a long way.”
Samuel said Thomas will have an
advantage because Tampa Bay runs
several defensive schemes similar to
those used by the Huskcrs. He said
Thomas’ refusal to accept losing will
also be an asset.
Tampa Bay finished with a 5-11
record last season under former Ala
bama coach Ray Perkins. The Bucca
neers are led by quarterback Vinny
Tcstaverde and wide receiver Kevin
House.
Tampa Bay ’s roster also includes
Jeff Smith, a former Nebraska l-back
who spent last season in a reserve
role.
Samuel said the only area where
the 6 foot-4,260-pound Thomas may
need to improve is his strength. He
said the rest of Thomas’ attributes
make him an ideal NFL prospect.
career ranked eighiii on the Husker’s
career tackle chart with 242 stops He
was the runner-up to Derrick Thom is
for this year’s Bulkus Award, which
is presented annually to the nation’s
best collegiate linebacker. He was
one of four finalists for the Lombardi
award, which is given annually to the
nation’s best lineman. That award
was won by Auburn defensive tackle
Tracy Rocker. c
Thomas also earned All-America
status following his junior and senior
seasons, and was a three-time All Big
Eight selection. He led Nebraska in
total tackles, unassisted and assisted
tackles, tackles for loss and sacks last
season.
Samuel said Thomas has a bright
future in the NFL.
“He will have to make an adjust
ment, Samuel said,4 ‘but he’s got all
the tools.”
Bryan Yueill of Sigma Alpha Mu lands a left jab on Jake McHugh, who is from Nebraska
Wesleyan University.
Fists fly at Sigma Chi’s Fight Night
By Jeff Apel
Senior Kditor
Two opposing forces clashed
when the Sigma Chi All-Greek
Fight Night was staged on Friday
night.
Craig Dirrim, a member of
UNL’s Sigma Chi fraternity and
the event’s co-chairman, said the
competition included well-trained
boxers who possessed a high skill
level and some boxers whjo were
“out to swing.” He said that con
trast created an interesting compe
tition because it matched the two
styles against each another.
Dirrim said it appeared that
most of the boxers at this year’s
12th annual competition were
well-trained. He said this training
prompted a number of exciting
bouts for a near-capacity crowd of
approximately 2,300 that jammed
the 4-H Hall on the Nebraska State
Fairgrounds.
“We had some real good
fights,” Dirrim said. “We were
real pleased.”
Dirrim said the crowd did not
present any problems even though
only a few seats were left unfilled.
He said the 4-H Hall’s coliseum
style seating, which allowed all the
fans to view the action because it is
built on a vertical incline, pre
vented security problems.
Dirrim said the All-Greek Fight
Night used to encounter security
problems when it was staged in
Agricultural Hall. He said the main
disadvantage of Agricultural Hall
was that all the seating was on
folding chairs which were ar
ranged on a flat surface. That cre
ated problems because fans had
difficulty seeing the action, he
said.
But no problems were reported
this year, Dirrim said.
‘ ‘This is the most well-behaved
crowd we've ever had,” he said.
Dirrim said preparations for
next year’s All-Greek Fight Night
will begin as soon as a new chair
man is selected. He said the chair
man will be in charge of obtaining
insurance, lining up sponsors and
reserving a site.
‘‘It’s a lot of work,” Dirrim
said.
The results:
• Gary McMicklc, Chi Phi,
over Eric Hauserman, Nebraska
See BOXINGon8
Draft initially skips Knox,
expects to be tapped today
By Jeff Apel
Senior liditor
An abundance of talent and a lack
of playing time kept former Nebraska
running back Tyrccsc Knox from
being drafted in the first three rounds
of the National Football League
draft.
Knox said Sunday that it didn’t
surprise him that he wasn't selected
among the draft’s first 84 players
because this year’s crop of prospec
tive professionals possesses an abun
dance of talent. He said a lack of
playing time also prevented him from
being selected.
Knox, who began his Nebraska
career as a highly touted running
back from Daly City, Calif., spent the
majority of his five-year Cornhusker
career in a reserve role. He said there
arc advantages and disadvantages to
being a reserve.
‘‘The scouts know you're not
banged up,” Knox said, “but they
might not know' how good you arc
because they haven’t seen you play
enough.”
Knox said he is confident he will
be one of the 252 players selected
today, when the draft’s final nine
rounds arc staged. He said he is look
ing forward to the final portion of the
dralt because he has a realistic chance
of being selected.
‘‘I’m confident I will get picked
up by somebody,” Knox said. ”1
know I could help somebody out.”
A multitude ol former Nebraska
players will also be looking forward
to today’s selections, as they will be
waiting to sec if and when they arc
drafted.
The former Nebraska players who
will join Knox as draft candidates
include wingback Dana Brinson,
linebacker LcRoy Etienne, tight end
Todd Millikan, offensive lineman
Bob Sledge, outside linebacker Jon
Marco, defensive tackle Willie Grif
fin, middle guard Lawrence Pete and
defensive backs Tim Jackson,
Lorenzo Hicks and Charles Fryar.
Knox said he was surprised that
only one Nebraska player was se
lected on Sunday. The lone Husker
taken was All-America selection
Broderick Thomas, who was selected
by Tampa Bay in the first round.
Thomas was the sixth player se
lected in the draft. The first was for
mer UCLA quarterback Troy
Aik man, who was taken by the
Dallas Cowboys.
Knox said he thought Etienne and
Brinson would he drafted on Sunday.
Etienne was projected as a fourth 10
seventh round pick, while Brinson
was projected to be taken in the third
to-fifth round.
“We only had one player drafted,
and that one was expected.’' Knox
said. “It’s kind of a surprise because
it’s a situation where everybody has
high expectations.’’
Knox said he fell anxious as he
watched Sunday's portion of the drall
on ESPN. He said the anxiety built as
his telephone rang almost non stop.
Knox said the anxiety and the
constant ringing of his phone caused
this year’s drall to be different than
any he had watched before.
“It was really different," Knox
said. “My phone rang a thousand
times and it was never the person I
wanted it to be. I was kind of nerv
ous.”
Knox said he will not be devas
tated if he is not selected in today’s
portion of the draft.
“If it wasn’t meant lobe, life goes
on,” he said. “I’d still havcachancc,
so I really couldn’t sit around and
dwell on it.”
Missouri coach wants to swap schedules
D.. II„J A Ml : I A • P . <• 1
i iivn iiuu^v
Senior Reporter
New Missouri football coach Bob Stull said
he would like to trade schedules with Ne
braska.
Stull, who replaced Woody Widenhofcr as
Missouri’s football coach, said his efforts to
rebuild a Tiger team that finished 3-7-1 last
year will be hampered because his team has
one of the toughest schedules in the country.
Missouri faces Texas Christian, Indiana,
ivi iuiii i aiivi rvii/.uiid JUm; UtlUIC upuilllg DIP
Eight play against Colorado and Nebraska.
“I think that next year we have one of the
toughest schedules in the country,’ ’ said Stull,
who coached at Tcxas-El Paso last year.
“Indiana’s coming off a great jear. Miami has
to be considered one of the top two teams, if not
the best team in the country.
“Arizona State will be good. And, of
course, Colorado and Nebraska arc both line
teams.”
Nebraska opens its 1989-90 season against
Northern Illinois. The Cornhuskers will then
face Utah, Minnesota, Oregon Stale and Kan
sas Suite before traveling to Columbia, Mo., to
play Missouri.
Stull said he hopes the Tigers took advan
tage of their 20 days of spring practice because
Missouri will have to be ready next fall.
“Our first six games arc pretty stout,” Stull
said. “Five of them arc potential bowl
people.”
Stull, who guided UTEP to a 10-3 record
last season, said the Tigers can’t worry about
who they play.
‘ ‘ I would choose some other teams to play if
I coukl but we have to play with it,” Stull said.
We play Miami to get ready for Nebraska,
while Nebraska plays Utah. I’d much rather
have their schedule.”
_ Sla!l said hc likes what he has seen so far.
Inc Tigers concluded their spring workouts
Saturday with an intrasejuad game.
Stull said tiie usual early conf usion between
players and coaches concerning new terminol
ogy and philosophies has lingered through
Mger practices. But he said he has been en
couraged by the progress Missouri has shown
i. "ehaveidennlied who our top44 players
will be, but there’s still competition going on
tor the first team,'' Stull said. - We needed to
aS mJ!ch asl!H)sLslblc In 20 practices and I
sweliy ”C haVC’ ^ 0,fcnsive|y and defen
With 15 reluming siaricrs, Slull said he feels
opiimistic about his team ’schanccs when prac
tices resume in August. He said that because
Missouri was a run-oriented team last year, the
Tigers arc short on wide receivers and drop
back quarterbacks.
Senior running backs Smiley Elmore and
Tommie Stowers both started last year and are
leading contenders to head the Tigers’ ground
game this season, Stull said.
Based on performances last year and this
spring, Stull said, the defense has the edge over
the offense as Missouri’s strength.
' We look real strong in the defensive line,
Stull said. “With (defensive tackles) Kevin
White and Lee Johnson and (nose guard) Chris
Russell, we look strong at down linemen.
I hose guys are real solid players. (Cornerback)
Adrian Jones is an excellent player, too.”
SeeTiGERSorT7