Nebraskan
Thursday, Juna SO, 1994
SPORTS
Brown back at UNL to work
on degree in NFL off-season
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter
When Derek Brown passed up his
senior year after the 1992 season to
enter the NFL draft, many thought
Brown’s college days were over.
But Brown was just about to look at
education in a whole new perspective.
After an outstanding debut season
with the New Orleans Saints, Brown
has returned to the University of Nc
braska-Lincoln this summer to get a
step closer to earning a degree in
consumer science.
Brown, Nebraska’s fifth all-time
leading rusher, is a year and a half
away from graduating, which he now
feels is a necessity.
“Before, when I was here, I knew
school was important, but I didn’t
concentrate on it that much. I just did
enough to get by,” Brown said. “When
I got into the (National Football)
League, I saw how important it was.
That was when I knew I had to come
back and get my degree.”
And it was the NFL that made it
obvious to Brown the need for life
after football.
“Football won’t last forever, but a
degree will. You see the injuries in the
NFL and you realize how quickly a
career can end,” said Brown, who was
afforded playing time due to team
mates’ injuries. “A degree won’t guar
antee success, but it’s important.
“In the real world, it’s not how
much you know, it’s who you know.
But a degree is an important piece of
paper. It shows the people out there
that you are a hard worker and that you
can do the job.”
After rushing for2,784 career yards
with the Huskers, Brown produced
heavenly numbers as a Saint.
In his rookie season for New Or
leans, Brown rushed for 705 yards on
180 carries and caught 21 passes for
170 yards, despite being slowed mid
way through the season with an ankle
injury.
“On a scale of one to 10,1 would
give last year a seven-and-a-half,”
Brown said. “Going into last year, I
said if I were given the chance, I’d
show them what I could do. Being a
tough athlete and a tough player was
important. I’ve always had that (char
acteristic), but playing at Nebraska
gave me that even more.”
But the financial situations in the
NFL is something Brown’s college
days at Nebraska didn’t prepare him
for.
“Mentally, it was a lot more of an
adjustment than physically," he said.
“I definitely had to adjust a lot more
mentally in terms of responsibility.
There is so much more responsibility
than in college because of the amount
of money that is involved.
“In college you might have bills
and little stuff like that, but you’re not
dealing with that kind of money. You
really have to be smart with it.”
Money is one of Brown’s concerns
going into this fall.
. ; “(This season) I have to go out and
do my very best no matter what hap
pens, take care of all my daughter’s
needs and save as much money as
possible,” he said. “The money is
important because if you don’t save it,
something can happen to end your
career and you wouldn’t have any
thing.
“There wouldn’t be anything worse
than having all that money and then
suddenly not having anything. I plan
to make some investments this year,
including a home.”
Brown
Brown, a native of La Habra, Ca
lif., said he would likely buy a house in
Omaha and finish his schooling at the
University of Nebraska-Omaha dur
ing the off-season.
Although Brown has no regrets in
leaving Nebraska a year early, he ad
mits he wished he could have been
part of the 1993 Husker team that
went undefeated through the regular
season until an 18-16 Orange Bowl
loss to Florida State for the national
championship.
“1 kind of missed being out there
during the Orange Bowl,” he said. “1
think they (the Huskcrs) won it any
way. It didn’t matter if I would have
been there or Johnny (Mitchell) or
whoever, they won that game. It was
kind of hard watching the Orange
Bowl because I wished 1 could have
been out there with those guys.”
New award to honor
dedicated NU athletes
By Derek Samson
Staff Reporter__
The Nebraska football players
have an added incentive in this
summer’s strength and condition
ing program.
Strength and conditioning coach
Boyd Epley said players would be
given a new reward for their work
and dedication in the summer.
According to Epley, a Perfor
mance Award will be given to ath
letes who test higher in three cate
gories on the first day of fall prac
tice.
To qualify for the award, an
athlete must score higher in the
vertical jump, 10-yard dash and
pro-agility run than what he did
during spring testing. The athlete
must also have perfect attendance
for the summer workout schedule.
“During the winter, the rules
and whole environment are differ
ent,” Epley said. “Coaches are al
lowed to work with them and it’s
easy to get them together at the
same time because everybody has
their classes and are here in school.
“In the summer, the coaches
aren’t allowed to observe workouts
and everything is run by the strength
coaches. The players have differ
ent work and school schedules and
it’s not mandatory, which makes it
hard to get everyone in here. So it
takes a special kind of athlete to
have the perfect attendance, and
this award will show that dedica
tion.”
Epley said a patch would be
given as a reward to be worn on
either the work-out or game jersey.
Coaches have yet to decide.
One player on his way to the
Performance Award could be se
nior tight end Eric Alford.
Alford will help fill the hole at
tight end left by the departure of
Trumane Bell and Gerald
Armstrong.
“Eric has really impressed me
so far,” Epley said. “He hasn’ t been
one in the past to have the perfect
attendance in the weight room and
now he hasn’t missed a day since
(yet). His attitude and effort has
just been excellent. This guy has
really been working hard.”
The players started with work
outs in the weight room May 16
and began agility drills twice a
week on June 6.
Monday marked the first day of
agil ity and speed drills. These drills
will be held four times a week for
all players but the linemen, who
begin in two weeks.
“So far we’ve had an excellent
turnout and excellent attitude,”
Epley said. “It’s a little premature
to compliment them since we still
have a long road ahead. The sum
mer is very important because if
they aren’t prepared in the fall, the
coaches have to waste a lot of time
then. The players have to report to
fall camp ready to go.”
This summer, in particular, is
very important since the season
will open a week earlier for the
Huskers with their Kickoff Classic
game against West Virginia.
“I wouldn’t say that adds any
pressure. 1 would say it’s a great
opportunity,” Epley said. “It’sonly
a matter of preparing a week earli
er. The things that we normally
wait todo when school starts, we’re
just going to have to get done a
week earlier.”
-y® sports wire
Florida uses IstpickinNHL draft to get Jovanovski
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) —
He has the flair. He has the hair.
But he doesn’t have the honor of
being the No. 1 pick.
Radek Bonk, the electrifying
center from the Czech Republic,
was just about everyone’s top pick
in the NHL draft — except the
Florida Panthers’ and Anaheim
Mighty Ducks’.
The Panthers, with the No. 1
pick, instead selected defenseman
Ed Jovanovski from the Canadian
major junior ranks. The Mighty
Ducks, with the No. 2 pick, select
ed Russian defenseman Oleg
Tverdovsky.
So where did that leave the Las
Vegas Thunder’s whiz kid? The
No. 3 pick by the Ottawa Senators.
Even Jovanovski raised his eye
brows.
“To tell you the truth, 1 was
shocked,” Jovanovski said.
Bonk had become a big hit in
Las Vegas with his long flowing
hair and dazzling smile, and had a
stylish game to match. The 6-foot
3,21 5-pound center f rom the Czech
Republic had scored 42 goals in his
first season in the professional In
ternational Hockey League and
seemed to be on his way to great
ness.
Still, he didn’t interest the Pan
thers or Ducks enough to make h im
the No. 1 pick.
“He scored 42 goals playing
against men," Tampa Bay general
manager Phil Esposito said ofBonk,
who turned 18 during the 1993-94
season. “Florida and Anaheim prob
ably passed because they drafled
forwards last year and this year
they wanted top defensemen."
In Jovanovsky and Tverdosky,
that’s exactly what they got.
Jovanovsky, who played for
Windsor in the Ontario Hockey
League, was the scouting service’s
top-rated defenseman from North
America. Tverdovsky, who played
with Kxylja Sovetov in the Russian
national league, was the top-rated
player from Europe.
Jovanovski’s selection wasn’t
the only surprise at the draft, which
featured a blockbuster six-player
deal involving Toronto’s Wendel
Clark and Quebec’s Mats Sundin.
It was a night of wheeling and
dealing in which the Maple Leafs
also acquired Mike Ridley from the
Washington Capitals and the
Nordiques traded Ron Sutter to the
New York Islanders for Uwe Krupp.
But as it turned out, the Maple
Leafs actually outmanuevered
themselves in the end. They had
traded Clark, Sylvain Lefevbre,
Landon Wilson and their 22nd pick
to Quebec for Sundin, Garth Butch
er, Todd Warriner and the
Nordiques’ 10th pick.
The Maple Leafs’ idea was to
draft Brett Lindros, brother of Phil
adelphia Flyers star Eric Lindros.
But the Islanders got there ahead of
them with the No. 9 pick, which
they acquired in the trade with
Quebec.
Having lost Lindros, the Maple
Leafs gave Washington the 10th
pick in exchange for Ridley.
Overall, the Panthers cleaned
up in quantity, if nothing else, over
the first two rounds with four selec
tions among the top 52.
Along with Jovanovski, they
picked three other players from
Canada — defenseman Rhctt
Warrener from Saskatoon of the
Western Hockey League, forward
Jason Podollan from Spokane of
the WHL and forward Ryan Johnson
of the Thunder Bay Junior A team.
The Edmonton Oilers, with two
picks in the top six, came away with
two forwards from the Canadian
major junior ranks. They made Ja
son Bonsignore of Niagara Falls of
the Ontario Hockey League the No.
4 pick and Ryan Smyth of Moose
Jaw of the WHL No. 6.
Meanwhile, goaltender Jamie
Storr 1 ived up to his advance bill ing
when he was made the No. 7 pick by
the Los Angeles Kings. Regarded
as the top goaltender in this year’s
class, Storr was the highest-placed
at his position since Tom Barrasso
was made the No. 5 pick by Buffalo
in 1983.
