NU nabs 3 commitments
■ Younger Kelsay heads
Nebraska’s list of summer
recruits.
By David Wilson
Senior Reporter
Nebraska’s June football camp
resulted in three verbal commit
ments from high school seniors.
Rush end Chris Kelsay, offensive
lineman Nate Kolterman and run
ning back DeAntae Grixby all gave
commitments to join the
Cornhuskers for the 1998 season.
High school seniors cannot sign let
ters of intent until February.
Kelsay, who gave NU its first
verbal commitment on June 13, led
Auburn High School with 95 tackles
and 250 yards receiving as a junior
last season. Auburn finished 10-2
and fourth in Class C-1.
The 6-foot-4'/2, 235-pounder
said he benches 335 pounds, squats
450 pounds and has a 34-inch verti
cal jump. Kelsay ran a 4.9-second
electronic 40-yard-dash at the third
session of Nebraska’s camp, but
Auburn coach Dave Carlson said
he’s hand-timed Kelsay at 4.65 sec
onds.
“He’s got all the tools that you
I
could ever ask for,” Carlson said
after Kelsay committed. “His poten
tial is just unlimited.”
Kelsay, who has qualified acade
mically, will follow in the footsteps
of his older brother, Chad, who is a
junior rush end for the Huskers.
Kolterman, who attended the
first session of NU’s camp, was
offered a scholarship from Nebraska
while attending Texas A&M’s foot
ball camp. The 6-foot-4, 310
pounder gave his word on his way
back to Seward.
“He’s a very, very motivated
football player,” Seward coach Greg
Welch said after Kolterman’s com
mitment. “He’s a muscular big kid -
a body-builder-type kid. He’s had to
learn to play between the whistles
and just control himself in a positive
way. He’s a very intense individual.”
An all-state selection as a defen
sive lineman last season, Kolterman
helped Seward to a 5-5 record while
blocking for the leading rusher in
Class B. Kolterman also paved the
path for Class B’s leading rusher his
sophomore season.
“We’ve had the top running back
at the end of the season two years in
a row,” Welch said. “That’s a great
indication of the quality of your line.
We’re even hoping for bigger things
this year.”
Kolterman benches 355 pounds
and squats 505 pounds, but his one
weakness, Welch said, is his speed.
At Nebraska’s camp, Kolterman ran
a 6.0-second electronic 40-yard
dash. A week later at Texas A&M’s
camp, he was clocked at 5.6 seconds.
Welch said he expects Kolterman
- who has qualified academically -
to be ready to play Division I foot
ball.
“He’s going to come in physical
ly as strong as anyone that comes
in,” Welch said. “But their system of
how they teach offensive linemen is
a growing process.”
Kolterman may eventually get
the chance to block for Grixby, an I
back from Omaha Central. Grixby,
who attended the third session of
Nebraska’s camp, committed on
June 24.
Grixby, who ran a 4.67-second
electronic 40-yard-dash at
Nebraska’s camp, benches 275
pounds, squats 455 pounds and has a
35-inch vertical jump. As a junior
last season, he rushed for 1,240
yards on 151 carries.
The 5-foot-9, 190-pounder will
follow in the footsteps of former
Huskers Leodis Flowers, Calvin
Jones and current NU I-Back Ahman
Green - all former Central backs
who went on to star for the Huskers.
. -
Daniel Luedert/DN
NEBRASKA’S 1997 football captains, from left: Aaron Taylor, Vershan Jackson, Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom.
Huskers pick four captains
By Sam McKewon
Staff Reporter
The four captains selected for the
1997 Nebraska football team come with
extensive experience in trench warfare.
Seniors Grant Wistrom, Jason Peter,
Aaron Taylor and Vershan Jackson all
play pivotal roles in the interior lines.
Wistrom and Peter play rush end and
defensive tackle, respectively, while
Taylor will play offensive guard this
season after playing center last season.
Jackson, a tight end who had 12
receptions last season, will be the only
one of the four who will routinely touch
the ball this season, but that won’t make
a difference, Taylor said.
“Vershan is basically an offensive
lineman, too,” Taylor said. “All tight
ends at Nebraska are linemen.”
The four captains were announced
Saturday.
By selecting four players from the
front lines to be the captains, Taylor said,
the team sent a message.
“As an offensive lineman, I believe
that’s where the game is won,” he said.
“If both lines go hard in every game and
in every practice, then good things are
going to happen.”
Coach Tom Osborne said the newly
elected captains were also the leaders of
the summer voluntary workouts.
“These guys pretty much ramrod
ded the team to get through summer
workouts,” Osborne said. “Sometimes,
guys might resent that, but here they
appreciated it”
Wistrom has been a consensus pre
season All-America selection this sea
son. He has also been mentioned as a
possible candidate for the Lombardi
and Outland trophies, which honor the
nation’s best interior lineman.
What may have made the biggest
difference among Wistrom’s teammates
in him being selected as a captain was
his decision to return to Nebraska for his
senior season.
Peter follows in his brother
Christian’s footsteps as the third brother
combination to be captains at Nebraska,
joining Erik and Zach Wiegert and
Mike and Andy Keeler. Christian Peter
was a captain on the 1995 national
championship team.
Jason Peter said he intends to take
many of the qualities his brother used
during his stint as captain.
“Christian was a great captain in a
lot of ways,” Jason Peter said. “He was
really good at getting the team up for the
game and getting the team emotionally
ready to play. After Christian talked
everybody was fired up.”
Taylor, also a preseason All
America candidate, anchors an offen
sive line that figures to be among the
best in the nation this season.
“The other younger guys look up to
you and look to you to make the plays
on the field,” Taylor said. “We’ve got to
set that example for the rest of the team
in practice and in the game.”
Jackson’s selection as a Husker cap
tain may have surprised some, consider
ing the preseason accolades surround
ing the other three captains.
All four captains said they under
stand the responsibility that goes along
with being an NU captain.
“We know that guys will be watch
ing us and looking to us to see if practice
went well and things like that,” Peter
said. “We have to show we’re confi
dent.”
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