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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 5, 1999)
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EE COKES The you'll ever love. ,vw ♦peacecorps.gov or 1-800-424-8580. 3 Brown takes ‘place’ as kicker I By John Gaskins Staff writer As more than 100 beast-sized sol diers marched over Tom Osborne Field in warm-up drills, a tall, lanky, kid from Oklahoma breezed his way to the sideline. The astute Nebraska fan would recognize this kid as Josh Brown, the heavily hyped possible replacement to four-year place-kicker Kris Brown and punter Bill LaFleur. However, fans may have wondered why he was just standing around with his fellow kick ing bums, Dan Hadenfeldt and Chace I Long, instead of drilling with team mates. i ms is wnai Kicxers ao, man, Brown said with his mile-wide grin. “We just stand here and chill. Then we go out there and kick for a while. It’s kind of boring, really.” But don’t be fooled. Brown isn’t bored with his new life at Nebraska. Anyone can tell by the way he looks around the stadium and smiles. The smile turns to a frown when raindrops begin to pelt down hard. “Let’s get out of here, go inside,” Brown said, as he and his kicking pals headed under the Memorial Stadium bowels to stay dry for a half-hour before they were needed back on the . field. uunuiiucu Micains ui piaycis ® walked by them making snide remarks about their “lazy” jobs, the three sat and exchanged jokes and lines from “Dumb and Dumber,” with Hadenfeldt doing most of the cutting up and Brown the cracking up. Brown has reason to enjoy himself. No kicker in Nebraska football histo ry, not even Kris Brown, has been tout ed with so much potential. “Josh has got a real strong leg,” Football Coach Frank Solich said. “He might be doing both jobs for us next fall, both place-kicking and punting. Kris Brown came here as a freshman, and you saw what he did. We expect Josh to be a tremendous kicker for us.” While Hadenfeldt and Brown are neck-and-neck in the race for the start ing punter job, Brown has a head start on the place-kicking job. But kicking isn’t all he’s done. At high school in Foyil, Okla., a town 40 miles down the road from Tulsa, Brown made 38 of 42 PATs and connected on a 61-yard field goal in the 1996 state playoffs. He gained 9,136 all-purpose yards and scored 122 career touchdowns as a running back. He also was a four-year letter man in basketball and a state track champion in the high jump. This raised thousands of eyebrows across the Sooner state. But outside Oklahoma, Brown had a recruiting disadvantage, being an eight-man football player from such a small school. That all changed when he attended a Nebraska football sum mer camp and wowed Kicking Coach Dan Young. “I had never seen a kid that had come into camp and kick the ball as far as he did,” Young said. “We were unsure of him because not a lot of eight-man players make it. But after he came here, we did every thing we could to sign him.” Young and then-football Coach Tom Osborne needed to look ahead. Kris Brown, who set the school-histo ry kick-scoring record as a four-year starter, was going to be an outgoing senior after Josh’s redshirt season. The Huskers needed new, young blood to keep the kicking game strong. Josh Brown was in the right place at the right time. eoacn Young ana uoacn usoome assured me I’d have a chance to be starting and replacing Kris right off the bat,” Brown said. “That meant a lot.” Of course, Nebraska wasn’t the only place that had its eyes on Brown. His home-state Sooners bent over backwards for him, too, to keep him in-state and give the struggling pro gram a boost. “(Former OU Head) Coach (John) Blake was so awesome to me. All those coaches at OU were,” Brown said. “I’d go down on the field before games when they were recruiting me, and Coach Blake would stop what he was doing, we’re talking pre-game preparations, and come over and give 66 Splitting the uprights, that's what it's all about" Josh Brown NU freshman kicker me a big of bear hug. Then he’d get the other players to come over and pile on me like I was already a member of the team. It was really hard to say no to those guys.” And even harder to deal with the criticism from the die-hard fans who had lost their hometown hero to their arch rival? “Oh, God, did I get letters. And I heard yells everywhere I went from people like, ‘How could you? How could you desert your home state like that?’ and called me a traitor,” Brown said. “But, no, I didn’t care. It was hard to leave my family. I miss them, but I wouldn’t trade any of this - playing for Nebraska - for the world.” And so far, the feeling is mutual among coaches. After the lounging was over and the kickers trudged back to the field, Brown could be found minutes later booting 30-and-40 yarders like they were chip shots. “He’s just an eager beaver, always has a great attitude,” Young said. “One thing that is great about Josh com pared to other kickers is that after he misses, he doesn’t get upset and keep missing. He just treats the next kick as another challenge.” When asked if he had any doubt in his confidence in Brown if a big game were to ride on his foot, Young said, “Absolutely not.” And all anyone has to do to be con vinced is watch the tape of Brown’s legendary 61-yarder that sailed into the Oklahoma night during the 1996 state playoffs. “I love it, I just love it,” Brown said, shaking his head. “Splitting the uprights, that’s what it’s all about. I can’t wait to get that chance here.” MEU ERASE HOUR COLLEGE LOAM If you’re stuck with a (federally insured) student loan that’s not in default, the Army might pay it off. If you qualify, weil reduce your debt—up to $65,000. Payment is either 1/3 of the debt or $1,500 for each year of service, whichever is greater. You’ll also have training in a choice of skills and enough self-assurance to last you the rest of your life. Get all the details from your Army Recruiter. (402)467-2221 ARMY BE ALL YOU CAN BE.* www.goarrny.com Huskers squeak by Sycamores TENNIS from page 9 “This is the win we’ve needed all year,” McDermott said. “We really showed them our mental toughness today.” McDermott said the team win, decided in the third set of every singles match, showed how tough the Huskers could be. “I’m starting to see we’re getting more confidence in ourselves,” McDermott said. In order to make the NCAA tour ney, Nebraska needs to be ranked in at least the top 50 in the nation, McDermott said. Saturday’s win over the 52nd team in the nation could help NU’s chances for postseason play. Verzi’s wins this weekend will bet ter his chances of being named an All American at season’s end. Veizi said the top four players from each conference were chosen for the honor. Verzi is 5-0 in the conference. “I have a really, really good chance right now, but I hate to say,” Verzi said. “I’ll just keep playing.” “Use your noon hour to RELAX” For more information, call Sue at 472-7450 Counseling ^Psychological Services i • April 6 Cruise/Mental & Physical Relaxation • April 13 Trouble Bubbles 8c Heavy TnurSaayS HUTOgemc tteiaxaTion ] 2: i o -12:45 *April 20 Cruise and Rainbow Meditation UHC-Room 43 * April 27 Train of Thought & Revitalization igTJ Parking Problems? Need a Place to Park? Park by Day $2.00 Park by Month $25 Don't Fight for Parking Enter at 8th & S Streets, 1 block west of Memorial Stadium National Garages, Gold's Galleria, Suite 120 • 474-2274