__ I
— Johnny #2
Rodgers
It started with the
catch.
He dashed up the
middle.
He made a move-a
move that seem to miss
three men at once. His
whole body lurched
with it, finding him
space to the outside.
The move, one of
many he made over his
career, came out of
nowhere. In own his
words: “What hap
pened out there just
happened.”
He broke to the
I thank the most.”
Rodgers, the No. 2
athlete on the Daily
Nebraskan Sports
Century list, played for
NUfrom 1970 to 1972.
His career as a receiver
has yet to be paralleled.
He is still the all-time
pass receiving leader at
NU with 143 recep
tions for 2,479 yards.
He’s fourth in career
points with 270 points
on 45 touchdowns. He
shares two NCAA
records still, for most
punt return for a touch
sideline. He got a few blocks (one of
which, to this day, every fan who ever
worshipped that prairie schooner swore
was a clip).
Then came the speed. He had it, to
be sure. You don’t get nicknamed “The
Jet” without it. He bolted past the
maroon jerseys.
He was gone.
Man. Woman. Child. Johnny
Rodgers, the Nebraska receiver who
seemed to defy gravity with his style on
a football field, scored on a 72-yard punt
return to give the Cornhuskers a 7-0
lead.
And he did it in possibly the biggest
college football game ever played. The
Game of the Century on Thanksgiving
Day 1971, against No. 2 Oklahoma
might be best remembered for Rodgers’
pigskin ballet through the OU coverage.
It ended in a 35-31 NU victory, and the
Cornhuskers’ second consecutive
national title.
It cemented the legend of “Johnny
the Jet,” a man who would win the
Heisman Trophy in 1972; a player who
always “put ’em in the aisles,” as late
Nebraska radio broadcaster Lyle
Bremser used to say.
«I’ll never forget Lyle Bremser,”
Rodgers said. “I’d do what I did, and he
would announce itto the world. His
broadcasts added onto whatever I did.
He and Bob Devaney are the two people
down in a career and most kick returns
for touchdowns in a career.
Seeing himself as a “utility man,”
Rodgers was jack of most offensive
trades. Never was it clearer than in the
1972 Orange Bowl, when Rodgers ran
passed, and caught touchdowns. He
scored five times in a 40-6 win over
Notre Dame.
“If I had to run out of backfield, I did
that,” Rodgers said. “I did whatever I
was called to do.”
And then, there was the punt returns.
Rodgers said he always got the
green light from Devaney. No instruc
tions, no rules. Rodgers said he could
recall a time when Devaney asked him
to make fair catch, although Rodgers
could if he wanted to.
“I never did,” Rodgers said.
But much of credit goes to blocking,
Rodgers said. His 15.46 career average
for yards per return was testament to die
holes the NU punt return team opened
for him.
Former NU Coach Tom Osborne,
who was the offensive coordinatofwhen
Rodgers played, acknowledged the team
effort. But Rodgers had something spe
cial, too.
“He could beat you more ways than
anyone,” Osborne said. “Johnny just
had a tremendous amount of talent and
he could do so many things out on the
field.”.
#5^, Charles
I iRTrFMT?
VjrilJDillN Hi
Sitting in fifth place
is something that doesn’t
come easy to Charles
Greene. '
Greene, a sprinter on
the Nebraska track team
from 1965-67, won every
race he ran from
September 1965 to
March 1967, took six
NCAA titles and was
also a six-time All
American.
“When I showed up, I
won,” Greene said. “I
would show un for the
. .
mg your school and your
nation, things become
more exciting. It was just
an awesome experience.”
Adding to the acco
lades, Greene was also
billed as the World’s
Fastest Man for a time in
1968.
Greene came to
Nebraska from Seattle to
run for Frank Sevigne,
the Husker coach from
1956-83. AtNU, he' is on
the record books for his
5.2 second time in the
race and I’d say, ‘Hey look, guys, first
place is already taken, it’s sitting up in
my room. You guys must be running for
second and third.’”
Greene, the No. 5 male pick on the
DN Sports Century list, won three
NCAA indoor championships in the
60-yard dash and three NCAA outdoor
championship in the 100-yard dash.
But it was his stint in the 1968
Mexico City Olympic Games that
brought in the most precious hardware
for Greene.
At the 1968 Games, Greene won
two medals - a bronze in the 100-meter
dash and a gold in the 4x100-meter
relay.
“Mexico City was kind of the cul
mination of my track and field career,”
Greene said. “When you’re represent
50-yard dash, an event that is no longer
run in collegiate competition.
“Nebraska gave me an opportunity,
I already had the talent,” Greene said of
his days as Husker. “Talent is what
counts.”
These days, Greene has returned to
his alma mater where he has worked as
the director of student judicial affairs
since July 1997.
He said returning to Nebraska has
been another great chapter in his life
and has allowed him to seexampus life
from yet another perspective.
“It’s a great place,” Greene said.
“You hear it so much in Nebraska, they
preach hard work. With that, the reputa
tion of the institution follows you wher
ever you go. I always remember, good
athletes go other places. Great athletes
and great students go to Nebraska.”
r, 'y? .
UNG
No Nebraska
athletic program,
not even football,
can equal the domi- •
nance and tradition
of Francis Allen’s
gymnastic teams
the last 20 years.
Along with
eight national team
championships, the
Comhuskers brag
eight individual all
around champions.
The only man to
win that title twice
was Jim Hartung.
Until this season,
the parallel bars. Seven
individual national
titles in all. Twenty
two All-America hon
ors.
The accolades
don’t end there.
Hartung was also a
two-time Olympian in
1980 and 1984. He
helped the USA men’s
gymnastics team win
its only team gold
medal in history at the
’84 Olympics in Los
Angeles.
And Hartung was a
part of many fusts, as
he was the only Husker to win the all
around as a sophomore.
Hartung, die No. 3 athlete in the
Daily Nebraskan Sports Century list,
won almost everything a male gym
nast can possibly win throughout a
career.
He was at the very core of
Nebraska’s remarkable dynasty in the
late 1970s and early ’80s. No other
athlete in school history can claim the
honor of being a part of four national
championship teams. Three of those
titles came from 1980-82 at the Bob
Devaney Sports Center in front of his
home fans.
If Tommie Frazier and Johnny
Rodgers were the class of Nebraska
sports history in terms of recognition
and popularity, Hartung was the class
in terms of numbers. Numbers
unequaled by any Nebraska athlete.
Four national team titles. Two
individual all-around titles. Three
straight national titles on the still
rings. Two straight national titles on
well. Not only was he a part ot
Nebraska’s first national champi
onship team in 1979, he was one of
the first two NU gymnasts to win
individual titles (along with Phil
Cahoy in 1980). Hartung was also the
first of three Nebraska men to win
the Nissen Award, presented to the
outstanding senior collegiate gym
nast of the year.
Ironically, Hartung won the
award in the year he failed to win a
third-straight all-around title, 1982.
Hartung epitomized the require
ments the winner of the Heisman
Trophy of college gymnastics must
fulfill:
“He must be an example of good
sportsmanship and fair play ... a
champion in defeat as well as in vic
tory. He must maintain a high stan
dard of scholarship throughout his
college career.
“The true champion seeks excel
lence physically, mentally, socially
and morally.”
S'
There’s too many big games to recall. Too many highlight reel runs to count
them accurately. But Nebraska’s all-time rusher, Mike Rozier, has one title,
albeit a subjective one, that he will most likely never have to relinquish to any
one in college football.
He’s got the best 2-yard run the world has ever seen.
Against UCLA, Nebraska had a comfortable lead and was looking to pad.
With the ball on the 2-yard line, quarterback Turner Gill gave the ball to Rozier,
who scampered all the way back to the 20-yard line. Dodging Bruin defenders,
he crisscrossed the field a couple more times and finally scored a 2-yard touch
down on a 60-yard run.
But that was Rozier, the No. 4 male ath
lete on the Daily Nebraskan Sports
Century list. He could make impossible
looking runs seem possible. In 1983, he ran
for 2,149 yards en route to the Heisman
Trophy, an award he was predicted to win.
He scored 29 touchdowns that season,
49 for his career. Rozier rushed for 4,837
yards overall and still holds two NCAA
record for yards per carry in a season (7.81)
and yards per carry over a career (7.16).
“He was one of our great backs,” for
mer NU coach Tom Osborne said. “Mike
had a great ability to make a little move on
a guy without slowing down.” *
Rozier played on a offense that was
considered one of the most prolific in
recent years. The 1983 scoring explosion
had much to do with Rozier, who replaced
future NFL star Roger Craig as starter at
the beginning of the 1982 season. Until it was broken by Calvin Jones ; in 1991,
Rozier held the single-game rushing record of285 yards.
He still holds the record for most 200-yard games with six. He has the most
yards in a quarter (135) and in a half (230). He has the most attempts in a career
at Nebraska, the most yards, the most touchdowns and definitely the best 2-yard
run. - '
Osborne said one of Rozier’s best attributes was balance. The tiptoed run
down the sideline against Syracuse, a run made famous by Sports Illustrated,
made testament to that It was Rozier’s ability to stay nimble throughout a run
that kept him deadly.
“Most guys have to run laterally to make guys miss, or they’ll have to stop to
do it” Osborne said. “Mike had great feet he’d just keep running wife a full
head of steam mi him.”