Lohr?s Unique Perspective Provides Big Benefits

By Erin Smith
Lincoln -- The focus this season for the Nebraska football team has been one game at a time, one week at a time, one opponent at a time. That's a pretty easy concept for sixth-year senior Jason Lohr who has mastered the one-step-at-a-time theory while trying to just get back on his feet again.

Lohr missed all of last season after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament the week before the season opener. That came after an entire year of rehabbing the same knee from a lateral collateral ligament tear he suffered in the third game of 2001.

With three surgeries and two arthroscopic procedures behind him, Lohr is focused on making the most out of his final season in a Husker uniform.

"I've learned a lot about dealing with adversity," Lohr said. "It's been pretty painful, but once you are able to walk again you start to see things more positively."

Not when he was able to run, not when he was able to practice, not even when he was able to make his first hit, but when he was able to walk again, Lohr began to see hope.

The resiliency the Tulsa, Okla., native has shown has been incredible. The 6-2, 285-pound defensive tackle has seen his first playing time in the last three years when hitting the field against Southern Miss and Troy State.

"Now I am back into it and slowly progressing," Lohr said. "I am just happy to be able to play and be relatively pain-free."

Despite the pain and the frustration of watching from the sidelines, Lohr has remained positive and relied on his family to help carry him through the hard times. Lohr married Jennifer Corner in 2000 and the couple has two sons, two-year-old Ryan Michael and nine-month-old Grant Jordan.

"I have a different perspective," Lohr said. "If I have a bad day, I can go home and see one of my kids smile and it changes my whole attitude. That helps a lot. When I am having a hard practice, I can just look forward to seeing my family."

Life for Lohr has been categorized into football and family.

"I have two separate lives," Lohr said. "When I am here it is all football and when I go home it is all family. When I am home, I try not to think about football."

Asking Lohr to not think football is a tall task. Lohr has thought about the sport since he was a youngster and comes from a rock-solid high school program that prepared him for the football frenzy he would face at Nebraska.

Lohr spent his prep career at Jenks High School, a school that has won seven of the last 10 Oklahoma Class 6A state titles and has produced numerous Division I football players.

Toting his two high school state championships, Lohr came into Lincoln when the Huskers had claimed three out of the last four national titles.

"Coming from Jenks, we expected to win," Lohr said. "It is the same way here. I came up here and we expected to win."

So naturally when the injuries occurred, Lohr expected to overcome and set his mind on completing his career.

"The best thing I could walk away with is just knowing that I finished my career out, because the first time I hurt my knee I didn't know what I wanted to do," Lohr said. "If I wouldn't have finished it out I probably would have kicked myself the rest of my life."

Lohr immediately jumped into the mix at Nebraska as a freshman, seeing action his first year as a backup.

"Playing in my first game as a freshman was probably the highlight of my career," Lohr said. "I was kind of nervous, but excited about playing college football. It was fun to get in."

Lohr picked up speed as a sophomore, rotating with Steve Warren at nose tackle and finishing with 33 tackles. In his junior campaign Lohr was at his best when the lights were the brightest, posting six tackles against No. 23 Notre Dame, eight at Oklahoma and 11 against Colorado.

In 2001, Lohr began a promising season, before having it cut short when the first knee injury struck in the third game of the season against Notre Dame.

Despite the setbacks, Lohr chose to persevere and has focused on winning instead of just walking.

"Our team is doing well," Lohr said. "Our number one goal is to win the Big 12 and to go to the national championship game, but we have to take it game by game."

Through it all, Lohr has been resilient and appreciates the chance to still be playing.

"I love the college atmosphere and the fans," Lohr said. "There's nothing like college football, especially here at home."