Football 101 Raises $50,000 For Charities

Lincoln - A capacity crowd of nearly 1,000 Husker fans attended the 2009 Football 101 event on Tuesday, June 2, presented by the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center and the Bo Pelini Foundation.

 

The event was held at the University of Nebraska’s athletic facilities as a fund-raiser to help in the fight against breast cancer.  At the morning session, $50,000 was donated to entities dedicated to the fight.  Half of the donation went to the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center Foundation, while the other half was donated to the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.

 

The day began with fans hearing from Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne, Head Football Coach Bo Pelini, Director of Football Operations Jeff Jamrog, the Husker Sports Network’s Greg Sharpe, Dr. Kenneth Cowan of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center and Dr. Nate Green of the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center.  In addition to the check presentations, the morning session also featured a mock game film review with Bo Pelini and members of the current Nebraska defense, and a question-and-answer time with several current Husker football players.

 

Fans attending the event had the opportunity to learn the basics of the Husker offense and defense in talks with Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson and Defensive Coordinator Carl Pelini.  They were treated to hands-on training on the Hawks Field with several assistant coaches, where they went through offense, defense and special teams drills before coming together to run a few actual plays.  They also got a behind-the-scenes look at the Nebraska support staff’s duties in sessions with the team’s strength and conditioning, academic, equipment management and athletic medicine personnel.

 

The day concluded with the event’s participants taking the Tunnel Walk from the Osborne Athletic Complex into Memorial Stadium.  There, the football staff recognized all breast cancer survivors in attendance at Football 101, and Bo Pelini addressed the participants for the close of the event before joining the cancer survivors in a private reception.

 

“We had a really good turnout, talked a lot of football, answered a lot of questions, and had a great time today,” Pelini said. “We appreciate the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center and the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center for their work in the fight, and our sponsors and all our fans for coming out today for a great cause and helping make it all possible.  It was a great day, and we hope we can do this again every year.”

 

For more information about Football 101 or to donate or become a sponsor for the Bo Pelini Foundation any time throughout the year, please visit www.bopelinifoundation.com.