%20--%3e%3csvg%20version='1.1'%20id='Nebraska_N'%20xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg'%20xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink'%20x='0px'%20y='0px'%20viewBox='0%200%20163%20152'%20style='enable-background:new%200%200%20163%20152;'%20xml:space='preserve'%3e%3cstyle%20type='text/css'%3e%20.st0{fill:%23FFFFFF;}%20%3c/style%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M159.1,144c-2.3,0-4.1,1.8-4.1,4s1.8,4,4,4s4-1.8,4-4S161.2,144,159.1,144z%20M159,151.2c-1.8,0-3.2-1.4-3.2-3.2%20s1.4-3.2,3.2-3.2c1.7,0,3.2,1.5,3.2,3.2C162.2,149.8,160.8,151.2,159,151.2z'/%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M157.4,145.6h1.4c0.6,0,0.8,0,1.1,0.2c0.4,0.2,0.6,0.6,0.6,1.1c0,0.4-0.1,0.7-0.3,1c-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.2-0.6,0.4%20h-0.1l1.1,2.1h-0.8l-1-2h-0.6v2h-0.8L157.4,145.6L157.4,145.6z%20M158.6,147.7c0,0,0.3,0,0.4,0c0.4-0.1,0.6-0.3,0.6-0.8%20c0-0.3-0.1-0.5-0.4-0.6c-0.1,0-0.1,0-0.6,0h-0.4v1.4L158.6,147.7L158.6,147.7z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3c/g%3e%3cg%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M147,0H93h-5v5v35v5h5h5v24.8L55.2,2.3L53.7,0H51H5H0v5v35v5h5h5v62H5H0v5v35v5h5h54h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V82.2%20l42.8,67.5l1.5,2.3h2.7h46h5v-5v-35v-5h-5h-5V45h5h5v-5V5V0H147z%20M150,5v35v3h-3h-7v66h7h3v3v35v3h-3h-46h-1.6l-0.9-1.4L52,75.3%20V109h7h3v3v35v3h-3H5H2v-3v-35v-3h3h7V43H5H2v-3V5V2h3h46h1.7l0.9,1.4L100,76.7V43h-7h-3v-3V5V2h3h54h3V5z'/%3e%3c/g%3e%3cpath%20class='st0'%20d='M103,87L103,87L51,5H5v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0c0,3.3,0,68.7,0,72l0,0c-2.2,0-10,0-10,0v35h54v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0%20c0-2.6,0-47,0-47l52,82h46v-35c0,0-7.8,0-10,0l0,0c0-3.3,0-68.7,0-72c2.2,0,10,0,10,0V5H93v35c0,0,7.8,0,10,0%20C103,42.6,103,87,103,87z'/%3e%3c/svg%3e)
You can bid on signed, living legend jerseys
Follow Randy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/RandyYorkNsider
By Randy York
Perhaps you've already noticed Huskers.com has launched an interesting auction of football jerseys signed by living legends that share a bond: Membership in the hallowed halls of the College Football Hall of Fame. Headquarters for that elite organization will move from South Bend, Ind., to Atlanta in the fall of 2013 and is scheduled to open its new doors when Nebraska unveils its East Stadium expansion of Memorial Stadium and moves its men's and women's basketball teams into the new downtown Pinnacle Bank Arena.
This holiday-timed auction includes eight living Nebraska players who have been inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, plus an HOF football signed by Tom Osborne, the only living Nebraska coach inducted into that same group. Osborne was either Nebraska's head coach or an assistant for seven of the eight living legends who signed their jersey numbers for this special auction. The only Hall-of-Famer Osborne does not know well is 92-year-old Forrest Behm, a player the N-Sider will feature this week. In the meantime, we asked Osborne about the other seven living legends, and today he shares his thoughts on Bob Brown, Rich Glover and Dave Rimington. On Wednesday, Osborne remembers Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Rodgers and Mike Rozier, and on Thursday, we will feature the Huskers' most recent inductees, Grant Wistrom and Will Shields.
Here are Osborne's observations on:
Bob Brown: "When I first came here as a graduate assistant, Bob was part of the team. Bob Devaney and his staff were impressed by the quality of athletes that were here when they came from Wyoming. Of course, Bob Brown was one of the most prominent members of that team. At that time, he was bigger than the average offensive lineman. I think he weighed about 260 and at 6-5, had good height, pretty good speed and good punch. I remember him as being exceptional at that time. He really contributed to getting things turned around here, and I'd say an awful lot of his legacy came after he left Nebraska. He went on to have a great career in the pros. He was just tremendous over a long period of time and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as well."
Rich Glover: "Rich was a high school wrestler, and when there was a movement to a 5-2 defense, which I remember being popularized by Arkansas, Rich really benefited from that because he would line up on the center and at that time, there was very little zone and combination blocking, so the center had to block the nose guard by himself. The center had to snap the ball and then block somebody one-on-one. A center had to have good quickness and strength and agility, and it was hard to move a guy like Rich. He spent a lot of his career in the opponent's backfield. Part of that 5-2 defense was being able to slant the line, so occasionally Rich would not just play one gap of the area, but would slant and make it very, very difficult to block him. I think his wrestling skills served him well. He wasn't a real large guy. He was only about 6-1 and 220 or so, but he was very strong and very quick."
Dave Rimington: "Dave was a big man. At that time, he probably weighed close to 300 pounds. He was an avid weightlifter and had amazing quickness. He was one of the quickest guys off the ball we ever had. He played in the Shrine game before he enrolled here and tore his ACL. In fact, he played his whole career with a torn ACL. He had strong enough quads and muscle to be able to survive but I think he eventually ended up with a pretty bad knee. As I recall, Dave was one of the very last people who had an ACL injury that was never repaired. At that time, they had not perfected the technique and didn't really know how to do it. That was unfortunate for Dave. For years and years and years, that's the way it was in football. Lots of people ended up with really bad knees when they got older. I think Dave probably had his professional career shortened to some degree by that. I'm not certain of that, but I suspect that's true. He was a great player because of his strength, his size and his quickness. For a big guy, he was the quickest guy I'd ever seen. He could really anticipate the snap count. Sometimes, he was so quick, it made it hard for everyone else to keep up with him."