Jack Hoffman Prime Time on YouTube Rewind

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Click and watch Jack’s New Video at 2:30 within Rewind Video

Jack’s Prominent Cameo Will Help Rewind Be Bigger Than Ever

2013 Top Ten Sports Videos

1) Harlem Shake: Miami Heat Edition, 46,890,889 views

2) LeBron Tackles Heat Fan 30,846,199 views

3) GoPro: Backflip Over 72-foot Canyon, 14,919,700 views

4) Unbelieveable Little Kid Does a Trick Shot 13,269,472 views

5) South Korean Rhythmic Gymnast’s First Pitch 11,346,087 views

6) Carly Rae Jepsen Throws Terrible First Pitch 9,663,700 views

7) Ohio State Marching Band’s Halftime Tribute 9,271,479 views

8) Harlem Shake: Manchester City Football Club 8,751,919 views

9) Jack Hoffman’s 69-Yard Spring Game TD 8,332,832 views

10) Timberwolves Harlem Shake 8,261,535 views

Remember how excited Big Red fans were when Jack Hoffman’s record-breaking touchdown run in Nebraska’s 2013 Spring Game drew more than 8 million views on YouTube? Well, Team Jack’s cyber awareness quotient multiplies dramatically beginning today with the release of YouTube Rewind 2013, a compilation video that packages, presents and popularizes the best of the best on YouTube. So prepare to pause, rewind and remember the videos, people and events that defined YouTube over the past 12 months, and yes, Jack is right in the thick of the action. He makes a cameo appearance at the 2:30 mark, holding up his own rewind button. Remember, about 99 percent of this high-profile video comes from professional partners who make their living producing creative content.

“It’s a great cameo,” said Kelly Mosier, Nebraska’s director of digital communications for Huskers.com. “The Rewind Page is dedicated to all of the top videos from the year. In the sports category, Jack’s run is the 9th most watched video of the year. That’s insane!”

Especially when the somewhat serendipitous Nebraska football idea was hatched and executed in less than 24 hours of planning last April. The best thing about YouTube Rewind 2013 is the hidden video that allows viewers to click on during the YouTube Rewind. Click here, and you’ll see a longer flick of Jack and the cheerleaders “dancing”. I use quotation marks because one Husker cheerleader is holding Jack’s hands and arms and keeping them moving like an accelerated windmill to the beat of the music, of course. We all love Jack’s shy humility and appreciate his absolute innocence. When you check out our now 8-year-old Husker hero, you can’t help but chuckle seeing the smile on his face in that special clip.

Whopping 13.7 Million Rewind Views in Day One

It may not seem like such a big deal to the casual fan, but know this: Rewind 2013 went live Wednesday morning and by 9 a.m. (CT) Tuesday, it had attracted nearly 13.7 million views. Let’s put it all in perspective. The 2012 YouTube Rewind attracted 217 million views. The 2013 highlight reel includes a short clip of Jack kneeling on the field holding an over-sized rewind button in the midst of Nebraska’s Spirit Squad. That cameo more than satisfied Andy Hoffman, Jack’s dad, who turned down a YouTube producer’s request to shoot more footage in  Los Angeles.

Mosier oversees social media for Nebraska Athletics. His “war room” is a small third-floor office that requires an inquiring mind. When he isn’t glued to his computer, he tilts his head to keep up with the minute-by-minute missiles of Tweets and Facebook posts that pop up faster than popcorn on a much bigger screen that hangs on the wall to his left – a direction so prominent in his job that his neck has now permanently moved three inches to the left as well.

'Normal' is One of Jack’s Most Endearing Qualities

A key player for HuskerVision before switching into Internet mode almost 24/7, Mosier shot footage for the new video in Lincoln three hours before the Nebraska-Iowa Heroes Game in Lincoln two weekends ago. He appreciates how Jack’s dad has handled his son’s fame and how the family uses it to support the cause of pediatric brain cancer. “Jack’s one of the biggest sports stars of the year, so it makes perfect sense that he’s in a big video like this,” Mosier said before adding that Jack reminds him of his own son, Owen, who will turn 7 next spring. “Jack is almost painfully normal, and that’s one of his most endearing qualities,” Mosier said. “That’s also why he resonates so well with his followers.”

Jack’s cameo is a major boost for his following. “TubeFilter is a site that just covers news around YouTube,” Mosier told me. “In their article about the Rewind video, they list just a few cameos from the Rewind. So even though Jack’s video is short, it’s definitely being noticed, and it’s nice to see the prominence it’s generating.”

Drawing nearly 8 million views in eight months inspired sports and non-sports fans alike when they saw a head football coach enable a real life dream to become a reality and insisted that his team’s then 7-year-old hero’s name go into the record book. Now we have 13.7 million prime-time views in 24 hours. Wait until a full year’s Rewind runs its course! The University of Nebraska can’t buy what’s imbedded in this newest video, but Husker fans everywhere can certainly appreciate the impact of a normal second-grade little boy. He helps us all hope, dream, endure and enjoy – from this holiday season to the next one, when YouTube Rewind 2014 makes its debut.

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