Dr. Pat Clare?s Last Hurrah at Memorial Stadium

Randy York’s N-Sider

In 1960 Pat Clare, a Husker halfback from Sioux City, Iowa, was named one of NU’s first-ever Academic All-Americans. A year later, Clare was a Husker football tri-captain. Four years after that, he earned his degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. For the next five years, from 1967-71, Clare completed his orthopedic residency at the University of Minnesota Affiliated Hospitals. From ’71 to ’73, he was an orthopaedic surgeon in the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps. From the moment he left the Air Force 41 years ago until sometime next June, Dr. Pat Clare can say he’s been a busy and a happy orthopaedic surgeon for Nebraska Athletics.

“I was talking to the (team) physician in Wisconsin last week in Madison,” Clare related Saturday after being honored for his devoted service to Husker student-athletes during a quarterly break. Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst presented Clare with a framed jersey so the longtime chief of medical staff could be recognized in front of NU's 340th consecutive home football sellout. “Bill Clancy (Minnesota’s orthopedic surgeon) and I are the same age (74) and we’re doing the same deal. We’re both hanging it up at the same time.” In a conversation with Clare, Clancy made a prediction. “We both have about 10 more good years left, so we probably should do something else,” he quipped.

Good Ride, Wonderful Time, Very Fulfilling

Clare chuckles at the thought, but feels good about giving up what has defined most of his adult life. “It’s been a good ride,” he told me. “I’ve had a wonderful time and great experiences all through the years. Dave (one of his four sons) and the others can more than handle everything that needs to be handled. It’s time. I was fortunate to have played here and then to come back and work here in this capacity. It’s been very good and very fulfilling. I’ve enjoyed taking care of student-athletes over all these years. It’s really, really been a lot of fun overall, even though it’s been a lot of crazy hours sometimes. Getting to work with Coach (Tom) Osborne was phenomenal. I also enjoyed working with Frank (Solich) and on through Bo (Pelini)…there are a lot of good memories through the years.

“It’s been fun to help these vibrant young guys,” Clare said. “They remind me of taking care of pilots in the Air Force. They’re gung-ho in trying to get back out there and do their thing.” I ask Clare’s wife Linda, the mother of their four sons – Tim, Dave, Mike and John – and grandmother to the family’s nine grandchildren, if retirement for her husband will be a tough transition. “Yes,” she said immediately, “but we’re working on it.” How? I asked. “We got a dog,” she said, “so if Pat doesn’t have anything to do, he can take the dog for a walk, and that will make both of us happy.”

Jerry Weber: No One Ever Doubted Dr. Clare

Jerry Weber, pictured above, is Nebraska’s longtime Hall-of-Fame athletic trainer. He has known Dr. Clare for 40 years. “Pat started his career about the same time I started mine as a student,” Weber said. “I was beginning physical therapy school when Dr. Clare came on board in athletics. He’s the consummate professional. No one ever doubted him. When he’s going to do something, he’s always going to do it right. He’s always had total confidence and impeccable standards.

“Our team has been brought up under Pat’s group over four decades,”  said Weber, the dean of Nebraska's 12 full-time athletic trainers, who are based primarily in the George Sullivan Athletic Training Room inside the Osborne North Stadium Training Complex. “The people who work with us have never questioned that Dr. Clare was going to do the right thing for student-athletes. He embodies everything that Nebraska fans and Nebraska student-athletes are proud of. He missed the Devaney era because he was a senior the year before Devaney arrived here. Dr. Clare is as well thought of in orthopedics as anybody in the country. Our pro athletes come back to Lincoln to have surgery so Dr. Clare can do it. He’s an amazing story.”

Dr. Dave Clare, who works with his father at Nebraska Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, and Tim Clare, a member of the UNL Board of Regents, both support their dad’s decision to retire in his mid-70s. “He’s been a great father, friend and mentor,” Dave told me. “Going on that field with the family choked me up a bit.” Tim compliments his dad for the "great ride" he’s had as a meticulous pro and the way he’s inspired his family and others. “I hope I have half of what he has right now when I get to be his age,” Tim said.

Dr. Pat Clare retiring full-fledged still doesn't resonate with his wife, sons, or Steve Waterfield, who oversees football and sports medicine for Nebraska Athletics and is pictured at far right in the photo above on Tom Osborne Field. Come June, Clare no longer will perform surgeries or go into the office every day. "I'll be sitting up there somewhere next year," he told me, pointing to the stands." Linda Clare isn't so sure. His sons aren't either. Both said they will ask their dad for his continued wisdom and consultation, even though nothing has been formalized or discussed. The next seven months will evaporate soon enough. Then and only then will Clare and his Wisconsin colleague chat about what might work best for the 10 years of productivity they still have left.

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