The Jet, Shields Share HOF Thoughts on Sports Nightly

Seven Huskers to Be Enshrined

Johnny Rodgers Audio Interview

Will Shields Audio Interview

Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Three days before Nebraska’s annual Red-White Spring Game, two Husker football players expanded their already legendary status on Wednesday.

Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers, Nebraska’s first Heisman Trophy winner in 1972, and Will Shields, one of only three Huskers in history to be inducted into both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame, are cornerstones for the 2016 University of Nebraska Athletics seven-member Hall of Fame inductee class.To commemorate this announcement, Husker Sports Nightly studio host Greg Sharpe interviewed both football legends Wednesday night. Both are included in the program's second class of Hall of Fame inductees. The 2015 inaugural class inducted 22 members last spring.

One of the most electrifying players in college football history, Rodgers was a pivotal force on back-to-back national championship teams. Shields, NU's first scholarship football player from rival state Oklahoma, won an Outland Trophy award and went on to earn 12 Pro Bowl honors. He was also named the 2003 NFL Man of the Year while playing for the Kansas City Chiefs. 

B1G Surprise Announcement: Heather Brink Becoming Hall-of-Fame Inductee

Of the seven new inductees, Heather Brink may have been the most surprised for two reasons: 1) the 2000 Honda Award winner was the nation's top women's gymnast and is in Alabama this week as associate head coach for Nebraska's gymnastics team; and 2) she received a surprise visit from Nebraska Director of Athletics Shawn Eichorst and Senior Women's Administrator Pat Logsdon. Both visited Nebraska's Monday practice sesson to inform Brink that she will be enshrined into the Hall of Fame this fall.

"It's definitely an honor," Brink told me. "I came to Lincoln and have the passion for the sport, but being in the University of Nebraska's Hall of Fame is special and obviously near and dear to my heart. It's a strange feeling a little because in my head, I still feel like I'm that athlete. On the other side, I'm still the coach.

"There's that divide between two totally different worlds. To put myself back in that other world that I lived in and have my athletes see me be honored in this way during one of our practices together is very, very special."

Former Captain, Leader Brink Could Be Hall-of-Fame Coach Someday, Too

Nebraska women's gymnastics head coach Dan Kendig enjoyed seeing the surprise visit unfold so a practice session could include a timeout for flowers and a quick ceremony. “Heather is extremely worthy and she had no clue it was coming her way,” Kendig said. “Nobody knew what was going on in here, so that was pretty cool.

"Our sport has a Hall of Fame for coaches, and Heather can be inducted into that someday, too," Kendig said. "She’s also probably the best captain we’ve ever had because she’s never been afraid to hold people accountable. That’s how she was able to win the NCAA All-Around in Boise (Idaho) her senior year. She was one of those leaders who could inspire her teammates and help her coaches at the same time. She deserves to be in the Hall of Fame."

Legends (Meandering) Metcalf and (Kruse) Sellon Excelled Beyond the Court 

Nearly four months after Nebraska won its fourth NCAA National Volleyball Championship, the Huskers announced that Janet (Kruse) Sellon (pictured above right) and Nancy (Meendering) Metcalf (above left) will represent one of the Huskers' most traditional programs and be enshired into the Hall of Fame this fall.

A native of Fort Calhoun, Neb., and a four-year letterwinner from 1988-91, Kruse epitomized the term “student-athlete” during a decorated career. On the court, she became the program's first three-time All-American and helped the Huskers win four Big Eight titles and make two NCAA national semifinals and one runner-up finish in 1989. In the classroom, Kruse was a three-time CoSIDA Academic All-American and named volleyball's Academic All-American of the Year in both 1990 and 1991. She also received a prestigious NCAA Top 10 Award.

From 1997 to 2001, (Meendering) Metcalf became a three-time first-team All-American, two-time Big 12 Player of the Year and two-time NCAA Regional MVP. She also was named CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year. Metcalf helped lead Nebraska to three Big 12 titles and two NCAA semifinal appearances. A two-time CoSIDA Academic All-American, the 2004 Olympian also earned an NCAA Top 10 Award, the highest honor bestowed by the NCAA.

Nicole Martial and Phil Cahoy Join Nancy Metcalf as Olympic Qualifiers

(Meendering) Metcalf wasn't the only Olympic qualifer in Nebraska's 2016 Hall of Fame class. Triple jumper Nicola Martial (above left) and highly decorated gymnast Phil Cahoy (above right) are equally stellar athletes who earned the opportunity to represent their respective countries in Olympic Games.

Martial competed from 1993 to '96 and represented her home country of Guyana that summer as a triple jumper at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. The first Nebraska student-athlete – male or female – to be an individual national champion, she won three triple jump national championships, plus back-to-back titles at the 1994 and 1995 NCAA Outdoor Championships and another NCAA indoor title in 1996. Martial also earned first-team CoSIDA Academic All-America accolades.

Cahoy helped Nebraska win four consecutive NCAA team titles from 1980 to 1983. He was a four-time individual national champion, plus a 10-time All-American. At the 1980 NCAA Championships, Cahoy joined fellow Nebraska Athletics Hall-of-Famer Jim Hartung as one of the first two Huskers to win an individual national title. Both made the 1980 Olympic team that boycotted competing. Now an orthopedic surgeon in Grand Island, two of Cahoy's sons, Steven and Kevin, are pole vaulters for the Husker track and field team.

2016 Seven-Member Hall of Fame Class Distinguishes Itself Beyond Athletics

Bottom line, the 2016 Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame class combined for nine individual national titles, seven NCAA team championships and 33 All-America accolades. Kruse and Martial were both recognized as the CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in their respective sports, with Kruse earning the same honor in back-to-back years. Kruse and Metcalf were both recipients of NCAA Top 10 Awards, an annual honor limited to the 10 most exemplary senior student-athletes competing in all sports at every level of NCAA competition.

The class showcases three Olympians (Cahoy, Martial and Metcalf), two members of the College Football Hall of Fame (Rodgers and Shields), one Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (Shields) and one member of the U.S. Gymnastics Hall of Fame (Cahoy).

The class is tentatively scheduled to be formally inducted into the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame the weekend of Sept. 17, when the Husker football team hosts Oregon at Memorial Stadium. In conjunction with an enshrinement ceremony, a plaque with the names of the seven members of the 2016 Hall of Fame class will be added to the University of Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame Plaza (pictured above).

Completed last fall, the outdoor plaza is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Fans who attend Saturday's Red-White Spring Game would enjoy visiting the plaza, which is adjacent to East Memorial Stadium's main entrance.

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Full Bios of All Seven 2016 Hall of Fame Class