Husker Truck Arrives in Ohio; Let the Game Begin

Randy York N-Sider

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Big Red fans can rest easy once again. Another brand new Husker Truck that carries everything Nebraska football players, coaches, spirit team, mascots and support staff need to compete against Ohio State Saturday night arrived Friday morning in Columbus and is parked securely next to the fabled Horseshoe.

“It was a 13-hour, 800-mile drive and we have everything we need,” said Monte Selden, a Shelby, Neb., native who has been driving Nebraska’s vital equipment truck to Husker road games since the Big Red’s 1997 national championship season.

Don’t ask Selden about all the precious cargo inside his new truck because game-day necessities continue to increase on an almost annual basis. The needs include helmets, uniforms, cleats, shoes and pants. There are heavy coats and transition jackets. Belts and winter tights. Headsets and radio/video equipment.

There are also massage tables and flag stands. Cable tracks and Gatorade. Shoulder pads and game balls. Medicine and tape. Kicking nets and sand bags. Laundry hampers and cold-weather trunks. Heaters, capes and bags. There’s more, but you get the picture.

Nebraska’s equipment and essentials are varied and valued. They are also a sight to behold when Selden and co-driver Oscar Soto climb behind the wheel. As always, the Husker Truck is the benefactor of nice vibes from fellow travelers on I-80 in Omaha and Des Moines, not to mention those traveling through Peoria, Indianapolis and Columbus.

Husker Truck a Billboard Promoting a Very Powerful College Football Brand

The Husker Truck is a highway billboard that advertises one of college football’s best brands. Every trip draws honks, waves and double takes. Selden, a guy who has had both knees replaced, is having another knee issue flare up, so he asked Jacob Ladwid and Steve Keough to substitute for him and Soto in last weekend’s Husker Truck trip to Wisconsin.

Nothing was going to keep Selden from going to Columbus. “I’m driving this one to make amends,” he said. “It’s a big game, a huge game,” he said. “If we contain Ohio State, cut our mistakes down and Tommy (Armstrong Jr.) brings his A-game, I think we pull off a big upset.”

Selden bought his trucking business in 1983. His 15-ton truck advertises national championships, conference titles and crystal trophies. He gets a new truck almost every year, runs it through the program and after the bowl game, gives the truck to a driver and puts it on the road. The Husker decals on the trailer never come off. Selden Trucking now has six Big Red trucks on the highways and byways of metropolitan, suburban and rural America.

Selden, 61, has been a Husker fan since childhood. He attends lots of games, loves fullbacks like Cory Schlesinger and is friends with Curtis Tomasevicz, a former Husker football walk-on, who’s also a Shelby, Neb., native. Tomasevicz went on to win an Olympic gold medal as a bobsledder and now works at the Nebraska Athletics Performance Laboratory.

“We’re good friends,” Selden said of Tomasevicz. “We started fundraisers in Shelby that helped Curt train and make the Olympics. I was fortunate enough to be in Calgary and watch Curt win the Olympic gold. He’s a good kid. You just don’t find them like that very often.”

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