Blackshirt Fulfills Lifelong Dream for Gifford

Luke Gifford opened his locker about 3:10 on Monday afternoon while a few teammates around him, notably Eric Lee Jr. and Chris Weber, quietly appreciated their newly donned Blackshirt jerseys.

Gifford, meanwhile, was picking his heart off the locker room floor.

Imagine how far yours might sink as a fifth-year senior Nebraska football player who’d been earning nothing but rave reviews from coaches and players all fall camp, only to find no Blackshirt near your locker. 

Heck, even just earlier Monday, at his first weekly news conference of the season, coach Mike Riley had singled out Gifford as somebody who'd found "a whole new life" under first-year defensive coordinator Bob Diaco. He even said Gifford was playing "the best football of his life."

Now this?

An expressionless Gifford paused after opening not one, but two doors to his wide locker. Then he heard a couple of snickers. The snickers turned to laughter.

“Am I missing something or what?” Gifford said, suddenly able to crack a smile.

Uh, as a matter of fact, yes.

Gifford then turned to the locker next to him, where he saw a laughing Devine Ozigbo and found a No. 12 Blackshirt hanging in the junior running back’s locker.

Teammates offered congratulations as a relieved Gifford took his Blackshirt off its hanger. He sat down and unfolded his jersey as he carefully inspected his last name in capital letters.

At long last, Gifford, a graduate of Lincoln Southeast, cherished his first Blackshirt.

No birthday present could possibly beat this feeling for Gifford, who turned 22 on Monday.

“Honestly, I can’t even describe it,” Gifford told me only a few minutes later. “I’ve been thinking of this since I was old enough to know what Nebraska football was. I’ve been coming to games my whole life. I’ve been dreaming about it. It was a pretty cool feeling.”

He took the prank in good jest, although he admitted to wondering for a moment if he still had work to do to earn his coveted practice jersey.

“I didn’t really know, honestly,” said Gifford, listed No. 2 on Monday’s depth chart at outside linebacker, behind senior and fellow Blackshirt Marcus Newby. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

Gifford was among 16 players to receive Blackshirts before Monday’s practice. Others were defensive linemen Freedom Akinmoladun, Khalil Davis, Carlos Davis and Mick Stoltenberg; linebackers Newby, Weber, Dedrick Young II, Mohamed Barry and Alex Davis; cornerbacks Lee, Lamar Jackson and Dicaprio Bootle, and safeties Aaron Williams, Antonio Reed and Joshua Kalu, who also turned 22 on Monday.

Members of the equipment staff quickly and quietly hung the jerseys with care, much like Santa Clause on Christmas Eve.

Less than an hour later, players reacted in the same manner kids do on Christmas Morning.

“This is everything I’ve waited for since I got here,” sophomore defensive end Carlos Davis said. “That was one of my goals, to get a Blackshirt. I love it. I can’t believe it.”

Davis initially saw white practice jerseys when he entered the locker room on Monday and thought Blackshirts wouldn’t be awarded this day, after all. Then the Huskers all left for meetings, and when Davis returned …

“Like a weight lifted off my shoulders,” he said. “Still got to work, though. I’ve been waiting for this for a while.”

Lee, a sophomore cornerback, earned a starting job in fall camp to replace injured senior Chris Jones. Lee edged Bootle, a redshirted freshman, but both are wearing black.

“It’s definitely a unique opportunity to get something like this,” Lee said. “When you look back at all the hard work you put in during the winter and spring ball and all that stuff, it’s kind of cool to see all that work pay off. Like Coach Riley and them said, it’s just the beginning. We’re just getting to get work.”

Lee had an inkling he’d receive a Blackshirt but wasn’t about to assume or take anything for granted.

His reaction when he entered the locker room and saw his black practice jersey hanging from his locker?

“Definitely a lot of built-up emotion,” Lee said. “I’ve been dreaming of this day since I was younger. It’s finally cool to get it."

The Davis twins, Barry, Jackson, Bootle, Lee and Reed are first-time Blackshirts, along with, of course, Gifford.

“It’s one thing to get it. It’s another thing to play like one. I’m excited about it, though,” Gifford said. ““I’m ready to live it out.”

 Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.