Husker Walk-on Q-n-A: Luke Reimer

True freshman linebacker Luke Reimer joined Nebraska as a walk-on, turning down scholarship offers from Buffalo, South Dakota State, South Dakota, Northern Iowa and North Dakota. A graduate of Lincoln North Star High School, Reimer spent his junior and senior seasons there after moving from Ashland, Kansas. A member of the 2019 Nebraska Shrine Bowl, Reimer was a member of the 110-man roster in fall camp and made early impressions on his coaches. Linebacker coach Barrett Ruud said the 6-foot-1, 220-pound Reimer is a naturally gifted athlete with a natural feel for finding his way around the field. "Some guys just have a knack for finding the ball," Ruud said. Reimer proved that Saturday in his first career appearance, when, playing only on special teams, he recovered a fumbled kickoff underneath a pile of humanity at Colorado. Reimer discussed that and more in this week's Nebraska walk-on Q-n-A segment with Brian Rosenthal.
 
BR: How was your first experience playing in a Nebraska football game?
Luke: "It was awesome. I was a little nervous before the first kickoff, but after that it's just football, just playing. It was fun."
 
BR: OK, so what all happened at the bottom of that pile on Saturday?
Luke: (laughs) "That was fun. I just saw the ball popped out, and instincts kick in and you jump on it. I just grabbed it as hard as I could for what felt like forever – 20 seconds, I don't know how long it was. There was like me, and then just Colorado dudes all over me. I was holding on as tight as I could. I never lost control of it. I always had it from the start, and the ref, after he started pulling people off, he's like, 'You got it,' and I gave the ball to the ref, and it went from there."
 
BR: Have you ever had something quite like that happen while playing football?
Luke: "No, that was crazy. I've recovered fumbles before, but never like with me and 10 other dudes on top of me. It was crazy."
 
BR: What is your walk-on story? What other opportunities did you have and why did you decide this route?
Luke: "I was first committed to South Dakota State, and then going through the process, I just wasn't really sure, going there, moving again. I just wanted to play at Nebraska after they offered me a walk-on. I was contemplating between here and South Dakota State, and I ended up choosing here, and it was definitely the best fit for me."
 
BR: What did you do during fall camp, do you think, to catch the coaches' attention?
Luke: "I mean, I only got to do about 10 practices because of my knee, but I think it was because of the fact I cut it loose and just played fast and played hard and didn't worry about making mistakes. I mean, they knew I was going to make mistakes regardless, just because I'm new, but they just saw how fast I played and how aggressive I was, and that's what caught their attention, I guess."
 
BR: Did you have any realistic expectations of playing this season?
Luke: "No. Absolutely not. I was coming in here as a freshman walk-on, and I knew we had a really good class coming in, anyway, so I thought there were dudes in front of me, I'd just put my head down and work as hard as I could and just go from there."
 
BR: What did coaches tell you when you first knew you were impressing them?
Luke: "They just said they were really impressed and just keep doing what you're doing, because you're grabbing attention like crazy, just keep your head down. So that's what I did."
 
BR: How difficult was it to overcome an injury in the middle of fall camp and still be able to do this?
Luke: "Oh, it was tough. It was definitely tough. Just like mentally, because I need reps right now, getting used to everything, and that was the worst part about missing out on reps. But I got back healthy."
 
BR: Can you tell me more about your background in Kansas?
Luke: "I grew up there until my junior year, and I moved up here. I had been playing eight-man football my entire life, from third grade, when I started Pee-Wee football, to my sophomore year. When I came to 11-man, it was still football. Nothing really changed. Just more guys on the field."
 
BR: Have you excelled at any other sports that you could have played in college?
Luke: "I played basketball my entire life until my senior year of high school. My freshman and sophomore year, I was probably a little bit better at basketball. It was small school basketball, so a little bit different competition. But I averaged 20 points my sophomore year, made first team state (Class 1A) in Kansas, and all that. So at first I thought I was going to play basketball in college. I never thought about football. I guess things changed."
 
BR: If you had stayed in Kansas and played eight-man football, do you think you would have received looks for football, or would you have played basketball in college?
Luke: "It would have been tough. Definitely hypothetical. I don't know, because I would have played six-man if I had stayed in Ashland, because they were moving to six-man, so it would have been really hard for me to get any looks playing six-man, especially. I don't know. It's a good question."
 
BR: What's it mean to you to be a part of the Nebraska walk-on tradition?
Luke: "It's definitely an honor to be a part of this team and to be a part of that tradition. It's definitely an honor for me."
 
BR: Any interesting fact we should know about you that maybe few people do?
Luke: "I'm not sure. I mean, I can ride a unicycle. Just me and a buddy in Kansas, and another guy had an old unicycle. We were just bored in the week one summer and were like, 'Well, let's learn it.' And we did. I have a unicycle now and I ride it sometimes."
 
BR: What's the best piece of advice you have learned from Coach Frost?
Luke: "Definitely the 'no fear of failure,' and just cut it loose. Just play with the results and live it. That's the one I think about the most and try to imitate the most."
 
BR: What are your personal goals for this year and beyond?
Luke: "Definitely just keep playing, stay healthy and get on scholarship, whether this year, next year or whatever, just get on scholarship."
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.