Tony Veland Season 1994

Honors & Awards

• Super Bowl XXXII Champion (1997 Denver Broncos)
• Drafted by the Denver Broncos (1996 - 6th Round, Pick #181)
• University of Nebraska Graduate (May, 1996)
• Member of Two Nebraska National Championship Teams (1994, 1995)
• Second-Team All-Big Eight (AP, Coaches, 1995)
• Team Captain (1995)

Career

Tony Veland switched to the secondary from his recruited quarterback position prior to his junior year, after he tore his patellar tendon in his knee in the second game of the 1993 season. The move would serve Veland well as he not only helped the Huskers to back-to-back national championships, but was also selected in the sixth round of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He would go on to win a ring as a member of the team when the Bronco's defeated the Packers, 31-24, in Super Bowl XXXII. Veland would end his playing career a year later after playing the 1998 season with the Carolina Panthers.

1995 (Senior)

Veland continued his role at free safety his senior year, starting all 11 games. He served as team captain and earned second-team All-Big Eight honors as he had 38 tackles (22 solo). He caused one fumble while recovering two on the season.

1994 (Junior)

Converted quarterback Tony Veland saw his first action in the Husker secondary and continued to improve his game both physically and mentally as the season progressed. He missed all of spring drills rehabilitating a knee after tearing his right patellar tendon in the second game of the 1993 season, but studied with the secondary to make the move from quarterback. Unfortunately, the same fate fell on starting free safety Mike Minter when he went down in the second game with a torn ACL in his knee and missed the remainder of the season. Veland took over for Minter, started the last 10 games and recorded 26 tackles (13 solo) with one breakup and three interceptions. The junior from Omaha alternated playing time with sophomore Eric Stokes, who also battled several injuries in his career. Veland picked off his first interception of his career and had a then team season-long return of 35-yards as he replaced the injured Minter in the Texas Tech game. Veland's second interception of the year came against UCLA in his first career start. He also had three tackles and a breakup in the regionally televised game against No. 13 UCLA. His career high in tackles was four against No. 2 Colorado in Lincoln. Veland's third interception of the season came against Kansas in Lincoln on KU's first offensive play of the game. In the 1995 Orange Bowl against Miami, Veland was third on the team with six tackles, including one for a four-yard loss. Although coaches considered moving Veland back to quarterback during the Huskers' QB injury-laden weeks at midseason, Veland's knee was still not 100 percent. In addition, he was just learning the defensive system and was desperately needed in the secondary to replace Minter.

1993 (Sophomore)

One game after starting quarterback Tommie Frazier went down with an ankle injury in the season opener, Tony Veland, who was sharing the No. 2 quarterback spot at the time with Brook Berringer, ruptured his right patellar tendon in the Texas Tech game and was lost for the season. In the first two games of the year, Veland rushed eight times for 14 yards and was 6-9 passing for 76 yards with one interception and one touchdown. He had 15 yards rushing on six carries and a touchdown and all of his passing stats (6-9-76-1-1) came in game No. 1 against North Texas.

1992 (Freshman)

Veland became the No. 1 quarterback during spring drills when senior Mike Grant suffered a broken collarbone with about two weeks of practice remaining. However, Veland suffered the same fate when he broke his collarbone prior to the season in a controlled scrimmage on Aug. 25. He missed the first five games, traveled with the team to Missouri on Oct. 24, but did not play. He saw action in four games backing up Frazier and Grant. He played against Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Kansas State. He did not have any pass attempts, and rushed four times for one yard, with a long of 14 yards against Kansas State. He traveled, but did not play against Florida State in the Federal Express Orange Bowl.

1991 (Redshirt)

A scholarship recruit, Veland redshirted his first year at Nebraska.

Benson High School

A second-team all-state quarterback, Veland was a two-way starter for three years for Coach Lonnie Tapp at Omaha Benson. He averaged 12 passes per game, completed 54.2 percent for 78.7 yards per game and threw just two interceptions all season. Veland ran for 700 yards and passed for 700 as a senior. He was the offensive MVP of the 1991 Nebraska Shrine Bowl Game. He also averaged 39 yards per kick as the team's punter. He started on the Bunnies' basketball team which was ranked No. 1 in the state through the regular season. Veland earned nine varsity letters in all as a prepster and was an academic all-state selection in football and basketball. He placed fifth in the Class A 100 meters (11.03) and third in the discus (162-2) at the 1991 state track meet.

Personal

The son of Eva Veland, Tony was born March 11, 1973, in Omaha. He has one brother, Tory, and one sister, Tiana. Tony majored in engineering and earned his bachelor's degree from Nebraska in May, 1996. He was an active participant in the community as he was a keynote speaker for the 1992 National Education Week, a volunteer guest speaker at Culler Junior High in 1993 and volunteer mentor in the VIP Shadowing Program in 1995.

Veland's Career Statistics

.	.	Tackles			.	.	Fum.	.	.	.	QB	Int.
Year	G/S	UT	AT	TT	TFL	Sacks	C-R	BK	PBU	PI	Hry.	Csd.
1991	Redshirted
1992	4/0 - QB
1993	2/0 - QB
1994	12/10	13	13	26	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	3	0	0
1995	11/11	22	16	38	1-1	0-0	1-2	0	2	1	2	0
Totals	29/21	35	29	64	1-1	0-0	1-2	0	3	4	2	0

Interceptions
Year	No.	Yds.	Avg.	LP	TDs
1994	3	35	11.7	35 vs. TTU	0
1995	1	43	43.0	43 vs. MU	0
Total	4	78	19.5	43 vs. MU	0

1995 Orange Bowl vs. Miami: Tackles, 4 UT, 2 AT, 6 TT, TFL, 1-4
1996 Fiesta Bowl vs. Florida: Tackles, 2 UT, 0 AT, 2 TT, 1 interception for minus 3 yards, 1 PBU