Celebrity Sightings: Eric Crouch and Grant Wistrom

Our friends at Fan House Sports are presenting a set of of signing opportunities in the very near future.

Heisman Trophy winner Nebraska Cornhusker and former Omaha Nighthawks quarterback Eric Crouch will be signing autographs at Fan House Sports in the Gateway Mall, Lincoln NE.  The signing will be on October 27th from Noon to 1:30 pm.  Autographs are free on your own item.  Fan House Sports will have items to purchase also.


In 2001, Eric Crouch won the Heisman Trophy, the Davey O'Brein Award and the Walter Camp Award.  He was also the Big 12 Conference offensive player of the year. He is one of a few quarterbacks in Division 1-A to rush for 3000 and pass for 4000 yards in a career. Eric was the 13th player in NCAA history to rush and pass for 1000 yards in a season with 1115 rushing and 1510 passing yards. While at Nebraska, he held records of single season total offense leader with 2688 yards and single game record for total offense of 360 yards. He holds the total offensive touchdown record at 88 and has the most rushing yards by a quarterback at 3434. Eric also has the record for longest run from scrimmage at 95 yards.  

Also coming up is one of the greatest Blackshirts of all time: Grant Wistrom!  Grant will be at Fan House Sports in the Gateway Mall, Lincoln NE on November 24th. VIP signings are available for $75 with a time from 12:30 to 1:30pm.  Public signing is from 2 to 4pm. Autographs will be $25 per item on your own item.  Fan House Sports will also have items to purchase which includes one signature.

Grant Winstrom was member of 3 National Chamionship teams at Nebraska - 1994, 1995 and 1997.  He was first team Big 12 in 1995-1997 and First team All American in 1996 and 1997. In 1996 and 1997, he was also Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. Also in 1997, Winstrom was the Lombari Award Winner and the Nagursk Award finalist. He holds Nebraskas record for tackles for a loss at 58.5 and is second in school history in sacks at 26.5. Wistrom was selected 6th overall in the 1998 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams and played in the NFL from 1998 to 2006.  He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

For more info on these signings, please call Jeff at Fan House Sports at 402-601-6257. 

Celebrity Sighting - Cornhusker Heisman's, 9-1-12 Lincoln NE

The Fan House in Lincoln NE will be hosting an autograph signing with Heisman trophy Winners Johnny Rodgers (1972), Mike Rozier (1983) and Eric Crouch (2001) on 9-1-12 at their store in Gateway mall. A VIP session is available from 9 am to 10:15 am ($100 get photo with players and tropheys and a personalized autograph picture) and than the a General Public session from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Cost per item - Mini Helmets $50 with autographs, Full Size Helmets $150 with autographs, Footballs $50 with autographs, Photos $25 with autographs, Your item $35 with autographs. For more information, call Fan House at 402-601-6257.

Celebrity Sighting - 2012 Nebraska Cornhuskers

Nebraska Football Fan day is set for Friday from 2 -3:30pm at Memorial Stadium.  The photo above shows where each group of players will be seated. Some reminders:
-Gate 2 and 24 are the only gates open and is also where the restrooms will be.
-1 autographs per player or coach
-Husker Authentic will be on hand selling mechandise outside the stadium
-The event ends at 3:30.  Please allow coaches and players to leave on time.
-Parking is available in lots 5 and 8.

National Signing day 2012

National signing day.... the day we find out who has ability but often lacks the heart. I'd rather see an entire team of walk-ons with heart and develop the ability than what some of these jokers will bring in the next 4 years. Don't get me wrong, there have been some superstars to come right in and make a difference, but being a Nebraska Cornhusker fan, often these guys don't do much. Thunder Collins anyone? Maybe Harrison Beck? Bubba Starling? The list could go on and on. Needless to say, There have been some good ones like Ndamukong Suh. The guy had both heart and talent. In fact, looking at the 2005 class, he was in was really good class many thought was top 10 in the nation. Our friends over at Husker Corner have a good article on jsut very same topic HERE looking at the 2007 class. They point out you never really know how strong a class is until your 4 or 5 years down the road and list the whole class from that year and how things panned out. Still, it's the walk-on's who come in and have something to prove. They guys who have to really show what they are made of to earn their spots.

I guess in a way, I want things to go back to the way they were in the 80's and 90's. Tom Osborne would go out, find a couple a good players, but the majority of the difference makers were walk-on's. It's the small town in me. Where I grew up, We had quality athletics but most rarely made the radar. My favorite example of a walk on is Scott Shanle. I grew in the same area as Scott. Our high school's were rivals. Scott walked on to the Cornhuskers and red shirted in 1998. After that, he played in every game except the 2002 bowl game because he had the flu. He tied the NU linebacker pass break up record in 2001. Today, he plays in the NFL. He's been there since he graduated.

I have to laugh at the guys pouring over this today. I know one guy who took today off jsut so he can stay up on who's going where. I kinda feel sorry for the some of them. Both the fans and the athletes. Just because a guys will be going on ESPN at noon to declare his school, doesn't make him a god. There's a small town boy or a kid in the city who wants to come in and show what he's got just as bad and chances are... you won't even know he's there until game time.

Just for the fun of it, tonight, I'll edit this post with the signing class and how many stars Rivals.com has ranked them. Not so much as a show case or to be a hypocrite, but more so a few years down the road, I can look back and see if I'm right this fall.

Are you ready for some football? IFL, UFL and some ex's?

ESPN Dallas Fort Worth is reporting here Terrell Owens is to play for the IFL's Allen Wranglers this spring. No word yet if TO will be making road trips to Omaha to face the Omaha Beef or to Grand Island to play the Nebraska Danger. People in the Omaha area saw first hand what some star power can do to a football team with the Omaha Nighthawks in its first year when it brought in Ahman Green, Jeff Garcia, Cato June, Robert Ferguson and many other NFL vets. Either way, sounds interesting and could be exciting to see what happens.

Speaking of the Nighthawks. Rumors swirled for the last few days that the United Football League had folded after it's 3rd year. Social Media and the UFL website have had little to no updates for months fueling the debate. Nighthawks head coach Joe Moglia had recently taken a head coaching job for a college team and no replacement has been named. Also, Virginia Destroyers Head coach Marty Schottenheimer and Sacramento Mountain Lions Head coach Dennis Green are in news in the hunt for NFL coaching jobs. Than to top it all off, Las Vegas Locos employee Patrick Dux(who has worked in the UFL from the very beginning at the California Redwoods before the Locos) tweeted from @PatrickDux on JANUARY 13 "Crazy day. The UFL shutdown today and J Fisher took a job with the Rams. The team that beat the @tennesseetitans in the super bowl." Than "#FF @adambergen @AndraeT81 @madbacker56 @BobbyRome @krisLgriffin53 @DezSherrod84 UFL shutdown today." Than "Spyder0033 Adrian Awasom
IT'S OFFICIAL ... !!! ... R.I.P. @UFL ... Special Shot Out to Michael Hughes For Single Handedly Killing Da Golden Goose ... #UFL"
Today, Dux reported on his twitter account the "#UFLISDEAD". A follower of his than asked if official word had come out and his response was "no & there never will be. All I know is everyone on payroll was terminated on Friday. I saw both emails from the league and trinet." Amongst other things Dux and many Locos's players have been stating how they have not been paid as of today for the last season. To top it off, Nation Hahn, director of Digital media for the UFL stated on twitter (@UFLNationHah) "I am, and will remain, part of the #UFL family, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds." right after a post about his new job... "Follow my new adventure with @newkind via @nationhahn" Hahn also said on the UFL Access forums "The UFL has not folded, it is still operating. Changes continue to happen behind the scenes. I hope that the UFL plays in 2012, it still has a chance." The Still has a chance part is what gets me the most. Doesn't look to promising.

The last thing I want to mention is something that has really been bothering me in the media latly. Mostly I see this on the Omaha World Herald reporting of Former Nebraska Cornhuskers. They report all former players as Ex's. EX Husker so and so did this. To me, an EX is someone who quit the team or left before finishing, Not someone who finished, graduated and was on good terms. A prime example, the Headline today EX-Huskers to Open Dunkin Donuts.... sounds negative to me. In fact, what did they played for Nebraska even have to do with the story. What about the Houston Texans? That was Browns last football gig. No mention of that. Oh well, Maybe I'll write Warren Buffet a letter now that he owns that rag of a newspaper and complain.