One topic of conversation gets tossed around over and over during tailgate parties, at halftime, and during the off-season: Who are the greatest players of all time?

Building the ultimate Husker football dream team means reading up on dominating defensive lines, unstoppable offenses and University of Nebraska-Lincoln teams that struck fear in their opponents. Add homegrown walk-on athletes, and respected coaches that even opposing teams loved, and Nebraska’s fantasy football team grows deep with talent.

We interviewed experts, fumbled through archives and talked with passionate fans to create our Nebraska Cornhusker football fantasy team. One sure thing is that opinions vary. Let’s talk it over during the next timeout.

 

Johnny Rodgers

Wide Receiver

1970-1972

Half a century after first suiting up as a Husker, Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers still holds UNL’s record for his 5,586 all-purpose career yards. He was the first Husker to win the Heisman Trophy, and propelled the Huskers’ back-to-back national championships in 1970 and 1971, the first such titles for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

College football history was made when No. 1 Nebraska played No. 2 Oklahoma in the 1971 “Game of the Century.” KFAB Radio’s Lyell Bremser immortalized the moment when Rodgers avoided OU’s defenders during a 72-yard punt return for a touchdown.

“Holy moly! Man, woman and child did that put ’em in the aisles. Johnny ‘The Jet’ Rodgers just tore ’em loose from their shoes,” Bremser screamed as Rodgers crossed the goal line.

“Rodgers has the distinction of running for a touchdown, catching a touchdown and throwing for a touchdown in the same game, the 1972 Orange Bowl,” said ‘Voice of the Huskers,’ Greg Sharpe. “That punt return against Oklahoma – many fans believe it to be the greatest play in Husker football history.”

 

Tommie Frazier

Quarterback

1992-1995

When it comes to choosing the best quarterback to ever lead UNL, Husker historian Paul “Jake” Jacobsen struggled over a trio of greats. The Wahoo resident and collector of Husker football radio and television broadcasts narrowed his choices to Tommie Frazier, Eric Crouch and current Husker football head coach Scott Frost.

“Crouch won the Heisman Trophy, Frazier and Frost didn’t. But Frost and Frazier were on national championship teams, Crouch was not,” Jacobsen said. “Frazier came in second in the Heisman voting in 1995 and led the Huskers to national championships in 1994 and 1995. That sets him apart as the greatest Husker quarterback ever.”

 

Mike Rozier

Running Back

1981-1983

Three seasons was all Mike Rozier needed to leave a lasting impression on the record books. The New Jersey native got better with age.

Rozier set a single season rushing record in 1982 as the team worked its way to a second Big Eight championship in as many years. As a senior in 1983, Rozier scored 29 touchdowns and set single season Husker records in rushing yards, all-purpose yards and points scored. He won the Heisman Trophy that same year.

An ankle injury during the 1984 Orange Bowl kept him out of the fourth quarter and contributed to a 31-30 loss to the Miami Hurricanes.

 

Tom Rathman 

Fullback

1981-1985

Assembling a dream team of Husker greats brings names like Cory Schlesinger, brothers Joel and Jeff Mackovicka, Roger Craig, Frank Solich, George Sauer and Sam Davis to mind for the position of fullback.

“I don’t see anyone beating out Tom Rathman as the greatest,” said Omaha’s Dan McGlynn, a sports writer known as Husker Dan.

Standing 6 feet tall and weighing 220 pounds in his college days, Rathman, from Grand Island, dominated the Husker’s offensive line. He was a skilled blocker and scoring threat.

“He could bust out an 80-yeard touchdown run. There probably aren’t too many fullbacks who can even run that far,” McGlynn said of the NFL veteran. “Some fullbacks might have been better in one aspect or another – but Rathman was everything in one player – he had the whole package.”

 

Dave Rimington  

Center

1979-1982

Omaha South High School graduate Dave Rimington embodies the term “student athlete.” As a Husker, the 6-foot-3, 290-pound team captain excelled on the turf, leading the nation in rushing in 1982. 

Rimington hit opponents and the books. He was a two-time first-team Academic All American at UNL and was chosen three times as a first-team All-Big Eight academic. His jersey, No. 50, was retired by UNL in 1982. Rimington was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. Four decades after leaving UNL, Rimington remains the only player to win the prestigious Outland Trophy back-to-back. 

The annual Rimington Award honors college football’s center of the year. The first recipient and only Husker to win the award was Dominic Raiola, a close second place choice for our fantasy team’s center.  

 

Alex Henery 

Place-Kicker

2007-2010

Kickers bury punts deep in opponents’ territory, tack on extra points and kick game-winning field goals. Omaha native Alex Henery set the example for the position. 

“A lot of fans would throw Kris Brown’s name out while talking about Nebraska’s best kickers. He set tons of records and the Huskers were an overall great team at the time,” said Dakota Coon, assistant strength and conditioning coach for Wayne State College. “Henery later broke several of those records and set many of his own.”

Henery set an NCAA record 96.67 percent accuracy rate in field goals and extra points kicked during his career. The Husker walk-on and clutch kicker only missed one extra point attempt in four seasons at UNL.

 

Grant Wistrom

Defensive End

1994-1997

This two-time high school football state champion came to Nebraska from the neighboring Show-Me State of Missouri. Show us, he did.

Wistrom played in every game during his first year at Nebraska, a rare achievement for a true freshman. His ability to get to the opposing team’s quarterback earned Wistrom recognition as the Big Eight Defensive Newcomer-of-the-Year. The team had a 49-2 record with Wistrom on the roster, including national championships in 1994, 1995 and 1997. 

Record books still have Grant Wistrom at the top in the tackles for loss category at Nebraska. The former member of the Super Bowl XXXIV-winning St. Louis Rams was inducted into the University of Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

 

Ndamukong Suh  

Defensive Tackle

2005-2009

At 6 feet, 4 inches and 300 pounds, Ndamukong Suh was a giant among Huskers. The Oregon native took to Memorial Stadium’s turf in Lincoln as a true freshman in 2005, but 2009 was his standout season.

Suh dominated the national awards that year, including being named the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year, and receiving a unanimous vote for first-team All-American. Husker fans remember Suh sacking the quarterback, catching an interception, causing a fumble and making six tackles in that year’s battle against the University of Missouri Tigers.

“They say players don’t hold grudges, but Suh and the rest of that team knew the history between Nebraska and Missouri. The Tigers had our number during the Coach Callahan years, but 2009 was our turn,” said Matthew Malone of Lincoln, founder of Facebook’s Husker Army. “Rain began falling in the fourth quarter, it was the first time in a long time that I’d seen a defensive player take charge of a game. When Suh slammed Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert to the ground, I knew we were going to win.”

Before joining the NFL, Suh announced plans to donate $2.6 million to UNL. Now, Huskers work out in the Ndamukong Suh Strength and Conditioning Center while working toward greatness of their own.

 

Mike Brown

Safety

1996-1999

The safety is the last line of defense against opposing teams. Mike Brown used a combination of speed and power to keep running backs from making big gains while building up an indisputable reputation for almost never missing his unfortunate targets who were carrying the ball.   

The Arizona native played in a Holiday Bowl, Fiesta Bowl and two Orange Bowls while at Nebraska, starting out as a cornerback before becoming a starting safety his final three seasons. The dependable All-American started in 38 straight games.

More than a decade after he graduated from UNL and went on to play for the NFL’s Chicago Bears for nine season, Husker fans voted Brown No. 11 in a ranking of the most beloved football players in Husker history.

 

Trev Alberts 

Outside Linebacker

1990-1993

Distinctions like first-team All-American and Big Eight Defensive Player of the Year are common footnotes in Nebraska’s long list of Husker greats. Iowa native Trev Alberts won both of those but is the only Husker to win the Butkus Award for being the best college linebacker in the nation.

Standing 6 foot, 4 inches gave Alberts the ability to track the ball carrier while outmaneuvering the opposing team’s linemen. He didn’t lose any speed when he gained 10 pounds for his senior season in 1993, tipping the scales at 240 pounds.

“As a player, he was one of those tough, old school farm boy kind of players,” said Burwell native Josh Smith. “He played with a cast on his right arm during the national championship game against Florida State in the 1994 Orange Bowl. That level of fortitude serves as an example to future Husker greats.”

 

Bob Devaney  

Head Coach

1962-1972

A big change came to Lincoln when Bob Devaney accepted the job as Cornhusker head coach. He earned $19,000 his first year, a good investment in the future considering that his inaugural Nebraska team went 9-2 – the Huskers’ first winning season since 1954. Devaney’s influence is still felt in Husker Nation today.

Devaney’s Nebraska teams won 101 games, lost only 20, with two games ending in a tie. Five years into the job, Devaney also took on the role of UNL’s athletic director.

After trailing Kansas in 1970, and coming back to win 41-20, Devaney gathered his warriors. “You learned something today. You learned you can come back,” Devaney said. “Remember that. That’s the lesson of life.”

Credited for building the foundation of UNL’s powerhouse athletic programs, the gridiron teams that Devaney coached won national championships in 1970 and 1971, played in nine bowl games, and were victorious in eight Big Eight championships and three straight Orange Bowls. He was the winningest active coach in the nation when he handed the top coaching spot to Tom Osborne after the 1972 season. Devaney continued as athletic director until 1993. He died in 1997.  

Tom Osborne’s storied career at Nebraska began a decade before becoming head coach. In 1962, while attending Nebraska, the Hastings native served as a graduate assistant for Devaney. He had previously played for the NFL’s Washington Redskins and San Francisco 49ers, and was Athlete of the Year in Nebraska at the high school and college levels.     

Osborne and Devaney each won 100 games in their first 11 seasons, making UNL the first school to achieve back-to-back 100-win coaches in such short order. Osborne’s last five years of coaching produced the best five-year winning streak in college football history. The 60-3 mark includes five 11-win seasons.

Winning the 1998 Orange Bowl gave Osborne his third national championship. He retired on top after 25 seasons. In 2007, like Devaney before him, Osborne went on to become UNL’s athletic director.

The Teammates Mentoring Program that Osborne founded with his wife, Nancy, pairs school students with adult mentors. The program that has served 12,000 youth and counting across Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming, began with Osborne’s tough but soft-hearted players serving as mentors for middle school students in Lincoln.

At Memorial Stadium home games, the loyal fans of Nebraska’s Sea of Red look out over Tom Osborne Field while cheering for today’s Husker greats.