Dave Feit’s Great Huskers Countdown: Introduction and Methodology

So, how do we decide who is best?  It’s hard enough to compare quarterbacks across different eras, let alone objectively comparing an offensive player, a Blackshirt, and a kicker who all wore the same number.  Therefore, I’m using the following guidelines: 

• Individual awards and recognition.  Things like first team all-conference or All-America honors, being a finalist for a major award, Nebraska Football Hall of Fame induction, etc. were heavily used.  In most cases, an All-American will get the nod over an all-conference player, and a first team all-conference guy gets the edge over somebody who was second team or honorable mention.  For the five numbers without a first team all-conference honoree, individual success and rank on career charts were factored. 

• Only their Nebraska playing career.  For the purposes of this list, what a player did during their Nebraska playing career matters much more than what they did in the NFL or after their final NU game.  Roger Craig had a Hall of Fame worthy NFL career, but that didn’t factor into my decision making for the #21 jersey at Nebraska.  (Besides, Craig wore #33 with the 49’ers.)  Players who became head coaches or assistants at NU or elsewhere (Frank Solich, Barry Alvarez, Scott Frost, Barney Cotton, Marvin Sanders, etc.) were considered solely for their playing days.  

• What they did while wearing that jersey.  Did you know that Suh was listed at #77 on the 2005 roster?  While Suh’s career resume is better than any other 77, Suh only played two games in 2005 before taking a medical redshirt.  Along those lines, a player will only be considered for the number he wore for the bulk of his success.  

• Team success.  When comparing players, I was more likely to give the edge to a player from one of the five National Championship teams over a guy from the 1950s or the last decade.  I mean no disrespect to players from the Jennings, Riley, and Frost eras, but I believe a guy who stands out on a 12-0 team is likely to be a better player than the star of sub-.500 squad. 

• My own experiences and biases.  Let’s face it:  every list like this is subjective, and usually comes with a bias towards a specific era.  My earliest Husker memories are from 1981 or 1982, so my knowledge of greats from Tom Osborne’s first teams, Bob Devaney’s era, or the dozens of conference championship teams before is limited to grainy videos and the hours of research I’ve done.  I was a student at UNL from 1993 – 1997.  The Huskers had a bit of success during that time, so expect some bias towards that era.  That said, I’ve learned a lot about many amazing players from long before I – or my parents – were born. 

In addition to the greatest player, there will be a few other categories for each number: 

• Honorable Mention.  Other players who (at a minimum) earned first team All-Conference honors while wearing that number, or have been elected to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.  These will be listed alphabetically. 

• Also Worn By.  Think of this as part recognition for solid contributors who didn’t make All-Conference teams, and part “men will literally sit around and name random sports players for two hours instead of going to therapy.”  These will also be listed alphabetically. 

• “Dave’s Fave”.  A personal favorite of mine who wore that number.  Sometimes it will be the greatest honoree.  Sometimes, it will be somebody you’ve never heard of.  My picks are a mix of Husker legends, somebody who I enjoyed watching, a guy who participated in a memorable play, or some other reason random that may seem random (or only relevant to me).  Obviously, these players will mostly be from the last 30-40 years. 

Sound like fun?  Okay, before we get started, let’s quickly cover my methodology and the rules I followed: 

My source for this project is a spreadsheet that I affectionately refer to “MOAR” – the Mother Of All Rosters.  MOAR is a composite of every Nebraska Football roster from 1890 to 2024.  I then merged in multiple historical lists (first team All-Americans, first team all-conference, letterwinners, captains, NU Hall of Famers, and much more).  MOAR is a one-of-a-kind comprehensive beast, which it made it easy to compare everybody who ever wore #78 at once. 

A surprisingly hard part of putting this together was how to deal with number changes.  

In my source data, there are 3,366 unique players who appeared on at least one Nebraska roster with an assigned uniform number.  Of those, 810 (24%) changed numbers at least once in their career. 

Why?   There are a wide variety of reasons:  not liking what the equipment staff assigned, a position change, a player’s desired digits becoming available, and many more.  Believe it or not, changing numbers is not a new phenomenon.  It has been a constant since they started putting numbers on the uniforms.  John Brown, a quarterback in the 1920s, traded in #69 for #1.  There’s a guy in the 1950s (George Cifra) who had five different numbers. 

Here are the number change guidelines I used for each category: 

• Greatest.  What number did a player wear when they had the bulk of their success?   Jason Peter earned All-Big 12 honors wearing #95 and #55.  He was only considered for “greatest” at #55, the number he wore a) as an All-American, and b) at the end of his career.  If a player was successful in multiple numbers, they were considered based on the number they wore as a senior.     

• Honorable Mention.  Players who earned first-team all-conference honors while wearing that number. Tom “Train Wreck” Novak’s #60 has been retired since he graduated.  But he wore three different numbers during his NU career, earning all-conference honors in each one.  He’ll be in the Honorable Mention for each number.  Additionally, players who have been elected to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame are listed for the number they wore as a senior.   

• Also Worn By:  Marlon Lucky wore #20 for two seasons and #5 for two seasons.  He was a noteworthy player at both digits, so he’ll likely show up twice.  But for the most part, players in this section will only be listed for their final number. 

With all of the housekeeping out of the way, let’s get to it. 

Tomorrow:  #99 

More From Nebraska on SI