Dave Feit's Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 22 - Ralph Brown

Darlington was one of Osborne's first hires after taking the head coaching job in 1973. They had met at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes convention and hit it off. Darlington proved himself to be an excellent teacher* and was also skilled on the recruiting trail. Darlington worked the West Coast, including California and Hawaii, bringing in a ton of talented players.

*I wanted to be sure to mention one of my favorite things about Darlington. For almost all of his 30-year career at Nebraska - the longest of any Nebraska assistant coach - he moonlighted as a college professor.  

Darlington taught a Football 101 course at Southeast Community College in Lincoln. The course was originally called "Football Facts for Women" before it was opened up to members of both sexes. The curriculum started with the basics but also covered things like formations, strategy and film review of the previous week's Husker game.  

The class was taught on Thursday nights, during the season. A highlight of the class was a field trip to Memorial Stadium, where they would line up and walk through plays. In one rather spirited class, a 60-year-old student tore her ACL after being tackled by two of her classmates.

Recruiting players from California and Hawaii to Nebraska could be challenging. In addition to the distance from Mom and Dad (in an era where Nebraska was on TV only a few times a year), the climatic differences could also be a hurdle. Nebraska experiences a couple of seasons that southern California does not know. Not every Cali kid is cut out for a Midwestern winter.

Darlington managed to secure a wintertime official visit from a top cornerback prospect from Hacienda Heights, Calif. When the few snowflakes turned into a blizzard, Osborne thought they had no chance. But Ralph Brown saw the snow and said "I'm home."

How good a cornerback was Ralph Brown? He was a starter in his very first game at Nebraska, for the two-time defending national champs. By the end of the 1996 season, he was named Big 12 Defensive Freshman of the Year.

Over the course of his legendary Nebraska career, Brown rewrote the records for pass breakups, setting the marks for a game (7), season (15) and career (50). As one of Nebraska’s greatest cornerbacks of all time, Brown was all-conference three straight years and an All-American as a senior. After that first start, Brown started each of the 51 other games in his NU career, setting another record.

***

When I first became a parent, I was already thinking about when I could take my daughter to a Nebraska game - and have it be a memorable moment for both of us.

In 2012, we went down for the Spring Game and had fun in the Husker Nation Pavilion. But I could see storm clouds in the west, so we headed home before the game started. Good thing: Lightning and heavy rain caused that scrimmage to be cancelled.

In 2013, we tried again. She did great and we had fun. To keep things interesting, we spent part of the second half walking around the stadium - eventually landing in the fancy field level club seats in the southwest corner. Looking back, I'm kind of surprised we made it into the fourth quarter, but my oldest is very easy going.

Near the end of the scrimmage, the remaining crowd started to cheer. I looked out and saw quarterback Taylor Martinez back in the game. Next to him was a kid - a literal child - in a #22 jersey. It was Jack Hoffman.

At the time, I knew a little bit of Jack's story. He was a 7-year-old suffering from brain cancer. He had undergone multiple surgeries, chemotherapy and a million other things that no child (or parent) should have to endure. Jack's family had reached out to NU to see if Jack could possibly meet Rex Burkhead - his favorite player - to boost his spirits. Burkhead went above and beyond, befriending Jack and making him feel like a part of the team. Hoffman and Burkhead led the Huskers out of the tunnel against Wisconsin in 2012.

Now, young Jack was going to get a chance to play on the same field as his heroes.

Martinez took the snap and handed the ball to Hoffman as everybody in the stadium realized what was happening. Martinez guided Jack to the right where he followed a convoy of blockers 69 yards to the end zone. As I wiped away the tears, I looked down at my happy and healthy four-year-old daughter and was reminded of how blessed I am.

Jack's run was one of the most special moments I have ever had the privilege to witness. As for my daughter, she doesn't remember it. She might tell you about the gigantic cookie I bought for her on the way back to the car. But in that moment, she was blissfully unaware that sometimes little kids get seriously sick.

Jack Hoffman courageously battled brain cancer for the majority of his life. Throughout it all, he played high school football, graduated and made the dean's list in his first semester at the University of Nebraska-Kearney. But his tumors were aggressive and beyond what treatment options were available.

Jack Hoffman died in January 2025. He was just 19 years young.

The Team Jack Foundation - started by Jack's parents, Bri and Andy* - has worked to raise money for research into new treatments for pediatric brain cancer.

*In 2020, Andy Hoffman was also diagnosed with brain cancer - although it was not genetically linked to Jack's. Andy passed away in March 2021.

Jack's run helped put their story in the national spotlight, and the generosity of thousands of donors has led to several advancements. When the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy between Nebraska and Minnesota was revived as a donation drive between the two fan bases, it was only natural that Team Jack would be charity for Husker fans to support.

For over a decade, Nebraska has hosted an annual fun run for fans of all ages to raise money for Team Jack. One of my favorite parts of the event is seeing numerous Husker players run alongside their young fans.

To me, that connection between player and fan epitomizes the spirit of Jack's run and is a beautiful way to honor his memory and legacy.

***

For my personal favorite, this was both the hardest and easiest choice to make. The first (and only) Nebraska jersey I ever owned was a Doug DuBose #22. Rex Burkhead is one of my all-time favorite Huskers – for his play on the field and especially for what he did for Jack Hoffman and his family. Young Jack wore #22 for his inspirational touchdown run.

But there is no doubt I would go with Jeff Makovicka.

I can understand your confusion. Jeff Makovicka is not the greatest fullback in Nebraska history. Heck, he's not even the greatest "Makovicka" in Nebraska history.

But he's probably one of my 10 favorite Huskers of all time*

*The rest of that top 10 will vary from day to day and season to season. But Jeff is a permanent fixture.

There's no simple reason. He didn't score a game-winning touchdown to help me win a bet. He didn't rescue my dog from a burning building. We weren't fraternity brothers, and although we were on campus at the same time, I don't think we ever shared a class together.

When I was a freshman at UNL in the fall of 1993, I had a season ticket - NEBRASKA FOOTBALL SEASON TICKETS!!! - for the very first time. Up to that point, I had been to probably 10 games in my life. I now had seven tickets in the student section for the astronomical price of $56. Total.

The first game I attended with my season ticket was against North Texas. My seat - back when the student section was (largely) assigned seats and not first-come, first-served general admission like it is today - was fairly high up in section 13. I'll be honest, I don't remember much of the first half. Looking back, I see that Tommie Frazier was hurt on the first play and Calvin Jones strained his knee.

Regardless, the Husker had no problems and led 63-14 after three quarters. The stands started to empty out, but I was not interested in leaving. I moved down 30 rows, found an abandoned seat back and watched guys my age fulfill the dream of every Nebraska kid.

As Tom Osborne emptied the bench, a parade of players got carries in the game. Sixteen Huskers were credited with a rushing attempt. But one of them - a sophomore I-back from Brainard, Neb.a - caught my attention. He ran hard. He ran to - and through! - contact.

And the best part: after he was tackled, the Memorial Stadium public address announcer would say in a deep baritone voice "BAWL CARRIED BY MACK-OH-VICK-UH." It was lyric. A siren's song that drew me in and never let go.

Jeff Makovicka had five carries for 35 yards in the fourth quarter of Nebraska's 76-14 rout of North Texas. It was then the most points Nebraska scored in a home game since blowing out Nebraska Wesleyan 100-0 in 1917.

From there, I adopted Jeff as one of my original personal favorites. That fondness only grew when he moved to fullback, and his younger brother Joel joined him on campus.

It was a sad day when the last of Mackovickas chose to play baseball… at Creighton, but I’ll always remember their big brother picking up seven yards against North Texas.