Ex-Huskers play catch-up with alma mater
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BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
Russ Hochstein had to exhibit his first Super Bowl ring to his former teammates Saturday during the gathering of former NU players at the annual Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.
"Chris Anderson (Nebraska associate AD for communications) said I had to bring the ring with me," said Hochstein, an offensive lineman with the New England Patriots, winners of three of the last four Super Bowls.
The huge ring that Hochstein says "weighs about a pound," will be balanced with a new ring.
"Neil Smith said he had a Super Bowl ring, but it was about half the size of this one," said Hochstein. Smith, a longtime pro with the Kansas City Chiefs, won a Super Bowl ring when he played for Denver.
"It's pretty big and I don't wear it that often, but I'm as proud and bewildered as anybody to have one," Hochstein said. "I am having so much fun. I've got two years left on my contract, but nothing is forever in pro football.
"I'm with a great organization and a winning organization and, so far, they say they need me and that's great with me," he said.
Last fall, Hochstein started at left tackle and was asked to back up at both tackle and guard spots. He also filled in at tight end and fullback on short-yardage goal-line situations. His key block led to a Super Bowl touchdown last February against the Philadelphia Eagles.
"I still haven't gotten the ball," Hochstein said. "That would be a blast, wouldn't it?"
Former Husker DeJuan Groce, now with the St. Louis Rams, joked that Hochstein might want to get some tips on running the ball from former Husker Ahman Green, now with the Green Bay Packers.
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Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier pointed to his right and said, "That's the Rev. Irving Fryar. If we played the West Coast offense when we were here, he would have won the Heisman Trophy and I would have been known as a good blocker for him and Turner (Gill)," Rozier said.
Rozier, Fryar and Gill were recognized after the first quarter Saturday in a reunion of the 1983 Nebraska "Scoring Explosion."
"I don't know if I would have come here if they were running the West Coast offense back then because the backs just don't get the ball as much as we did with Coach Osborne," Rozier said.
"I think Nebraska has the ingredients to make it work. I'm just glad we ran when I was here or Rev. Irving Fryar would have been insufferable," he said.
Fryar laughed and said, "Turner would have still been everybody's favorite and he would have won the Heisman."
Fryar, a Pentecostal minister at the New Jerusalem House of God in Burlington, N.J., said he has high hopes for the Nebraska offense.
"I would have loved to play a West Coast offense," he said. "I think they'll become a scoring explosion team pretty soon. It looks promising."
Former Husker tight end Mitch Krenk, who caught the famous "bounceroosky" pass from
Fryar in the Oklahoma game in 1982, met up with Fryar.
"Here's the guy who caught my only pass," Fryar said to a group of fans. "It was a great play. A lot of fun."
The "bounceroosky" had Gill throw a short, bouncing pass to Fryar, who was supposed to catch the ball (lateral, not a forward pass) on the bounce and act disappointed. Then, Krenk, streaking down the field, gets a pass from Fryar. The play worked for 37 yards in NU's 28-24 victory.
"I'm going to have Mitch build me a house when I come back to live in Nebraska," Fryar said. Krenk is a developer in Nebraska City.
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Gill, who coached at NU through last season, was shaking hands with former Huskers when he ran into former NU standout and now Chicago Bear Mike Brown.
"Hey, how's it going? Oops. I don't know if I can talk to Bears," said Gill, now on the coaching staff of Chicago archrival Green Bay.
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Seattle kicker Josh Brown said Seahawk teammate Grant Wistrom didn't make the trip to Lincoln for the spring game because his fiancee is expecting their first child and Wistrom lives in Maui, Hawaii, in the offseason.
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Former Huskers Jay Foreman and John Parrella are looking to hook up with NFL teams as free agents. Parrella, a 12-year veteran with the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers, is in the market for "a few more years," he said. "I've got four kids and I've been talking to Bill Callahan about possible scholarships. My 11-year-old could be a player. But you know, he can handle a computer a lot better than me. He doesn't have to play football."
Parrella, who played for Callahan for one season, said he believes the former Raider coach will make the turnaround at Nebraska.
Foreman, a six-year NFL veteran, most recently with Houston, was given a $1.5 million buyout. "I still want to play and I've got kids to take care of, too," he said.
Reach Ken Hambleton at khambleton@journalstar.com or at 473-7313.
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