John Mabry: Boyfriend of 'hot tutor' a true survivor
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Natalie Riedmann knows The Play. So what if she has to cheat and look at her souvenir poster for the exact title? "Black 41 Flash Reverse," she announces with pride.
That's because it was her man, Mike Stuntz, who helped make Husker football history against Oklahoma in 2001. Tommy Lee's TV tutor is also Stuntz's girlfriend.
"She was in a magazine," said NU quarterback Joe Ganz, "and we were like, ‘Geez, Mike, how did you pull that off?' "
Location. Location. Location.
Riedmann lived on the same Lincoln street as Stuntz a couple of years ago, liked what she saw from a distance, rang his doorbell and they've been together ever since.
And look Ma, no tattoos. Riedmann said Stuntz and her NBC co-star are "complete opposites."
"Mike's my type," she said.
He's a survivor.
Through position changes (split end to quarterback to free safety) and coaching changes, he's had to hang on to his NU football career for dear life.
Frank Solich is gone. Turner Gill is gone. Curt Dukes is gone. Joe Dailey is gone. Heck, even Ryan Goodman is gone.
Stuntz is still here.
"We've been real proud of Mike, the way he's handled it," said his father, Wendell. "He's certainly had his ups and downs."
Not in the classroom.
Stuntz has a 3.510 cumulative GPA and has been on the Big 12 honor roll every semester of his NU career. He's part of the professional golf management program at Nebraska, which teaches you all aspects of the golf business, not just how to hit a draw or a fade.
Stuntz can play the game, though. He's a 5-handicap golfer, which means he breaks 80 regularly.
As for the QB thing, Stuntz and offensive coordinator Jay Norvell decided before winter conditioning it was time to try something different.
"He was very direct," said Stuntz, who played quarterback and defensive back at St. Albert High School in Council Bluffs, Iowa. "I thought I had a better chance to contribute at safety, and he agreed.
"Hitting people instead of getting hit, that's always fun."
When Stuntz thinks fun, he thinks 2001 Huskers.
"You know, we were such a great team," he said, referring to the Huskers' Rose Bowl run. "It was so cool to just be a part of that."
Stuntz played receiver that year and then played in six games behind Jammal Lord at quarterback in 2002. He took a redshirt year in 2003 and played air-traffic controller last year as a reserve quarterback and signal-relay man for head coach Bill Callahan.
He also helped mentor the younger quarterbacks on the team.
"Mike's a great guy," said Ganz, a redshirt freshman. "When I came here, I was away from home, I was a little nervous going into practice. He kind of took me under his wing."
Stuntz has had plenty of sideline time to think about whether NU was really the best place to be.
"Yeah," his dad said, when asked if Mike considered a change of schools. "You get in those positions, and you're not really sure what you should do when things aren't going the way you'd like them to go.
"We talked about that, but obviously he stuck it out and we're happy he did."
I'd say it has worked out pretty well. The golf game is good. The GPA is good. The love life is good.
And you can save the dumb blonde jokes. Riedmann was Tommy's tutor for a reason. She started medical school in Omaha earlier this week.
"Yeah, I'll tell you, Natalie is really a neat, neat girl," Wendell Stuntz said. "When your kids bring home somebody like that as a girlfriend or boyfriend, that's really very nice."
Stuntz said his teammates have refrained from giving him a lot of grief about his girlfriend's "hot tutor" status.
"It doesn't bother me," he said. "It's just kind of a fun thing. It's neat for her, and I enjoy watching the show, too."
Once again, Stuntz is out of the spotlight, being supportive, being upbeat, hanging in there, quite comfortable in his tattoo-free skin.
Riedmann wouldn't have it any other way.
"I like Mike just the way he is."
Reach John Mabry at 473-7320 or jmabry@journalstar.com.
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