Whether we are working for an employer or you are the boss, at some point there has to be a return on the investment. An employer is responsible for providing a livable wage, healthy work environment, benefits, etc. and in return they expect honest work and loyalty from their employee. It’s reasonable and sane. In this world of college football, one side seems to hold all the cards with no consequence for their lack of effort and inability, or unwillingness, to complete the job properly, especially when the requirement is that you give your all and don’t give up. Nebraska hasn’t had that in 15-20 years, with the exception of a few individuals, i.e. Anthony Colandrea, Mo Williams, Ameer Abdullah, to name a few. What we’ve seen since the Riley era is kids that want to say they played at a blueblood (and that term is losing its relevance), showed off after mediocre plays, laughing when they are getting killed, or like last night, dancing around after the third quarter. That’s all on the surface stuff and holds no weight when it comes to toughness, grit, and heart. They all want to win, hell, I want to be a millionaire, but it’s not going to fall in my lap, I have to fight and struggle to earn it.
In the Nebraska football program, people change, but the results remain the same, and usually in groundhog day fashion. You want to know what is the consistent heart and soul of this program? The fans. I know I’ll get lit up for saying this because, no, I don’t play the game or live in that locker room. I’m not the coaching staff, although I still can’t totally fault them. We are stuck with the same attitude no matter who is on that field year after year, game after game, that carry a tradition that may compete with the sell out streak if something doesn’t change and that’s the tradition of collapsing under any pressure. Cowering when punched in the mouth. It’s that simple. It’s something that coaches can’t always fix unless you completely start from scratch by eliminating the problem and then having a fresh slate to build on. It’s why good players either leave or don’t come here in the first place. Fans do have a right to demand better.
Fans buy expensive tickets, expensive merchandise, expensive streaming services in order to watch the games, all because they care. We have every right to be pissed off and let the team know it. Everywhere I’ve ever lived or visited; there is no place like Nebraska. There’s no other place or program where the team means more to the state and it’s loyal fan base. You can’t be mad at the fans or ask anymore of us, you just can’t especially when we seem to be more invested in the program, university, and state than the team that is out on that field. We don’t expect national championships every year, but we do expect the team’s very best. We’ve been waiting for two decades to see it. The lack of heart and folding on the field is on display for the world to see. While the team is the brunt of jokes, I’ve never gotten grief from even rival fans, in fact they pity us. They know how much we care and how we treat other fan bases. We are done emotionally.
There’s reasons for concern this year, even though the team is the best we’ve had in probably ten years We have one of the best receiving cores in the Big Ten and over the past couple of weeks, Gilmore has dropped several crucial passes and Barney, when asked about the defense responded by saying he’s only concerned with himself. Take that as you want, but you had better care what is happening on that team, even if it’s not your side of the ball. That kind of deflection shows a lot about your character, because what happens when your team needs you to sacrifice … .are you going to make a play or block? The offensive line has not been very good the past two games either, forcing Colandrea to have to make too many plays out of nothing. The coaches aren’t immune to criticism either and although I appreciate Matt Rhule sticking up for his guys, claiming that the defense was tired, doesn’t excuse not pressuring Raiola and collapsing. If they’re tired, find guys that don’t get tired. Find the 3 star that will die or his team every play and I guarantee you, change will happen. We all struggle in every area of our lives, but we fight and find ways to make it work, because losing isn’t an option for the average fan. Expecting kids that demand to hold all the cards financially, to find ways to win a game instead of collapsing and cowering the way they have for that past 20 (did I mention it’s been 20?) years isn’t too harsh. They wanted it and brag about this being their dream. Well guys, dreams don’t come true by sitting around and expecting it to fall in our laps, we have to fight and suffer for them.
Diamond Dallas Page talks about how if something is easy, it’s not worth doing, you have to struggle and fight and hurt in order to find out whether or not it’s worth it. Believe me, I’m a writer and a musician trying to just make a living off of it. How many well off writers do you know personally? Life sucks and it wants you to fail, you are the only one that chooses if you succeed or not. You play at a university that has top of the line facilities, and excellent NIL money, but you haven’t produced. Maybe we should start by taking away the video games in the lockers and foosball from the lounge and put the focus on the job at hand. There are plenty of other teams on that campus that understand what it takes without as much as you all are gifted. There’s plenty of other schools that are doing more with less and that is a crying ass shame. You’re not getting paid to have fun anymore. You wanted this money and opportunity, well it’s well past time you produce. It’s not your coaches fault and it’s not the fans fault, it’s on you. We love you all more than most things, but we’re done lifting you all up, when you’re fully capable of doing it yourself. Stop the excuses, get rid of the distractions and weak effort and START FINDING WAYS TO WIN A DAMN FOOTBALL GAME. Go Big Red and get your crap together.
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