Tom Osborne
jeffry_...@om.cv.hp.com
Tom Osborne spoke at the Oregon FCA dinner in Portland Oregon Monday night.
It was attended by over 800 people. There were a surprising number of
die-hard Husker fans there. My son and I got the coach's autograph and
shook his hand. He spoke of his early life growing up in Hastings with his
father gone. How he went into athletics to make his father happy. He also
spoke to why he got his doctorate, why he went into coaching and why he
retired. He even spoke briefly about the 1995 season and Lawrence
Phillips.
I came away from the dinner with a new respect for the man. Not only is he
a great coach, he is a great man. He is a man that has his priorities
straight. He puts his relationship with God first, then all else follows.
I wanted my son to see a great man, not for what he did on the field, but
for who he is inside.
He said he felt that one of the reasons his teams were so successful the
last 5 years was that they prayed together. He felt that it brought them
together more as a team. He felt it helped them to depend on one another.
He felt that the prayers helped the player know that the coaching staff
really did care about them as people and not just football players.
It was a great night. I got to see and talk to the man that helped form
some of my fondest memories of fall afternoons growing up in Nebraska City.
I knew that my team would usually win and that we did it the "right way".
We weren't as flashy as an Oklahoma, Miami or Florida State, but we played
the game with honor. He was the real force behind that. Regardless how
this new season, with a new coach turns out, no one can take away what he
and his teams have given us.
Jeff Pierce
Nebraska native and lifelong Husker fan!!
Dave
jeffry_...@om.cv.hp.com wrote:
:
:
: I came away from the dinner with a new respect for the man. Not only is he
: a great coach, he is a great man. He is a man that has his priorities
: straight. He puts his relationship with God first, then all else follows.
: I wanted my son to see a great man, not for what he did on the field, but
: for who he is inside.
:
:
: Jeff Pierce
: Nebraska native and lifelong Husker fan!!
I know nobody enjoys a "me too" posting but when I met Coach Osborne I
came away with a totally different attitude about Cornhusker Football.
I met the coach after a coaches clinic of sorts in St Petersburg, FL.
As a liflelong Husker fan I have gotten a bit fanatic about Husker
Football at times. However, after listening to Tom Osborne speak about
his coaching philosophies and his faith in God, winning football games
didn't seem quite as important. I knew that scoring more points than
the opponent wasn't what Coach Osborne's game plan was. I figured if a
man like Tom Osborne was less concerned about the score than I was, then
maybe I had my priorities wrong.
I met him the summer after we had barely lost to FSU in the OB so he had
not quite reached his "legendary" status among college football fans
here. There was, however, quite a crowd of kids who wanted a chance to
see him. I was quite surprised. I was able to meet one on one with him
after the coaches clinic. He treated us like we were the reason he came
to Florida. He spoke with us, was very patient with our typical fan
questions, posed for a few pictures with us and signed autographs. I,
too, am glad my son was able to meet with him. My son was too young to
appreciate it but the photograph we have of "Husker Tom", as my son
calls him, holding him will serve as a reminder to all of us what a
truely great man Tom Osborne is.
Dave
hus...@gte.net