2001 Nebraska Cornhuskers Photo Day
August 18, 2001 - Memorial Stadium - Lincoln, NE

NOTE: Photos will be up on about 08/22/2001

I took about 80 photos at photo day (darn near every guy on the team), but they won't be ready for a few days. It is going to take some major work to get those all up on the web. I'll go through what I saw though.

I started in the NE corner at the OL line. The first guy up was Gary Pike. Wow, he is much bigger than those old Rivals pics of him. Just an all-around big kid who looks like he could carry another 40 pounds no problem.

Talked to Matt Shook for a little while, because he lives across from my old apartment. After that I went down the line to Richie Jr. Richie is just a great guy. Very nice. Didn't hide from me when I told him I was an Internet buddy of his dad. Sure doesn't look like a 17-year-old kid. I think we are going to be set at Center for a long time. Wasn't able to take any posed pictures as requested by Richie Sr. because of the throngs of people waiting in line, but did snap about five of him.

Took photos of the entire OL as I went. Fonoti is about the most shy and humble guy you've ever seen. It has been reported that he's up to 360 and carrying it fine. I don't know if that's true, but the man still doesn't look fat in any way. We may not see another manchild like this in a long time.

Tagoa'i was next to Fonoti, and was the baddest dude I saw all day. He has hair down past his shoulders which is braided. He also has some serious tatoos. Could pass as a pro wrestler or biker bar bouncer. Looked bigger then when I saw him a year ago.

Garrison was easily the smallest guy in the line. He still looks about 250 or so. Didn't have the huge tree-trunk arms like every other guy.

After that I went over to the DL. The line was going out the stadium so I began taking photos from outside the autograph line. The first thing I saw was Manaia Brown being handed a baby for a photo. I took one as well, because it was hilarious. He is already one of our biggest D-linemen. Got closeups of all the young'uns: LeKevin (huge guy with big brace on right leg), Evwaraye (always with a smile), Titus Adams (will get bigger/stronger this year and vye for spot next spring), Kabongo (MUCH more fit and trim looking than last year - beer gut gone).

At the d-back table I took photos of Bland, Bullocks, Butler, Hopkins, Burgess, Landingham. On the end Booker and Swiney were enjoying themselves as the veterans of this fine group, joking around with everybody. The guy who looks like he can really fly is Pippens. He is tall and lean like a gazelle.

After that I passed the linebackers and snapped shots of Barrett Ruud, Ira Cooper, and TJ Hollowell. Then I moved on to the rush ends.

There were two guys who really stood out personallity-wise today. The first was CRUNKJUICE. The guy could make a million dollars in Hollywood just on his attitude. He was totally working the crowd, smiling for pictures, you name it. Even though I was among about 15 people taking photos behind the ropes, he gave me a double-thumbs-up when I focused on him. I thanked him, and he was very coridal and polite. Got a photo of Helming, and was pleased to see that Kelsay had a freshly-shaved head. On thing I think the Blackshirts were missing last year was linemen with shaved heads.

After a short (pun intended) photo op with Solich, I went to the horribly crowded corner where the quarterbacks and I-backs were together. This was stupid because the fullbacks and receivers had their own tables which were almost devoid of fans. The second guy to stand out was Dahrren Diedrick. He appeared to be very happy and confident with his new starting role. He was smiling for pics between autographs and talking with everybody. I got a little "number one" gesture from him as I shot. From his attitude I think we can expect great things from him this year.

There are pictures of Simmons and Ross, as well as the other I-backs. The only guy I might have missed was Josh Davis, because he was hard to get close to because Eric Crouch was next to him. There was a crowd of people swarmed in that area who just wouldn't move. On the other side I got pictures of Stuntz and McLaughlin. I figured out why McLaughlin looks so small. It's his head. His head is too small for his body (not meant as an insult). Ross was right next to him, and they appeared to be nearly the same height (sitting down - what do you want from me? Ross is listed as 5'7" while McLaughlin is at 6'0").

I was beginning to run out of film, so I kept the last photos fairly selective. At the receiver table I captured Brye and Zajiceck. At the TE table maybe only Septak (Wistrom had an umbrella over him at the end of the table, and which made him appear as royalty compared to the others). I caught Kriewald and Davies at the fullback table. DeAngelis was with the fullbacks and I think I may have taken one of him (typical pretty-boy kicker but built more than most).

That was it. After that both cameras had dead batteries, I was out of film, and one camera lens was even giving me mechanical trouble (recently dropped on a camping trip - NEVER BUY A CHEAP TRIPOD!!!).

It is too bad the NCAA didn't feel it possible for all of our athletes to be present today. I'm glad they kept us from cheating by having walk-ons sign autographs. What a f'ing joke they are. They don't give a flying crap about the athletes. All the care about are private jets and free vacations. You suck, NCAA!

They had Husker Century II going on the HuskerVision screens at the time. There was something disturbing about having tales of the lame '40's and '50's teams broadcast as hopes for the 2001 squad are high. The stadium looked beautiful today. I can't wait for next Saturday!

The photos were all on film, and should be up sometime next week. The digital camera battery was dead almost right from the start, so there aren't really any to put up there. Stay tuned.

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