Greatest Husker to wear 20: Johnny Rodgers, Wingback, 1970-1972
"Rodgers deep for Nebraska."
Those are the opening words of Lyell Bremser's call of the most famous play in Nebraska football's history: Johnny Rodgers's 72-yard punt return touchdown in the "Game of the Century" between Nebraska and Oklahoma, played on Thanksgiving Day 1971.
Bremser, who called Nebraska games for 42 seasons on Omaha's KFAB, was already in his 30th season behind the mic when he painted his masterpiece. Kent Pavelka, who replaced Bremser as the Voice of the Huskers, once described the call as "the national anthem of the program."
Until the 1980s, KFAB did not have exclusive rights to broadcast Husker games. Dick Perry (KFOR) and Bob Zenner (KLIN) also called the 1971 game for their Lincoln audiences. But KFAB's 50,000-watt signal dwarfed the reach of the other broadcasters.
To my knowledge, there is no audio of the other radio calls.
"Here’s Wylie’s kick,"
A couple of pieces of trivia about this play: The punt return touchdown was the first score of the game, happening just 3:32 into the game. The punter - Oklahoma's Joe Wylie - was also the Sooners' halfback and return specialist. He ran for over 1,600 yards during his Sooner career. In OU's next game - the 1971 Sugar Bowl against Auburn - Wylie would return a punt 71 yards for a touchdown.
Johnny Rodgers was born in Omaha and attended Technical High School, where he excelled in football, baseball, basketball and track.
Coming out of high school, Rodgers was interested in attending Southern Cal, but the Trojans didn't offer a scholarship. Bob Devaney - with help from Omaha players Dick Davis and Mike Green - managed to keep him home. It is one of the greatest recruiting wins in the history of the program.
"It’s high, it holds up there."
Johnny Rodgers is arguably the greatest return specialist who ever lived.
His eight touchdowns on kickoffs and punt returns in a career is still an NCAA record (since tied by nine others).
He holds Nebraska records for career punt return touchdowns (7), career punt return yards (1,515), punt return yards in a game (170) and the longest punt return touchdown in a bowl game (77 yards). He previously held the mark for the longest punt return touchdown in a game (92 yards), but is now third.
In 2002, DeJuan Groce beat Johnny's record for punt return yards in a season, but Rodgers still holds the second-, fourth- and eighth-best punt return seasons in school history.
Rodgers didn't return as many kickoffs as he did punts, but he was still an electric returner. He is one of two Huskers (Joe Walker being the other) to return a punt and kickoff for a touchdown in the same season. That kickoff return (98 yards) is tied for the ninth longest. For his career, Rodgers left school as the leader in career kickoff return yards (847) and is still in the top 10.
His returns have been described as improvisational jazz. A little scat, a little bebop and a loud crescendo to the goal line.
"Rodgers takes the ball at the 30."
As great as Johnny Rodgers was at returning kicks, he may have been just as good as a receiver.
Let's start with his consistency. Rodgers caught at least one pass in each of the 37 games he played for Nebraska. It is the second-longest streak behind Stanley Morgan Jr. (38), who played in four seasons. Rodgers and JD Spielman are the only Huskers to catch a pass in every game of their career.
Rodgers left Nebraska owning pretty much every career and single-game receiving record. While Tom Osborne's ground-based offenses helped him stay on top for 30 years, the numbers Rodgers put up have held strong against the passing offenses of Bill Callahan, Mike Riley and Scott Frost.
On the career charts, Rodgers still leads with 25 receiving touchdowns, 10 games with 100 or more receiving yards, and is tied for the most receiving touchdowns in a game (3).
The Jet left NU on top in the following categories: career and single-season receiving yards (now fourth in both), career and single-season receptions (now sixth and eighth), and receiving touchdowns in a season (now second, tied for eighth, and tied for 14th).
Rodgers definitely used his speed to become an elite receiver, but he also had soft, sure hands. His diving catch on third down late in the Game of the Century extended the drive that Nebraska used to score the winning touchdown.
"He’s hit and got away."
Johnny Rodgers has made the most of the second chances he's gotten. In May 1970, Rodgers was involved in a gas station robbery. Rodgers was convicted of felony grand larceny in 1971 and received two years' probation. Coach Bob Devaney, who believed in football's power to provide redemption, allowed him to play in 1971. In 2013, he received a pardon from the Nebraska Board of Pardons.
In the mid-1990s Rodgers returned to UNL and graduated with degrees in advertising and broadcasting. Johnny and I had a handful of classes together.
"Back upfield to the 35, to the 40."
I'm not sure where Rodgers picked up "The Jet" as his nickname - or who gave it to him, but Lyell Bremser used it in the 1970 season opener against Wake Forest, the first game of Rodgers' varsity career. Regardless, the name was accurate. In that game, Rodgers scored his first touchdown on a 61-yard bomb from Jerry Tagge. Rodgers was a good five to 10 yards behind the defense when he caught the pass.
In 1970, Rodgers had 884 yards from scrimmage and scored nine touchdowns. He had another 745 yards and two touchdowns on returns. It was one of the greatest debut seasons since Bobby Reynolds in the 1950s. Rodgers earned the first of his three All-Big Eight honors. Nebraska won its first national championship.
"He’s to the 45!"
The 1971 season was one of the greatest in school history. The team was dominating on both sides of the ball and - thanks to Rodgers - on special teams, too. The Jet had 1,225 yards of yards from scrimmage and 988 yards on returns for a total 2,213 all-purpose yards. Rodgers was a first-team All-American.
Rodgers scored 11 receiving touchdowns, five return touchdowns and two rushing TDs to lead the team in scoring. He set at least 15 single-season and career records. Other than the Game of the Century - where Rodgers was one of Nebraska's stars - the 1971 team dominated opponents all year long.
In the 1972 Orange Bowl, Rodgers had a 77-yard punt return touchdown that started a 38-6 avalanche on Bear Bryant's Alabama Crimson Tide. The 1971 Nebraska Cornhuskers are widely regarded as one of the greatest - if not the best - teams in college football history.
"He’s to the 50, to the 45!"
The original plan was that the 1972 season would be Tom Osborne's first as head coach. Devaney was going to retire from coaching and solely focus on being the athletic director.
But Nebraska's back-to-back national championships altered the plan.
With first-team All-Americans Johnny Rodgers, Rich Glover and Willie Harper coming back, Devaney just had to try for the three-peat. Osborne's first year would have to wait.
In theory, Rodgers should have taken a step back in 1972, his senior season. The other weapons that previously surrounded him (notably, quarterback Jerry Tagge and I-back Jeff Kinney) were in the NFL. His reputation as a score-from-anywhere return should have had teams kicking away from him.
Instead, Rodgers put up another phenomenal season. He bettered his own record with 942 receiving yards, 267 rushing yards and 802 on returns, making him the first Husker to gain over 2,000 all-purpose yards in a season. Rodgers scored 16 more touchdowns to become Nebraska's all-time leading scorer (currently ninth).
Rodgers left Nebraska with 41 school records, seven Big Eight records and four NCAA records. He was an All-American for the second straight year.
But we're not done talking about what he accomplished in 1972…
"To the 40, to the 35!"
Back to the punt return.
At the 35-yard line, cornerback Joe Blahak came flying in to make the final block. If your shirt is scarlet, it's an excellent block. If your shirt is crimson, it's an illegal block in the back that should have been called.
When asked about it, Blahak simply stated, "Did the refs call it a clip? No. Then it wasn't a clip, was it?"
That's good enough for me.
"To the 20!"
In 1972, Johnny Rodgers won Nebraska's first Heisman Trophy, beating Oklahoma's Greg Pruitt. Nebraska teammate Rich Glover - a defensive middle guard - finished third. Rodgers also won the Walter Camp Award.
Johnny's #20 was retired the following season. When Johnny's son Terry played for Nebraska in the 1980s, #20 was brought out of retirement for Terry to wear. After Terry left, #20 was went back into a semi-retirement until 1995, when it was in regular circulation for over a decade.
In 2009, Nebraska permanently retired #20. Jase Dean and Adi Kunalic were the last Huskers to wear the #20 jersey in 2008.
"To the 10!"
When I was in college, I made a Huskers mix CD with songs ("Sirius," the Cornhusker Marching Band, "Back in Black," etc.) and a handful of audio clips I found on the old HuskerPedia site. One of those files was the Bremser call of Johnny's punt return in the Game of the Century. It played right after "Hail Varsity."
Over the years, I have heard that track enough to where I can recite the entire call from memory, with Lyell's cadence and inflection.
I know I'm not the only Husker fan who knows that call by heart.
"HE’S ALL THE WAY HOME!"
Fast forward 20-some years. I'm driving my kids to day care the week of a Nebraska season opener. Excited for the coming game, I popped that old Husker CD in the player. To my delight, the kids liked listening to band playing the fight songs. They asked me to play that CD every day for several weeks. I was happy to oblige.
After hearing it a few dozen times, my son (probably three at the time) was able to narrate the punt return along with Lyell, all the way home. Man, woman and child, the video of him sitting in his car seat reciting that call still tears me loose from my shoes.
It's wild to me to consider my kid knew all the words to a touchdown that happened over 50 years ago, scored by a guy who was done playing before I was born.
But that's the beautiful legacy of great players making amazing plays. They are timeless treasures passed from generation to generation.
"HOLY MOLY!"
Johnny Rodgers proved he was worthy of the Heisman Trophy with an epic performance in the 1973 Orange Bowl against Notre Dame. Shifting over from his usual wingback position to I-back, he ran for three scores, took a short pass 50 yards for a touchdown and threw a 52-yard bomb to Frosty Anderson. This made Rodgers the second Husker ever with a rushing, receiving and passing touchdown in the same game.
The Huskers destroyed the Irish 40-6 in Bob Devaney's final game as Nebraska's head coach.
Rodgers turned in his record-setting performance in just three quarters, as he sat out the fourth quarter. This was partly due to Nebraska's lead. Additionally, Rodgers was still recovering from the flu. He lost 10 pounds the week of the game.
"MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD, DID THAT PUT ’EM IN THE AISLES!"
Johnny Rodgers was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. That same year, he was named the Nebraska Player of the Century.
Since 2011, the Jet Award has been honoring the best return specialist in college football. In addition to selecting a current winner, the Jet Award committee also hands out a "Legacy Award" to a return specialist from a previous generation.
The Jet Award Foundation raises scholarship money for students interested in pursuing the trades at two community colleges in the Omaha metro.
"JOHNNY THE JET RODGERS JUST TORE ’EM LOOSE FROM THEIR SHOES!"
The Game of the Century punt return would become the most famous and most watched touchdown in school history. It is easily the most listened-to radio call in Nebraska history.
After scoring this legendary touchdown, Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers went to the Nebraska sideline and threw up.
