Here's a fun little article to pass the time. Classy SOB's those Husker fans.
Husker players being subjected to more ridicule
BY RICH KAIPUST
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — Nebraska football captain Zack Bowman showered, wandered outside Memorial Stadium on Saturday and thought he couldn't feel any worse about the Huskers' loss to Texas A&M.
He was wrong.
"People will come up and be like, 'You suck!'" said Bowman, a senior cornerback. "To me, to the team, they say it to anybody. Anybody associated with the football program. It's bad.
"You see them at the games. They'll come up behind the bench and just be like, 'Y'all suck,' or, 'How can y'all wake up in the morning?' I'm dead serious, man."
So much for the warm, fuzzy feeling after Tom Osborne replaced Steve Pederson as athletic director last week.
At least two other players mentioned that they could hear an assortment of catcalls from fans while sitting on the bench during games. The more vitriolic comments seem on the increase after embarrassing back-to-back home losses to Oklahoma State (45-14) and Texas A&M (36-14).
Bowman and senior receiver Maurice Purify said Tuesday that, at least in their experience, the simple booing of a month ago has given way to more bitter and pointed remarks — and traveling to Texas on Saturday might not be a bad thing for an embattled team.
"I'm just kind of angry at the fans who come here," Purify said. "They put on their Nebraska shirts, sweaters, their hats . . . and then when we're down by seven or 14, they come down to the sidelines and say, 'You guys suck. You guys take your N's off your helmets.'
"If you're going to support us when we win, why can't you support us when we're losing?"
Purify, careful to point out that he was speaking for himself and not for the team, added: "Why are you going to waste your money and come here just to boo us and tell us that we suck? Save your money."
Senior linebackers Steve Octavien and Corey McKeon already have made comments this season that stirred replies by NU followers. That was when the team was 3-1 or 4-1 and the complaint was with the level of play and was mostly confined to the stadium.
As NU has stumbled to 4-4, Bowman said, the criticism has drifted into other settings and has become more disturbing.
"Now it's almost to the point where, like, I know some of the guys want to fight these people," Bowman said. "We do a lot. We come in here almost every day and go through film, go through practice and do the extra things to get better. When you've got people out there just talking bad about you, it makes you mad.
"It's got to where people are just like, 'The program's going to hell. This may be the worst team in Nebraska history.' It's tough on the players."
Senior cornerback Cortney Grixby said he hopes most Huskers understand that the nasty fans are a small minority. Some of the negativity, he said, actually has gotten other fans to respond, show more support and "really have our back."
"We love the support, and we want to win for them," Grixby said. "We want to win just as bad as they want us to win."
When the minority is heard over the majority, Bowman said, his message to younger players is to go about their business and don't worry about such stuff. Still, it sometimes gets through.
"They're like, 'Put someone else in . . . you guys need to resign,'" said freshman I-back Quentin Castille.
To catch a break from the negativity, junior defensive end Zach Potter said he took advantage of some off time Monday and returned to Omaha. In trips to a mall and a movie, Potter said, he only once was recognized, by a store clerk who said: "I appreciate you coming in, and best of luck the rest of the year."
Potter said the drive gave him time to just listen to music and clear his head.
"It's just nice to get away from everything," he said. "I don't mean getting away from your teammates, but just being on your own is kind of nice."
Bowman said the Huskers realize they can change public opinion by winning at 16th- and 17th-ranked Texas or by putting together some sort of successful finish. That's what the team can control — and let the rest take care of itself.
"It's almost a little like Frankenstein, how everybody sees, like, the evil villain and everybody in the village wants to go kill him," Bowman said. "That's what it kind of feels like around here. They look at certain people and coaches and stuff as that Frankenstein, and everybody wants to kill them or get them fired."
