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Bobby Newcombe

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I guess I had forgotten the Bobby said some disparaging things about Nebraska and Eric Crouch until I saw the link this morning about his bitterness. I wonder if those relationships have ever been patched up. I hope so, I liked watching Bobby play and it would be great to bring him into the fold. I'm a little disappointed to see the emphasis on negativity on the front page of HuskerMax although it is totally fair game and accurate. The last I recall Bobby was coaching high school football near me in Chandler, Arizona.
 
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Bobby would have been a terrific QB for Nebraska under a better coaching staff fit. Frank had no clue how to run a passing game and hence the morphing into crouch left, crouch right, crouch on the draw offense we ended up with going all the way through Jamal lord. (Checkers anyone) Newcombe was not the runner Eric was and once it became obvious that is what the offense was going to be the QB battle was over.
Before we even think about bashing Bobby Newcombe, let’s remember how quick Eric crouch would have “entered the transfer portal” had he not ultimately ended up with the job.
 
I only remembered Solich chasing Crouch to Omaha to coax him back to the team. Sounds like it was a crap show with both those guys. I didn't ever hear that kind of dirt (players threatening to leave; internal cat fighting) under TO. I'm sure it happened, but probably was a sign of the times, as well as the dawning of the internet age.
 



Elwood von Kiowa said:
I only remembered Solich chasing Crouch to Omaha to coax him back to the team. Sounds like it was a crap show with both those guys. I didn't ever hear that kind of dirt (players threatening to leave; internal cat fighting) under TO. I'm sure it happened, but probably was a sign of the times, as well as the dawning of the internet age.
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Oh I hadn’t heard about that. Doesn’t entirely surprise me, though.

I always had a favorable impression of Newcombe during his NU tenure - I thought it was very selfless of him to offer to switch positions. Honestly, except for a couple of shining moments, he kind of disappeared. I always felt like he was kind of given the shaft, though the way he handled it after leaving was not exactly mature.
 
Newcombe wasn’t the same after the knee injury. He just wasn’t. He lost some elusiveness at Quarterback. Imo he lost some nerve also. He seemed tentative to me.

He was never going to be durable enough to play option quarterback at Nebraska. He was a small guy with a slight build. He was barely 5’10” I stood by him when he was rehabbing in the spring of 99. He wasn’t any taller than I am.

In today’s game he would have hit the transfer portal pretty quick also.
 
Hville said:
Kind of like Eric crouch
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I have no doubt Crouch would have been transfer portal bait if he hadn't won the QB position. Out of the two, BN may have been a little better of a passer (maybe), but EC was a way better runner. That was the better fit for the offense Solich was running at the time. Personally, I would have rather seen BN transfer than bad mouth his team after he left. And again, he wasn't as good as he apparently thought he was. Whether you get a load of playing time at the college level or not, if you get drafted and have the right stuff you'll make a team at the next level. And before anyone starts pointing out EC's pro career (or lack there of), I agree there are some similarities between the two.
 




SemperHusker said:
I have no doubt Crouch would have been transfer portal bait if he hadn't won the QB position. Out of the two, BN may have been a little better of a passer (maybe), but EC was a way better runner. That was the better fit for the offense Solich was running at the time. Personally, I would have rather seen BN transfer than bad mouth his team after he left. And again, he wasn't as good as he apparently thought he was. Whether you get a load of playing time at the college level or not, if you get drafted and have the right stuff you'll make a team at the next level. And before anyone starts pointing out EC's pro career (or lack there of), I agree there are some similarities between the two.
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Not having a pro career is EC’s choice. He just didn’t want to be a WR/kick returner. He was actually doing fairly well in the Ram’s camp. He had a real good shot of making the team. He wasn’t cut, he quit.
 
NUinID said:
Not having a pro career is EC’s choice. He just didn’t want to be a WR/kick returner. He was actually doing fairly well in the Ram’s camp. He had a real good shot of making the team. He wasn’t cut, he quit.
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Really? As I remember it he quit in the pre season before teams started making their cuts. Maybe he would have made the team, maybe not. I remember seeing him get absolutely clocked in a pre-season game and never saw him again. Something tells me he didn't exactly show the Rams the kind of drive and "do anything for the team" attitude it'd take to make the final roster. But since neither of us were on the coaching staff at the time, we'll never know for sure.
 
I've had a few interactions with EC over the years. Strange dude. A bit bipolar and eccentric. He can be very condescending one minute and then act like your best bud the next. He's really a strange dude. Love what he did for the Huskers for sure, but I can sort of understand the feelings from Newcombe.
 
NUinID said:
Newcombe wasn’t the same after the knee injury. He just wasn’t. He lost some elusiveness at Quarterback. Imo he lost some nerve also. He seemed tentative to me.

He was never going to be durable enough to play option quarterback at Nebraska. He was a small guy with a slight build. He was barely 5’10” I stood by him when he was rehabbing in the spring of 99. He wasn’t any taller than I am.

In today’s game he would have hit the transfer portal pretty quick also.
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Some people continue to say Newcombe wasn't the same after his knee injury, but I don't think there's much truth to that.

After his knee injury:


Also after his knee injury, a school record 94-yard punt return (at 1:40):


Newcombe was elusive, fast, and a better passer than Crouch. He also was better on the option pitch. However, Crouch was also elusive and fast, and he was a more physical runner than Newcombe.

Maybe the difference was that Newcombe loved playing football, while Crouch loved playing quarterback.
 



NUinID said:
Newcombe wasn’t the same after the knee injury. He just wasn’t. He lost some elusiveness at Quarterback. Imo he lost some nerve also. He seemed tentative to me.

He was never going to be durable enough to play option quarterback at Nebraska. He was a small guy with a slight build. He was barely 5’10” I stood by him when he was rehabbing in the spring of 99. He wasn’t any taller than I am.

In today’s game he would have hit the transfer portal pretty quick also.
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Eric Crouch is under 6’ also. He was a little thicker than Bobby though.
 

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