• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Greatest NE fullback.

I've been a Ken Kaelin fan since high school when he picked up our 360 pound heavyweight clean off the wrestling mat and then pinned him... they killed us in football too although we weren't very good then anyway
 
I think you all are missing out on the best, Steve Kriewald. As a senior starter the guy AVERAGED 18 yards a carry and scored a TD on nearly half of his touches. He was a machine!
Kriewald was a monster... threw the shot put like 62 feet in high school for North Loup-Scotia if I remember right
 



Four pages in ... and no one has mentioned Bill Olds. Lead blocker/Fullback for Devaney's national title teams in '70 and '71. Played four years in the NFL. Was one of the premier blockers back in the '70s.

He is for certain in the top 5 all-time.
 
Four pages in ... and no one has mentioned Bill Olds. Lead blocker/Fullback for Devaney's national title teams in '70 and '71. Played four years in the NFL. Was one of the premier blockers back in the '70s.

He is for certain in the top 5 all-time.
Bill Olds definitely deserves some mention. IIRC, he started in 1971 after Schneiss started in 1970 (as a Senior). There was some talk of moving him to I-Back in 1972 (Olds' senior year) and having Maury Damkroger start full time at FB (they wound up splitting time in '72). I hate to bag on Gary Dixon, but he didn't get it done in the big games. We had a huge drop off at I-Back after Kinney graduated in '71. One would have to think moving Olds to IB would have put our two best backs on the field.

And by the was Maury Damkroger deserves some praise too, along with Bill Olds. Damkroger played LB for a few years in the NFL for the Pats, IIRC. I just think it is probably best to start with more of the option era and move forward. I don't know I move Olds any higher than #3 on my list (Rathman & Franklin). You could argue Schlessinger to be higher, too. Plus, Dodie Donnell wasn't chopped liver, either. So to me, it makes sense to start with the post-Ferragamo era when we no longer had an NFL style passing game.
 
Last edited:



This is a toughie, due to the lack of statistics that reflect the totality of the position, as witnessed by the discussion thus far.

Like most, Joel Mak and Cory Schlesinger (Miami) rise to the top for me due to the 90’s run, Cory S probably gets the sentimental 90’s vote demographic. Rathman is an obvious choice. I remember hearing Franklin‘s name on the AM, but not well enough to judge where he fits, nor anyone before him, really. Frank maybe the exception, but that’s been covered. Kriewald, astutely noted, the best in the post-Oz era, but not enough to rise to ‘greatest’ discussion.

With respect to those I know nothing about, and thanks for the history lesson on the early 70’s guys.…Nod to Rathman. but only for NU. I dont like to mix NU and NFL success (or not) when discussing “greatest”. You could make a reasonable argument for about any order of those 4, maybe Jeff M wouldnt make the cut over his brother IMO
 
Schlesinger gets a bit of recency bias. Well, not really all that recent, but maybe "memorable" bias. The guy busted a couple of critical TD runs against Miami for Osborne's first national title and those FB trap plays are pretty legendary in Husker fans' minds. Hard to look at just the stat lines and compare them based on production alone. I also remember Schlesinger rattling off some impressive runs against Colorado, if memory serves. He was a bull charging out of a gate and I remember him being the guy who broke facemasks and caused bloody noses - both his own and for would-be tacklers. He obviously also had a great career for the Lions.

However, here are their career numbers. Schlesinger is literally the least productive of the bunch.

Rathman: 1425 yards, 12 TDs (70 yards / 1 TD Receiving)
Joel Makovicka: 1143 yards, 11 TDs (127 yards / 1 TD Receiving)
Jeff Makovicka: 902 yards, 6 TD (19 yards / 0 TD Receiving)
Schlesinger: 706 yards, 6 TDs (no Receptions at NU)

Excellent data but the “memorable” factor wins for me. I was 10 when I watched him in the 95 Orange Bowl and that game sparked my undying obsession for the Huskers.

Schlesinger.
 
In the interest of continuing the fullback nostalgia, I'll also throw an honorary mention out there for Omar Soto. He was a really quality fullback with good production for 1.5 years at Nebraska, and was enough of a key guy that Miami dug up a 5 year old JUCO scrimmage technicality to get him disqualified from the Orange Bowl the day before the game where they had to get by us for a national title.
 



In the interest of continuing the fullback nostalgia, I'll also throw an honorary mention out there for Omar Soto. He was a really quality fullback with good production for 1.5 years at Nebraska, and was enough of a key guy that Miami dug up a 5 year old JUCO scrimmage technicality to get him disqualified from the Orange Bowl the day before the game where they had to get by us for a national title.

I shockingly had never heard of this, so I had to do some digging.

I feel really bad for him - it does seem like a weak technicality. But also there’s this little gem: “I never told anybody at Nebraska because I knew it might cause some trouble like this.”

I presume we didn’t end up forfeiting the 5 regular season games that he played in?

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-01-01-sp-1116-story.html
 

Four pages in ... and no one has mentioned Bill Olds. Lead blocker/Fullback for Devaney's national title teams in '70 and '71. Played four years in the NFL. Was one of the premier blockers back in the '70s.

He is for certain in the top 5 all-time.
Four pages back I did.
I agree with you, one of the best of the Devaney Era.
 
Last edited:

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top