Johnny Rodgers: Why Our Special Teams Were So Special

Nobody could do what The Jet could do at Nebraska ... but he had some help.

Special teams woes for Nebraska have been something we've all felt a lot over the last few years... but what if I told you that it wasn't always so, for lack of a better word, woeful?

For you young-uns out there, there was once a man named Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers. You've probably heard your grandpa argue with your dad about who was the greatest player of all time - Johnny or Tommie (they're both wrong, it was Suh). If you haven't already, google "Johnny Rodgers makes Oklahoma look silly" or some variation of that and you can watch arguably the greatest return and the greatest call of a return in the history of college football.

It's hard when you see a generational talent like Johnny Rodgers to remember that there were 10 other teammates of his on the field and that they were world beaters too. In this video, Johnny talks about Bob Devaney's (at the time) new way of thinking about special teams. He breaks down the numbers and why it works mathematically and also why special teams were so much more important than they were given credit for at the time.

After you watch the video, go watch his run and tell me what your favorite special teams play was in the comment section. You know, for the algorithm.

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