The Single-Digit Jerseys’ Place Among Husker Football Traditions

Will the practice started by coach Matt Rhule join the pantheon of long-running Nebraska football traditions?

Nebraska linebacker John Bullock will wear a single-digit jersey for the second year in a row in 2024. / Nebraska Athletics

The Aug. 20th announcement of the single-digit jerseys given to 10 Huskers who exemplify toughness was the second year in a row of the budding rite of fall passage. Rhule took the practice from his time at Temple, first dreamt up by former coach Al Golden, and carried it to Waco when he coached at Baylor.

The ceremonial bestowing of a single digit has some wondering whether it’s already taken on more significance than the Huskers’ vaunted Blackshirts. But is it built to last? Will there still be offseason speculation over who will garner one ten years from now?

Let’s examine some of Nebraska’s longer-standing traditions and their origins along with some that didn’t stand the test of time to see which category single-digit jerseys might ultimately fall into.

Blackshirts

The most well-known, well-respected, and generally beloved of traditions began in 1964, right after the advent of two-platoon football, when Devaney assistant Mike Corgan purchased black pullovers in preparation for the second game of the season against Minnesota.

Initially just a way to distinguish starters from backups, Devaney’s coaches saw the potential to use them for motivation. Jerseys were given out before practice and given back at the end of it. The shirt had to be re-earned each day and became a point of pride among players. Eventually, the practice evolved to handing out the jerseys during fall camp and were and kept until season's end.

The results spoke for themselves. During the next 38 years, Nebraska ranked in the top ten nationally in defense 21 times.

But the Blackshirts tradition has treaded on treacherous waters in recent decades. Zac Bowman set a new precedent in 2007 when he handed in his Blackshirt, arguing that the defense wasn’t playing up to the standard. Roughly half the defense relinquished their jerseys voluntarily in 2014.

The Blackshirts were also put in harm’s way by defensive-minded coach Bo Pelini, who regularly delayed their usual preseason bestowing and often removed them altogether when the defense played poorly. Only once, in 2013, did Pelini follow tradition and hand out jerseys before the season.

But Coach Rhule has shown reverence to many of the Huskers’ rituals and the society of skull and bones is no different. The Blackshirt tradition looks as strong as ever, especially now that defensive coordinator Tony White has them playing like a top ten outfit again.

The Tunnel Walk

The Tunnel Walk flashed for the first time September 17,1994 before a non-conference tilt against UCLA. Since then, the video montage that segues to a live shot of the Huskers walking onto the field has seen many changes. Most recently, the song that scores the entrance, The Alan Parsons Project's "Sirius", has been tinkered with. The Huskers also now storm out of a different entrance. But the bones of it remain the same and show no signs of disappearing anytime soon. It’s one of Nebraska’s biggest selling points to high school prospects.  

Unity Prayer

The Unity Prayer, chanted by the team before leaving the locker room, has become a beloved ritual since its inception. The nearly 80-word recitation starts quietly before it crescendos into the familiar “Day by Day” refrain. It’s been a staple of the Tunnel Walk video since around 2005.

It originated from a poem by Bertron Braley entitled, “Prayer of a Sportsman,” and was tailored to be more form-fitting for Big Red. Who brought it to Lincoln is somewhat disputed, with former linebacker Donta Jones claiming it was introduced by teammate Vernon Powell, while Henry Cordes’ accounting in “Unbeatable” attributes it to defensive back Sedric Collins, who reportedly borrowed the prayer from his Louisiana high school.

Regardless of who first recited the motivating cry, you can’t argue that this video of Grant Wistrom leading it doesn’t get the blood flowing.

Applauding the Opposing Team

The Huskers may not have instituted the Unity Prayer until the mid-90’s but its proclamation of “waving as the winners go by” was taken to heart many years before by the fans. How long ago is difficult to ascertain. But the Huskers first garnered positive press for it when they stood and cheered for the Seminoles of Florida State after Bobby Bowden’s unit upset the Huskers in 1980.

Bowden was so moved by the experience he wrote a letter praising the fans and program.

The tradition was instrumental in Nebraska earning the moniker of “best fans in college football” and will remain relevant for as long as that title means something to the Big Red faithful.

Sellouts

Perhaps the oldest standing tradition, Memorial Stadium’s first in a nearly 400-long streak of sellouts occurred in 1962 against Missouri.

With the team’s struggles the last several years and home entertainment becoming increasingly appealing, this tradition stands as perhaps the most in danger of folding. It has required eleventh hour resuscitation from friends of the program in recent years. Former Husker Trev Alberts recognized the shaky ground it stood on and sought to reinvigorate fan experience at Memorial Stadium before his departure for Texas A&M.

Regardless, if the Huskers regain their winning form, this tradition just might hit 500 someday.

And now for some traditions that didn’t last.

Red Balloon Release

Perhaps the most heartbreaking of losses was that of the Red Balloon release. Starting in the 1960s, Husker fans would hold their balloons in eager anticipation of the Huskers’ first score. Sometimes they didn’t have to wait long. But once the Huskers got on the scoreboard, they created a scene fit for an 80’s music video.

This tradition weathered years of backlash from environmental activists and helium shortages, only to die an official death before the 2022 season, when Athletic Director Trev Alberts announced the University would no longer provide the balloons, primarily due to helium scarcity concerns in the wake of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Yellow Practice Jerseys

Remember these? Probably not. During the Bill Callahan regime, coaches would award a bright yellow jersey to a standout practice player, paying homage to Lance Armstrong, the now-disgraced cyclist. It wasn’t terribly dissimilar from the original Blackshirt practice referenced above. But like other Callahan rituals, it didn’t even last the coach’s tenure.

Pound the Rock

Stemming from a 2005 season in which the Huskers rushed for a putrid 96 yards per game, Callahan instituted a new tradition in advance of the 2006 campaign, wanting the Huskers to be more physical in the run game.

Callahan installed a small boulder in the tunnel outside the team’s new locker room and implored his charges to pound - or at least touch - the rock every time they passed it.

The mantra worked, at least for 2006 anyway. The Huskers won the Big XII North division behind four stalwart running backs, one of whom would be taken in the second round of the NFL Draft the next spring. But by 2007, the newly christened running game identity was subsumed by expectations that transfer quarterback Sam Keller would bring Callahan’s West Coast offense to its full, free-flying potential. In a 2007 interview with the Omaha World-Herald, Marlon Lucky confessed he didn’t even know where the rock was located anymore.

As of 2023, the rock still curiously resides on campus, though the last time someone’s pounded it is anyone’s guess.   

Hip Hip Hooray

This one resided squarely with Mike Riley, the famously affable coach of Nebraska from 2015 to 2017. After a big win, he’d lead his team in this most wholesome chant. The Huskers didn’t have much to cheer about in Riley’s final year of 2017 and the practice died with his dismissal.

Sadly, he couldn’t also bring his practice of taking his team to In-N-Out Burger with him to Lincoln.

Verdict on Single-Digit Jerseys

The differentiator between true traditions and what becomes a short-lived fad is that practices established by coaches tend to be flimsy at best in their longevity. It hasn’t helped that Nebraska has now hired six coaches since Dr. Tom hung it up 27 years ago and that the Huskers have been mired in futility for much of that span. Not much will stick if it reminds folks of losing.

Traditions facilitated by the fans and school administration tend to have longer legs, even when some question whether they still should. The outlier, of course, is the Blackshirt tradition accidentally created under Bob Devaney that has held mostly steady in the 60 years since its genesis. With the Blackshirts, uniform aesthetic became an identity intertwined with a tenacious brand of defense that the fans took to with open arms. Without fan buy-in, it likely would have died off under one of Nebraska’s 21st century coaches.  

Will the single-digit jersey tradition survive Matt Rhule after he’s gone? It absolutely could, but lasting long-term would require a couple of factors. The first is longevity. Rhule will have to retain his head coaching post and keep the practice alive for several years to come. Secondly, the Huskers need to win. If Rhule restores the order of things to Lincoln, this practice will come to be seen as part of the reason for it. The same way fans and former players pointed to the old ways, so too will future generations point to the single-digit jerseys if they coincide with a Big Red revival.

So pay the proper reverence to numbers 0 through 9 each fall. We could be watching the start of something big.

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