Who is the Most Beloved, Great Player in Nebraska Football History?

On this week's Saturday Morning Coffee Show, Jack Mitchell and Josh Peterson took an idea from Husker Twitter and put together a grid of the best, worst, and average players across three separate categories. Inside that discussion, they tried to find the player that's the best and most beloved.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of their conversation.

Josh: Do we want to do the myriad of examples that we will have for great player loved by fans?

Jack: It’s essentially who has the highest Q-rating of any Husker player, making sure that they're great, right?

Josh: Dilo says Abdullah, Dave says Ameer. Does he have the highest approval rating?

Jack: I think he's loved, but he is not the highest by any means.

Josh: In this category, you are talking about Mike Rozier. I think you were talking about in Ndamukong Suh. I think you are talking about Ahman Green.

Nebraska Cornhuskers running back #30 Mike Rozier in action during the 1983 season at Memorial Stadium. — Mike Rozier carries the ball during a 1983 game. | Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

Jack: Ahman Green is my answer I think.

Josh: Who has ever said a bad word about Ahman Green?

Jack: And he's from Nebraska and he had a great NFL career. And every interaction I've had with him, he’s great. Ahman Green is the answer to me.

Josh: Now, Dave brings up Johnny the Jet [Rodgers]. I was purposely not mentioning Johnny the Jet. He had some off the field issues, right? So, I think people are kind of annoyed by him. Now, are we wrong in not including Suh? Is Suh the obvious answer?

Jack: Suh’s up there too. He's definitely in the conversation. Husker4MU asked a great question: “Who gets the biggest cheer when they return?” I would say Suh.

Josh: He has a chant!

Missouri Tigers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (11) fumbles the ball while tackled. — Ndamukong Suh forces a fumble by Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert in 2009. | John Rieger-Imagn Images

Jack: Yeah, but he would get a bigger reaction. Suh would get the biggest reaction of any player that comes back, I would argue. Bigger than Tommie Frazier, bigger than Ahman.

Josh: OK, so I'm to give you two names, Jack. One of them I know is not like the highest Q rating. I'm trying to figure out how to describe these, but in terms of beloved, Grant Wistrom might not get the biggest cheer. Who says a bad word about Grant Wistrom? He was a four time All-American!

Jack: I got one more that's in that exact same genre. Will Shields.

Josh: Yes, exactly.

Jack: Nobody doesn't like Will Shields, but he doesn't quite get the reaction that Suh would, right?

Josh: Dave Feit has the deeper cut: Rob Zatechka. Rob's floor is super high. It's just his ceiling of cheering is not as high. Hey, let me throw out another one, Jack, and we talked about this player for an hour and a half on Wednesday: Lavonte David.

Jack: David's a great one too.

Josh: That guy has an approval rating [that’s high].

Jack: Now Green, Ahman, David, and Will Shields have the benefit of having gone through and had good long NFL careers and being by all accounts, really good guys too for the most part, you know? It’s when you put all of those things together.

Josh: What about Barrett Ruud? Now, he doesn't get the loudest cheer but he does have his own. “RUUD!”

Jack: That's true. He's up there, but then being on the Scott Frost staff has probably nicked him a little bit.

Nebraska Cornhuskers running back Ahman Green (30) carries the ball against the Central Florida Knights at Memorial Stadium — Ahman Green carries the ball against Central Florida in 1997. | Paul Chapman-Imagn Images

Josh: That's a good point. So, is it Suh? Is Suh the answer?

Jack: It’s between Suh and Ahman Green.

Josh: Oh, Matt: Dave Rimington. That's a good one.

Jack: Yep, Dave Rimington would be there.

Josh: It's either Ndamukong Suh or Ahman Green. I think that those are the best two. We didn't mention Turner Gill. Should Turner Gill be in this conversation?

Jack: Again, the coaching thing, it hurts when you become a coach, after the fact. It will always hurt you. You'll never have the same reputation once you become a coach.

Some others that I don't think are up at the level, but some others, I would say Mike Brown. Everybody freaking loves Mike Brown.

Josh: Yes! Who says a bad thing about Mike Brown?

Jack: He was a great player but I would argue that his reputation is even better than the player. He was great, don't get me wrong, but I have so many people who are like, “you know, I have this favorite player and it's not probably who many people is. You know who it is?” Mike Brown is your favorite player's favorite player.

Josh: Oh, that's a good way to describe Mike Brown. He definitely is.

So, it's either Suh or Ahman. Are we going Suh? It's Suh, right? Are we just being idiots for talking this out?

Jack: Yeah. It's probably Suh. Ahman’s been gone [for a while]. Suh’s more recent and that helps him with this.

Josh: That's true.

Shoutout to @4oh2boNEyard for this idea. We took a crack at it on today's Saturday Morning Coffee Show!

Also, @JackMitchellLNK would live everyone to know he didn't agree with all these names and if you're mad at someone, don't be mad at him! https://t.co/QzWAd11KZN pic.twitter.com/EBlcOaUF2W
— I-80 Club (@I80Club) April 12, 2025

Watch the clip below!

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