Randy York's N-Sider
With Big Ten Media Days in Chicago Thursday
and Friday, Nebraska’s 2012 Nebraska
Football Media Guide is now officially online, and one of the first to
access the popular 208-page "Annual
Bible of Nebraska Football” just might be one of the Husker players who
will do double duty this week. Among the three player/one coach/one athletic
director contingent representing Nebraska at Big Ten Media Days is a
quick-thinking, hard-hitting, fun-loving senior linebacker who’s played most of
his career in the shadows of two conferences.
In addition to being interviewed,
Will
Compton will pull double duty and experience the two-day
event in his own creative way ... with a flip video camera. Yes, Compton will spend
some time in the spotlight with Coach Bo
Pelini, AD Tom
Osborne and teammates Rex
Burkhead and Kyler
Reed. But there will be times when he’ll have a tapeless camcorder in
his hands shooting video himself.
“Will is going to be our eyes and ears in
Chicago,” said Mike
Nobler, the 2012 Big Ten
Conference Video
Coordinator of the Year. “Will’s going to film the whole experience from
a player’s perspective,” Nobler said. “He’ll film on the plane ride there, at
the hotel, going out to dinner and just seeing the sights in Chicago. Maybe he’ll
interview somebody or maybe he’ll have somebody there film him getting
interviewed by some big name media type. That’s the plan, and when he gets
back, we’ll edit the video from a player’s perspective.”
Compton’s
Goal: Getting Osborne to Laugh
“This is my first Big Ten Media Day, and I’m
excited,” Compton said. “It’s a big honor for all three seniors who were chosen
to represent the Huskers, and we’re going to do the best we can to represent
Nebraska the right way. I’m excited to see a little bit of Chicago and to experience
an event I read about every year. I’m going to have some fun with this. We’ve
come up with a few ideas on how to video the experience from my point of view,
and I think Rex and I came up with the same idea. Our main objective is to get Tom Osborne to laugh on camera. If we
can get him to have a good laugh, I guarantee it will be in my video. We may
have to get a little crafty, but we’ll have fun with it.”
The only Husker player of the three to
experience Big Ten Media Days, Burkhead enjoys staying at the McCormick Center
and meeting high-profile players and coaches from other Big Ten schools. “It’s a
neat deal and a good time to get that taste and the preview of the season to
come,” he said. “We’ll be in a great part of the city, and the hotel is right
there as well. Last year, we had a great luncheon and Kirk Cousins gave a great
speech. It’s a really cool deal just bringing everyone together. I
think it helps everybody get on the page for the season.”
Being a leader and a captain, Burkhead has advised
two fellow seniors experiencing their first Big Ten event. “I just told them to
be themselves and be prepared for a ton of questions,” he said. “You get asked
the same questions over and over. I said to be smart about your answers, but
also be opinionated about it. Give your own thoughts. Tell people what you
really think.”
Burkhead
Considering Scare Tactic for a Laugh
Burkhead told Compton that he might have to come
up behind Osborne and “take a hold of him or scare him. “I don’t know what we’re
going to do,” he said. “We’re just going to try to get him to laugh. It’ll be a
challenge, but somehow we’ll get it done.”
Reed says
he’s “definitely excited” to experience Media Days in Chicago. “It’s an honor
to be one of three guys to go with Coach Bo and Coach Tom and represent the Nebraska
football team,” he said. “I’ve never done anything like this, at least nothing
this big. I’m looking forward to meeting guys from other teams seeing Chicago.
I think I have a pretty good idea of the kind of questions I’m going to get and
the kind of questions I’m going to avoid. I feel well prepared.”
The N-Sider will give Huskers.com readers an
inside look at all three Nebraska players in Chicago, featuring Burkhead on
Thursday, Compton on Friday and Reed on Saturday. Fans also are encouraged to
follow the Huskers on facebook and on
Twitter. Kelly Mosier and Ethan Rowley will keep Big Red fans
updated in Chicago and may even help Compton find shots that
Husker fans will enjoy once he’s done shooting.
Send a comment to ryork@huskers.com (Please include current residence)
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