Buried in the avalanche of all the college football
awards shows on national television was a stirring speech in
Charlotte, N.C., from Nebraska’s first of an NCAA record eight Outland Trophy
winners. When Larry Jacobson accepted the 2012 Bronko Nagurski Legends Award,
it was “inspiring and heartfelt from one of college football’s true legends,”
said John Rocco, president of the Charlotte Touchdown Club. “We
had 950 people in the room, and you could hear a pin drop. Larry conveyed so
many important things in an unbelievably humble manner. He gave credit for his
many past accolades not to himself, but to his teammates and his coaches! In
every aspect of Larry’s speech, it was always about The
Team!”
Jim Hertwig,
CEO for the Florida East Coast Railway, the presenting sponsor of the Legends
Award, echoed what Rocco shared with me. “The evening was amazing,” Hertwig
said, “and it was an extreme pleasure having Larry and his family (wife
Kathy and daughter Amy) at our table. Larry spoke from the heart and
amplified an important theme. Over the decades, we all learn that life isn’t
really about “me”. It’s about everyone around you. It’s about the teammates you
played with, the relationships you form, and the bonds you share. That’s what
creates success, and that’s what transcends time. Larry’s message was very
powerful for our record audience, and it was important for both the young and
the old to hear.”
Jacobson: Did Someone Call the
Wrong Number?
In thanking Rocco, Jacobson admitted that when he was
called and informed of the award last spring, “I thought John had gotten the
wrong Larry Jacobson,” he said. “When I saw the list of past recipients, well …
let’s just say it’s still hard to believe I was standing up there in front of
that group of people and the Football Writers Association of America, which
voted on the award.”
A star defensive tackle on Nebraska’s back-to-back
national championship teams in 1970 and 1971. Jacobson was a pioneer for the
Huskers. He was an All-American, an Academic All-American, a first-round NFL
draft choice and a trailblazer for all who followed his lead, including
Ndamukong Suh, who shared those same accolades and went beyond,
including winning his own Nagurski trophy immediately (not the Legends
award).
Jacobson is quick to point out that every honor that
came his way “wouldn’t have been possible without the exceptionally talented
players who were my teammates and the icons who were our coaches,” he said. “I
mean, I played with Johnny Rodgers, who won the Heisman, and
played right next to Rich Glover, who won the Outland, plus a
Lombardi (the next year).”
On the Same Staff: Devaney,
Kiffin, Alvarez, Osborne
“We had such coaches as Bob Devaney,
Monte Kiffin, Barry Alvarez and Tom
Osborne – all on the same staff!” Jacobson said. “Just last year,
Sporting News magazine named our 1971 team college
football’s best of all time. Twenty-five players on that team went on to play in
the NFL, and you have to remember there weren’t nearly as many pro teams then as
there is now.”
In Jacobson’s era, the Big Eight was the nation’s most
powerful conference. “In 1971, we finished first in the final poll, Oklahoma
second and Colorado third,” he pointed out. “We had three shutouts in ’71 and
only three teams scored more than one touchdown against us while we were scoring
from 31 to 55 points every game. The only game we trailed in all season was
against Oklahoma, and we’re still proud about that game being routinely referred
to as the Game of the Century.
“I’m often asked what I remember most,” Jacobson said.
“For me, it’s my teammates, and they’re also what I miss the most. Over the
years, I’ve come to sincerely appreciate the bond we developed as we played
together in the trenches. We picked each other up and were determined not to let
anyone beat us. It’s all about working together toward a goal – to be the best
in the nation – that I cherish the most. In the past few
years, when I’ve had the opportunity to be on the sidelines, it brings back just
how hard players have to work and how much they have sacrifice to get to the
top.”
A Meaningful Message: Dream Beyond the
NFL
Rocco and Hertwig relished Jacobson recognizing the
accomplishments of all Nagurski award finalists and encouraging them to be
student-athletes. “Remember the importance of working hard in the classroom,”
said Jacobson, who could speak from experience on why that was so important for
him.
“We all know that football is an aggressive sport and
even with precautions, everyone is always one injury away from not being able to
play anymore,” Jacobson said, explaining how his accounting degree became
infinitely more important than his awards on the field.
“As it turned out, in my fourth year with the New York
Giants, I suffered a career-ending injury,” Jacobson said. “But with my degree,
I was able to go back to Nebraska and enjoy more than 30 years as an investment
advisor before retiring from Morgan Stanley.”
Jacobson ended his speech telling the Nagurski Award
finalists that he looked forward to watching them play in the NFL. But if their
football careers are cut short or they do not play professionally, he’s
confident they will apply the same competitive principles they learned from
football to succeed in life.
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