Dan Alexander was 23 years old, fresh out of Nebraska, when he made a mistake at a Tennessee Titans' practice.
Rookie sixth-round draft picks don't get away with much in the NFL. So Alexander's offensive coordinator got after him.
What are you going to do when the pressure's on, he said. What are you going to do when you're playing in front of 60,000 screaming fans on national TV?
“I was really trying not to chuckle,” Alexander said. “At Nebraska, we played in front of 75,000 every week. I've been there, done that.”
Nine years later, Alexander is still buckling his chin strap, but two major components of the football experience have changed.
He hasn't been to a Husker game since he won MVP honors in the 2000 Alamo Bowl. And he doesn't play in front of 60,000 or 75,000 people.
More like about 5,000.
He's 32 years old. He directs a charity in the Nashville area. Operates a sports camp and sells real estate, too. He has a wife and a 3-year-old and mortgage.
But every Friday night, Alexander suits up for the Alabama Vipers of the Arena Football League. He plays fullback and linebacker. He's the oldest man on the team, but the bones are not creaking yet, he says.
“It's not a career. It's not a profession. It's a way to go out there and act like a kid and run around and play a game,” Alexander said.
Last week, NU announced Alexander as a member of its 2010 Hall of Fame class. For years, he has received letters in the mail from Nebraska. Requests that he come back to Lincoln. He was always too busy.
“I thought this was maybe some kind of gimmick to get me to come back to a game,” Alexander said.
At Nebraska, he was known as a freak athlete before he became an explosive I-back.
He was 6-foot, 245 pounds and ran a 4.53 in the 40-yard dash. Twice he was a finalist for lifter of the year.
But for a long time, injuries and fumbles derailed his talent. It seemed his eligibility might expire before production met potential. Then the 2000 season came.
Alexander ran over San Jose State for 208 yards. Barreled through Kansas State in the snow for 130 more. He averaged 105 yards, earning first-team all-Big 12 honors. That was before he humiliated Northwestern for a Nebraska bowl-record 240 yards on just 20 carries.
In the NFL, Alexander played 11 games with three teams in three different seasons. In 2004, he figured he was done. He dove into real estate in Nashville.
Then the arena league's Nashville Kats were born. The Kats' head coach, a former Titans scout, invited Alexander to play.
“I was settling down,” Alexander said. “I had just gotten married. We had just bought a home. I wasn't sure I wanted to go back through all the up-and-down mental aspect of football.”
Coach convinced him. He adapted to the smaller field, to playing linebacker in addition to running back. He played three years with the Kats and made $70,000 for a six-month season. Worked six days a week, just like the NFL. He was a star.
In 2007, he rushed for 41 touchdowns, a league record.
In 2008, Alexander played for Chicago. His wife, Amy, flew back and forth to Nashville during the week, supervising her own charity. Meanwhile, they juggled duties caring for an infant.
The AFL folded in 2009 because of the economy. Alexander considered it a blessing. His family could settle down again in the same city.
In 2010, a smaller, more frugal AFL opened its doors again. And Alexander got a call from a former Titans assistant, now head coach of the Alabama Vipers.
“At first, I was like, ‘no, no, no.'”
Then Alexander started telling kids at his charity organization about the opportunity. They wanted to see him play. Then he started thinking about his 3-year-old. Braxton was old enough to see him play.
When the league went under, it restructured and cut player salaries. Now Alexander makes only $16,000.
He drives 90 minutes to Huntsville, Ala., twice a week for practice. And on Friday nights, he's back in pads.
There's still a little glory involved. This past weekend, Alexander was on the NFL Network. He gets the bulk of goal-line carries and has 24 touchdowns through 13 games.
The Vipers have three more contests this year and, after that, who knows? Maybe this is it. Maybe not. As long as it doesn't interfere with family, as long as his body can handle the stress, Alexander thinks he might keep going.
This fall, however, he intends to make time for a road trip.
He's been back to Lincoln a few times, but never for a home game. Part of it was his own NFL schedule the first few years, and his numerous tasks the last few years. But part of it was something else.
“I was a little bit hurt when they fired (Frank) Solich,” Alexander said. “He was my running backs coach for two years and my head coach for three years. When that whole thing went down, I was really kind of bitter about how things changed.”
Alexander didn't know anybody in the program anymore. Why come back?
But he talked recently to Tom Osborne and Doak Ostergard. Now he's excited to re-connect, to participate in the Hall of Fame ceremonies.
His wife has never seen Memorial Stadium painted red on a fall Saturday. Never seen 75,000 squeezed into the seats, waiting for an I-back to bust through a crease and dash for six.
“If it's anything like it was when I was there last, I think it'll be pretty impressive,” he said.
Actually, Dan, since you've been gone, the old palace has added a few thousand new seats. It's bigger than ever.
Contact the writer:
649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com
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