• Photo Showcase: 2010 Husker Fan Day
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LINCOLN — The 23-year-old quarterback turned to the 19-year-old quarterback at his right and passed on this gem of wisdom as the annual Nebraska football Fan Day began at Memorial Stadium: You should've brought a hat.
Taylor Martinez, the redshirt freshman, smiled and nodded at Zac Lee, the senior.
It won't mark the last time this month that Lee advises Martinez. Practice began Saturday afternoon, and those two rank among the main competitors in a quarterback race sure to remain on center stage throughout preseason practice for the ninth-ranked Huskers.
Lee and Martinez sat among approximately 130 NU players and coaches who met their fans Saturday morning. The quarterbacks signed an iPod and at least three cell phones during the 90-minute event.
Jacy Crawford, 16, of Hickman, Neb., her brother, Jake, 14, and cousin, Colin Hummel, 13, of Washington, D.C., held the newly decorated phones. Jake said he'll show it off to his friends but expects sophomore Cody Green to win the QB job before Nebraska's Sept. 4 opener here against Western Kentucky.
“It'll still make people jealous,” Jacy said.
The line for coach Bo Pelini's autograph and handshake stretched more than 100 yards from the back of the north end zone to the goal line in the south end.
Chad Hinrichs of Seward and his 5-year-old daughter, Jaci, waited 45 minutes to meet Pelini. It was their first trip to Fan Day.
“We're excited about the team,” Chad Hinrichs said.
One kid, as he passed through the autograph line, told Martinez that the QB had just won the Heisman Trophy on his NCAA football video game.
Every third or fourth fan inquired about the right arm of Lee, who underwent surgery in January to repair a torn tendon. He missed all of spring practice.
The standard question: Are you healthy?
The answer is yes, Lee said.
We'll see soon.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1031, mitch.sherman@owh.com
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• Video: Bo Pelini after NU's first fall practice:
• Video: Husker football practice, day 1:
• Video: 2010 Husker Fan Day
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