LINCOLN — Tyler Legate can easily list the classics.
Cory Schlesinger. The Makovickas. Steve Kriewald. Judd Davies. Dane Todd.
Legate has been a Husker devotee ever since he watched the 1995 Orange Bowl on TV, and Nebraska's starting fullback has always appreciated its past ones.
And as a 5-foot-10, 235-pounder from Neligh, Neb., he has a natural affinity both for what they did and for what they stand for.
“The thing is, it seems like they've always been Nebraska kids, small town or big town,” Legate said in an interview before Nebraska shut down news media access to players and coaches Wednesday. “They don't have the greatest speed and aren't the most athletic kids in the world, but they try to find their way on the team.”
Legate has quickly found his way at Nebraska and is entering his second season as the starter at fullback. It's a thankless role that includes few carries or catches, and Legate has shown running backs coach Tim Beck he's the perfect man for the job.
“He's a tough sucker,” Beck said. “He just does everything right. He's a fierce competitor and a tough kid.
“He's the typical Nebraska fullback, I can tell you that.”
Three years ago, though, Legate was a scholarship linebacker at South Dakota.
And he certainly wasn't unhappy about that. Nebraska didn't give him a chance to walk on after he rushed for 2,051 yards and 29 touchdowns in his senior year at Neligh-Oakdale, and USD was easily the best offer he'd received.
But Legate said he'll never forget the day Bo Pelini was hired, because on that day Nebraska's new coach vowed to restore the emphasis on the walk-on program.
“I liked it up at South Dakota,” Legate said, “but coming here was always a dream.”
So Legate sat down with USD coach Ed Meierkort and asked to be released from his scholarship after only one semester.
“He thought I was crazy,” Legate said, “and I knew there was a chance I'd come here, they'd turn me down and I'd just go to school here or elsewhere.”
But he just couldn't ignore the opportunity, so he got his release and secured a meeting with Jeff Jamrog, NU's assistant athletic director for football.
Legate handed over his high school film, and an invitation to join the team in January 2008 followed shortly thereafter.
And Legate has been living his dream ever since.
He had never played fullback before arriving in Lincoln, but Legate wasn't going to let that stop him from becoming a Husker. He put his head down, bulked up and learned to love shoving around linebackers.
And when Nebraska desperately needed a hard-nosed running game at the end of last season, Legate stepped up. He played 33 snaps in NU's 10-3 win over Oklahoma and led the way for crucial huge runs by Roy Helu against OU and Kansas.
“I liked that offense,” Legate said. “It wasn't very successful yardage-wise, but we won games.”
Legate caught three passes last season, including a 3-yard touchdown against Arkansas State, but he didn't register any carries. He's vague when asked how much more he'll get to touch the ball this year, mostly because he knows it'll usually happen only in goal-line situations.
“There may be times when I can do something else,” he said. “It really just depends on the game plan.”
When he goes back to Neligh, he typically faces two questions: Who's starting at quarterback, and when will you get to run the ball? But for a guy who admitted last year he isn't very good in the open field, Legate's current role may be for the best.
The mere fact he was a starting Husker, though, was enough to impress the fifth-graders at Huntington Elementary in Lincoln last fall. That's where Legate, an elementary education major, did his practicum teaching stint during the season.
He tried not to tell them about his other job, but they figured it out quickly.
“The ones that liked football got pretty excited,” he said.
But Legate's been a serious Husker football fan since age 6. He gets it.
“Hey, if I'd had somebody come into the classroom who played football, I'd have been the same way,” he said.
Contact the writer:
444-1201, sports@owh.com
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