Until November 29, 2024, I didn’t realize Nebraska believed it owned the logo at the 50-yard-line of its opposition.
That is when Handshakegate reared its ugly head.
Iowa refused to let Nebraska’s players gather on the Hawkeye logo of famed Kinnick Stadium and pray as they traditionally do roughly two hours prior to kickoff.
To get even, Nebraska’s four captains, selected by the coaches for the Iowa game, Elliott Brown, Emmett Johnson, MJ Sherman and DeShon Singleton, refused to shake the hands of the Iowa players.
But they did not get even.
Nebraska giftwrapped an Iowa victory with sloppy tackling and fumbling the ball away. A 10-0 halftime lead melted into a 13-10 loss. And for the second year in a row, on the last play of the game.
Tossing victories into the defeat dumpster has slowly evolved as the Nebraska way. It is my hope that the poor sportsmanship displayed prior to the Iowa game is a one-time stumble.
Husker head man Matt Ruhle believes it will not happen again.
Rhule addressed the no handshake issue with the Iowa football captains during a December 4 news conference.
I believe this is what most Nebraska football fans wanted to hear:
“I found out about it afterwards,” Rhule said Wednesday in remarks that opened his news conference to announce the Huskers’ recruiting class. “That’s not what we want to do. That’s not the right way to handle it.”
The second-year coach said the Nebraska players “felt some type of way” about Iowa’s decision to protect the logo at the 50-yard line from Huskers who typically hold a prayer at the middle of the field upon their arrival as visitors at a stadium.
Nebraska’s pregame prayer caused disturbance between the Huskers and the home teams when they played at Colorado in 2023 and at USC last month.
“Iowa didn’t want us to do it before the game,” Rhule said. “They told us we had to go to the end zone. When we came out to walk to the end zone, there were seven-armed state troopers standing on the logo.”
The Huskers held their prayer in an end zone at Kinnick Stadium.
“They felt that” Rhule said. “It wasn’t maybe channeled the right way. But we’ve got great guys. We’ve got great leadership. Not the right decision, not what we wanted. But I think when you watch that game, credit to both teams, between the lines, there were no unsportsmanlike fouls, no trash talking, no taunting.”
He said the Nebraska players would “learn” and “grow” from the experience.
“We’ll be better,” Rhule said. “We’ll make our guys understand that we’ll always shake everyone’s hand before we play and after we play, regardless of the score.”
Here is what I hope the Huskers learn from the incident. It is found it the Bible. Matthew 6: 5-8. Jesus said, “”When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men … but when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father who is unseen.”
My point is that no matter if one prays from the 50-yard-line, the end zone, on their own team’s bench, in the locker room, on the bus, at the hotel before the team gets on the bus — God hears the prayers. It doesn’t have to be in public view in the middle of the football field.
Did Iowa overreact?
Absolutely.
Should Nebraska have been more dignified in handling Iowa’s overreaction?
Yes.
However, in the perfect world, Nebraska’s captains would have shaken the hands of the Iowa captains and then the Huskers ran on the field and beat the snot out of the Hawkeyes by 21 points. Which NU truly should have done!
This past Friday and Saturday not only was it enjoyable watching the Nebraska volleyball team destroy Florida A&M and Miami U in the first two rounds of the NCAA playoffs, but it was also equally enjoyable watching all the players from the three teams offer postgame handshakes.
Ladies, after you.
And rightfully so.