Gabbert making the call
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By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
The name tag that hung around Blaine Gabbert’s neck seemed rather silly.
Who needs identification when you’re one of the nation’s top-ranked high school quarterbacks, you’re orally committed to Nebraska, and you’re spending the weekend in Lincoln?
“It’s cool,” Gabbert said, smiling. “I like the lanyards.”
Gabbert, from suburban St. Louis, is attending Nebraska’s Elite Quarterback Camp, which began Saturday and concludes today. He’s rather easy to spot out of some 100 high school players, from freshmen to seniors.
Gabbert is 6 feet, 5 inches, 230 pounds, and 17 years old. He’s thrown a football 82 yards, he said, in a high school practice, with a little wind. ESPN ranks him as the nation’s No. 1 high school quarterback. Rivals.com ranks him third.
Beginning in the fall of 2008, Gabbert will seemingly compete for Nebraska’s starting quarterback job.
But he’s already assuming a leadership role for the Huskers.
Gabbert, intent on making Nebraska’s 2008 recruiting class as strong as possible, is contacting high school seniors with Nebraska offers on a daily basis.
His message? Be a Husker.
“You can’t go wrong here. That’s what I tell them,” Gabbert said. “If you want to win championships at a great place, come here.”
Gabbert isn’t certain exactly how many of Rivals.com’s finest he text messages. A bunch, he says. Included on his list are Sam McGuffie, a four-star running back from Cypress, Texas; Jonas Gray, a four-star running back from Detroit; Christian Wilson, a four-star linebacker from McKees Rocks, Pa.; Will Compton, a four-star linebacker from Bonne Terre, Mo.; and Deion Walker, a five-star wide receiver from Christchurch, Va.
”I catch him texting all the time,” said Chuck Gabbert, Blaine’s father, who came to Lincoln with his son this weekend. “I think Blaine, like any athlete coming to the University of Nebraska, wants to help in any way (he) can. It’s all about developing relationships and fostering relationships with the players he meets throughout the country.”
The younger Gabbert said he’s also in regular contact with players already committed to Nebraska, including offensive linemen Trevor Robinson, Bryce Givens, Dan Hoch and Baker Steinkuhler.
“You’ve got to have good people around you if you want to succeed,” Gabbert said, explaining why he’s doing his part in recruiting. “So far, we have unbelievable people around.”
What is the response to Gabbert from uncommitted players?
“I think they’re starting to come around,” he said. “I know Sam is starting to like it, and Jonas definitely.”
This is Gabbert’s fourth or fifth trip to Lincoln, he said. He attended this year’s Spring Game and also participated in the quarterback camp two summers ago. His younger brother, Tyler, who will be a sophomore, is also attending Nebraska’s quarterback camp.
One of Blaine’s main reasons for coming this year, he said, was to work with and further his relationship with Nebraska assistant coach Shawn Watson, who heads the quarterback camp.
“Great guy. Favorite coach, so far,” Gabbert said. “He’s just really down to earth, smooth. Him being the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, he’s got a big part in my life here.
“I just want to get under his wing, let him teach me what he knows, start the process.”
Gabbert, who will be a senior this fall at Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Mo., turned down offers from Missouri, Alabama, Iowa and several other schools.
Nebraska fans, of course, have lived through such hype of high school sensation quarterbacks since Bill Callahan took over the program in 2004. Harrison Beck was a bust. Josh Freeman reneged on his commitment.
Is third time charm?
First, Gabbert must sign in February. That will get him farther than Freeman.
“It’s as firm a decision as you can get without signing,” Chuck Gabbert said. “He’d sign today if he could.
“I think he wouldn’t have made (this decision) unless he was comfortable and he felt like, in his heart, this was the place that he wanted to go to school and play football.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
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