Posted: Monday, May 15, 2006 7:00 pm
Former Husker Mike Rozier was named Tuesday to the College Football Hall of Fame, joining other former Huskers including Tom Osborne, Rich Glover, Johnny Rodgers, Sam Francis, Dave Rimington and Bob Devaney.
BY KEN HAMBLETON / Lincoln Journal Star
There is a Mona Lisa among paintings.
There is a Michael Jordan among basketball players.
There is a Mike Rozier among college running backs.
Nebraska’s all-time leading rusher, 1983 Heisman Trophy winner, Rozier, was named to the College Football Hall of Fame on Tuesday at a news conference in New York.
Rozier joins a class that includes Carl Eller, Emmitt Smith, Charlie Ward, Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.
He also joins the list of former Huskers in the hall, including Tom Osborne, Rich Glover, Johnny Rodgers, Sam Francis, Dave Rimington and Bob Devaney.
“I’m elated because it seemed like now or never for me,” Rozier said from his home in Camden, N.J. “The college days were great and I was a part of a great, winning program and had some God-given talent that Nebraska found a way to use best.
“To go into the Hall of Fame is a great honor for doing something I enjoyed so much and still think about today,” he said. “Things are going great for me, and this is just another great thing.”
The Rev. Irving Fryar, a former teammate, married Mike and Rochelle in Hawaii recently, and the couple live with their 3-year-old son, Michael.
Rozier averaged 179 yards per game and ran for 4,780 yards, plus 49 touchdowns and 26 100-yard games, in his three years at Nebraska.
“I can’t think of a better college running back,” said Frank Solich, head coach at Ohio and former NU head coach and Rozier’s running back coach in 1983. “He averaged 7.8 yards a carry as a senior, and nobody else has done that. He helped us win a lot of games, and he was just a great guy to be around.”
Solich recruited Rozier out of high school.
“I was in Weehawken, N.J., trying to recruit a tight end and saw game films of their game with Camden,” Solich said. “Here was Mike running up and down the field. That afternoon I went to his high school and started recruiting him.”
Because of a teacher’s strike, Rozier headed to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas as a freshman. As soon as he gained eligibility, he chose Nebraska again. He eventually forced Roger Craig to move to fullback and in 1983 was one of the famous “Triplets” with receiver Irving Fryar and quarterback Turner Gill.
“I enjoyed running and I enjoyed playing football and it worked out,” Rozier said. “Mike Corgan, the man with the pipe, taught me the lift drill for backs and Coach Solich taught me about hitting the holes quicker.”
Rozier’s senior year, the two-time Big Eight Player of the Year gained 2,148 yards and scored 29 touchdowns in 12 games.
“I ran because I had been running since I played football with my five older brothers when I was a kid,” he said. “I ran track and was a good basketball player. That was my favorite game. But football was my way to college and the pros, and I ran as hard as I could and tried to make guys tackling me think twice about the next time I had the ball.”
Solich said Rozier had plenty of natural talent.
“The weight room was not a love of Mike’s,” he said. “He came here at 205 pounds and he left here at 205. He was naturally strong and he kept himself in shape to play and practice every day in spite of injuries. He was as reliable a back as I’ve ever known. Ask anybody who ever tried to tackle Mike if he needed to spend more time in the weight room.”
Rozier had the famous games of 17 carries for 139 yards against Missouri in 1982 despite playing with a hip-pointer. His 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown against Kansas State in 1981 and his 93-yard touchdown run against Oklahoma State also were memorable. Perhaps his brightest moment came on a 4-yard touchdown run that covered more than 80 yards in a game against UCLA in 1983.
He was the No. 1 pick of the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL and eventually played seven years with the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons in the NFL.
A successful businessman, Rozier was shot in 1996 but he has recovered fully. He now owns a barbecue restaurant and is an investor of a sports energy drink called “Rhino.”
“I still get back to Nebraska when I can, and I will always be a Husker,” he said. “It’s funny, people still remember me at autograph shows and when I’m in Lincoln. I do a lot of charity events and the fans seem to remember. I guess I’ll worry when they forget.”