There is a certain notoriety about playing football for the University of Nebraska.

Former Huskers are recognized on the street and are accorded varying levels of adoration by Nebraskans.

But for Stan Parker, an all-America honorable mention player for the Huskers, it is a little different.

“People will come up to me and instead of saying, ‘Hey, you’re Stan Parker and you played for Nebraska,’ they will say, ‘Hey, aren’t you Stan Parker and didn’t you throw the discus?’ It’s strange,” Parker said.

Parker did, indeed, throw the discus. And it was during an amazing time for the event in Nebraska. The Bellevue East graduate threw the discus 194 feet, 1 inch his senior year and it was the second-longest throw in the nation that year.

The catch is, the longest throw that season was 202-1 by Larry Station of Omaha Central.

Parker is one of 22 athletes, coaches, contributors and officials who will be inducted into the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame this fall. Station was previously inducted.

Other inductees are athletes Bobby Bass of Omaha Benson, Randy Brooks of Creighton Prep, Elmer Dohrmann of Seward, Jeff Evans of Fremont, Doug Phelps of Hastings, Virginia (Stahr) Gee of Centennial, Erick Strickland of Bellevue West, Clarence Swanson of Wakefield, Howard “Dutch” Welch of Gothenburg, Allison Weston of Papillion-La Vista and Andre Woolridge of Omaha Benson; coaches Paul Brungardt of Humphrey St. Francis, Linda Carlson of North Platte, Ron Coleman of McCook, Don Kelley of Lincoln Pius X and Jim Puetz of Columbus Scotus; contributors Mark Ahmann of Wayne, Dwaine Gahan of Oakland and Ronald Park of Millard North; and officials Dennis Logan and Dan Newmyer.

“It was an extremely exciting time,” Parker said. “When you had competitors at that level, it piqued a lot of interest. And it wasn’t just Class A. Marty Kobza of Schuyler was throwing it a long way. Even though we never faced him, he was on our minds.

“That draws the best out of you when you have competition like that. The fences would be lined by people and they would push up along the boundaries just to see us throw the discus.”

Station’s mark is still second on the all-time chart, surpassed by Andy Meyer of Superior in 1989 (203-6). Kobza is third at 201-7 and Parker’s mark is ninth on the all-time chart.

Parker was a three-sport standout for the Chieftains. He was a Super-State football player and a state champion wrestler (25-0 his senior year). He won the discus as a junior and finished third his senior year in the pouring rain.

He said athletics provided some of the greatest highs and lows of his life.

“Athletics are mentally, emotionally and physically challenging. I don’t know if I have been in another situation that pressed me as hard in all three areas,” Parker said. “When you press yourself and compete, there are clear indications of progress and where you want to go.

“Athletics can build confidence and teach sacrifice, focus and discipline. Those are things that make you successful in other areas of your life.”

There are two painful memories from his high school career.

“The first is my senior year in track. It was so wet at the state track meet. It’s one thing to run on a wet track and another thing entirely to try to spin on wet cement,” he said. “We tried everything, putting socks on our shoes, using towels, anything we could think of. I threw 161-8 at state that year and I threw that far without spinning.

“The second was my junior year in wrestling. I didn’t wrestle as a sophomore, so I probably had no business getting to the final. I had my opponent 2-0 going into the third period and we were both dog-tired. I let him up and it was 2-1. Then we danced around a bit and he was eventually awarded two penalty points and beat me 3-2. That hurt.”

Hall of fame induction ceremonies will be Sept. 23 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. Tickets for the 14th annual ceremony are $20 for adults and $10 for high school and grade school students. Ticket information is available from the Nebraska Sports Council at (402) 471-2544.

For more information about the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame, got to www.nebhalloffame.com.

Ryly Jane Hambleton at 473-7314 or rhambleton@journalstar.com.