The 50 Greatest Players in Nebraska Cornhuskers Football History

Michael HuckstepMay 18, 2010

In the relatively brief time that I've been a writer here at Bleacher Report, I've written several articles that were outside my comfort zone.

After all, Nebraska football has been my bread and butter.

That's where research comes into play.

In the handful of articles I've written, ones in which I'm not fully versed in the subject, I do a lot of research.

Perhaps that's putting it mildly.

When faced with an unfamiliar subject, this writer completely engrosses himself in a mountain of data: statistics, bios, blogs, game recaps, newswire reports, etc.

If it's out there, I'll do my best to find it in order to give the reader a different perspective or perhaps a nugget or two of knowledge that they didn't have prior to reading the article.

And in the interest of thoroughness and professionalism, sometimes I go a bit overboard in my research. Just ask the college football article coordinator.

So when I was offered the opportunity to write an article about the 50 Greatest Huskers of All-Time, I jumped at the chance.

After all, Nebraska football is what I know best.

But once I started my research, I quickly learned how much I didn't know.

What started as a dream assignment quickly became the most challenging article I've written to date.

Besides wading through an ocean of information, I had to decide who to include, who to leave out, and how much I wanted to write about the players that made the cut.

In addition, there was the daunting task of ranking the players.

Which counts for more, individual achievements or national championships? How do the Husker greats from the Devaney era and earlier stack up to the Husker greats from the Osborne era to the present? How much does their pro career (if any) factor into the debate?

So while I enjoyed the process and am extremely happy to have been given the chance to write such a mammoth article about my beloved Huskers, one that encompasses over 100 years of football, it was no easy task.

Therefore, this is the result of countless hours spent scouring the Internet and other sources for information and then condensing it into one comprehensive article.

It's my hope that you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, that I did my all-time favorite team justice, and finally, that you might learn a thing or two along the way.

I know that I did.