With the Husker football season in full swing, McGoogan Library took at look at UNMC’s history of football traditions.
As part of the University of Nebraska System, Husker football long has been linked with UNMC in various capacities. For many years from the 1950s to the 1970s, the NU Athletic Department set aside a block of football tickets for UNMC College of Medicine faculty and employees. Employees filled out an application to receive seats in East Stadium. Married employees were eligible for up to two tickets, while single employees were limited to one. (In 1958, employees paid only $7 per season ticket.) Medical and nursing students also were eligible for football tickets, and the interested students were divided into three blocks for ticket drawings.
The Husker football team is known for giving back to the community. Active and former players and coaches have lent their support to various UNMC events, interacting with UNMC patients, faculty and staff. Highlights include: Lied Transplant Center transplant reunions (Niles Paul), the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Walk & Roll for Disabilities (Eric Crouch) and the UNMC College of Dentistry’s Dental Day (Tom Osborne and Herbie Husker).
Husker football coaches have generously spent time raising money for the UNMC’s cancer research (Tom Osborne, Bill Callahan and Bo Pelini). The Cornhusker Pep Band has traveled to Omaha to pump up Big Red spirit, playing in the space between Bennett Hall and Wittson Hall. In addition, numerous former Husker football players have gone on to graduate from UNMC programs.
But UNMC students didn’t only watch football. Student football dates to the origins of UNMC and the Omaha Medical College, where medical students played competitive games. The OMC Medics organized games against area schools, including Creighton and Bellevue, in 1900. In October 1959, a team of 14 college of medicine students, also called the Medics, traveled to the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln to play an exhibition flag football game. The Medics won 54-26, having previously won the Omaha City League in 1957 and 1958.
At the time of publication of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine’s “The Pulse” in 1959 , the team had plans for exhibition games against the University of Nebraska College of Dentistry and the University of Nebraska College of Law. Unfortunately, a record of the medical and dental college showdown results has not been found.
Today, UNMC and Nebraska Medicine are the health care partners for Husker Athletics. They are continuing the legacy of not just providing extraordinary care, but also a special connection through football.
Go Big Red!