{"id":126898,"date":"2025-10-17T01:52:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=126898"},"modified":"2025-10-16T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T16:22:06","slug":"unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

With the Husker football season in full swing, McGoogan Library took at look at UNMC\u2019s history of football traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s Walk & Roll for Disabilities (Eric Crouch) and the UNMC College of Dentistry\u2019s Dental Day (Tom Osborne and Herbie Husker).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Husker football coaches have generously spent time raising money for the UNMC\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But UNMC students didn\u2019t only watch<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of publication of the University of Nebraska College of Medicine\u2019s \u201cThe Pulse\u201d in 1959\u00a0, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go Big Red!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNMC’s ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":126899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"49446,66969,41525,43932,33898,55345","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","topic-inside-unmc","department-library","department-unmc-today-todays-headlines","author_override-erin-torell-mcgoogan-health-sciences-library"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC history: Husker and football connections abound<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@unmc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Robb\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\"},\"headline\":\"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/\",\"name\":\"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg\",\"width\":2100,\"height\":1400},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/17\\\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/08\\\/overview-1.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":153,\"caption\":\"University of Nebraska Medical Center\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/unmcedu\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/unmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/instagram.com\\\/iamunmc\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/UNMCEDU\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Robb\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.unmc.edu\\\/newsroom\\\/author\\\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound","description":"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound","og_description":"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/","og_site_name":"Newsroom","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","article_published_time":"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2100,"height":1400,"url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jeffrey Robb","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@unmc","twitter_site":"@unmc","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Robb","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/"},"author":{"name":"Jeffrey Robb","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c"},"headline":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound","datePublished":"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/"},"wordCount":428,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/","name":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg","datePublished":"2025-10-17T06:52:00+00:00","description":"UNMC's ties to the Nebraska Cornhuskers is strong, and the Omaha Medical College even played some football back in the day.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OmahaMedicalCollegeSophomoreFootballTeam1900101525.jpg","width":2100,"height":1400},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/10\/17\/unmc-history-husker-and-football-connections-abound\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UNMC history: Husker and football connections abound"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","name":"Newsroom","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#organization","name":"University of Nebraska Medical Center","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/overview-1.png","width":500,"height":153,"caption":"University of Nebraska Medical Center"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/unmcedu","https:\/\/x.com\/unmc","https:\/\/instagram.com\/iamunmc","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/UNMCEDU"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/#\/schema\/person\/6c55382c243ff55b6c4dee62262b6a5c","name":"Jeffrey Robb","url":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/author\/d09bf41544a3365a46c9077ebb5e35c3\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126900,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126898\/revisions\/126900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}