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Truly, the 2013 Nebraska Red-White Game will go down as one of the most memorable in ages.
I certainly wasn't expecting to see the fun on the field, nor did I expect to see a moment that would bring Husker fans together since Black 41 Flash Reverse Pass.
When Jack Hoffman stepped onto the field wearing a No. 22 jersey, it was a curious sight. However, considering his love of former Husker Rex Burkhead, it wasn't the strangest thing I'd seen all day. After all, an offensive lineman made an over-the-shoulder fair catch.
That's when I spotted the helmet. And the camera following him...as he was announced as a member of the Red team.
I've learned how to separate myself from any affiliation allowing for optimum objectivity...but I couldn't this time.
This was the stuff my memories are made of. I admit it, I allowed myself to be a fan in the press box for a moment.
Guilty as charged. Couldn't help it.
First we wondered what was happening, then we knew. We watched, we cheered as Jack became the team's leading rusher on the day. The Cornhuskers surrounded him in celebration. We rejoiced as well. Openly in the stands, quietly in the press box.
I doubt I was the only one.
The Nebraska fan base has become somewhat fractured over the past few years regarding what's gone right or wrong, how things should be done in North Stadium, etc.
None of that mattered when Jack was mobbed in the end zone, surrounded by 60,000-plus fans who can't help but adore the little guy.
Husker Nation came together across the land following a spectacle that, just like the trickery against Oklahoma, I know I'll never experience again. Not like that.
While Jack will never forget the day he scored a touchdown for his Huskers, a 69-yard touchdown run at that, consider this memory locked away with such moments as the Flea Kicker for me.
It was amazing to feel Memorial Stadium flood with that kind of emotion again. We all had the same goal. We all wore red, we all were on the field with Jack in spirit.
We were one.
Sorry, Johnny Football. That's a Heisman moment even you can't create.
Give Hoffman the award. Why not? You won't see a better run all year, especially from a young man who is a soft-spoken inspiration of not only the football team he admires, but the fans that consider him family.