Jerry Murtaugh

Jerry "Rat" Murtaugh (born April 30, 1948) was an American college football linebacker for the Nebraska Cornhuskers who was named a first-team All-American in 1970.

Murtaugh was a co-captain of Nebraska's 1970 national championship team, which defeated LSU in the 1971 Orange Bowl to cap an 11–0–1 season.

Biography Early life

Jerry Murtaugh was born April 30, 1948, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Murtaugh attended Omaha North High School, where he was a star wrestler, winning a Nebraska state wrestling championship. He also was an outfielder on the school baseball team, and played fullback and linebacker for the North High football squad.

Collegiate career

Murtaugh started for the powerful Cornhuskers team as a sophomore in 1968 and garnered honors as a unanimous All Big-Eight selection during his 1969 junior season. Ahead of the season co-captain Murtaugh attracted attention with a Joe Namath-like "guarantee" that the Cornhuskers would finish the 1970 season undefeated. Working with the school's outreach director and president of the booster club, Murtaugh constructed and maintained a database of former players and their contact information with a view to coordinating speaking engagements for the players and bringing them to closer connection with the university and its athletics program.