“It never really crossed my mind that I couldn’t get back.”
Very few would have been surprised if Teddy Prochazka had decided to hang it up in the fall of 2024 after a third ACL tear in four years happened in fall camp and resulted in another surgery and lost season. However, as stated above by him on Tuesday, it was just time to get back to rehab and prepare for 2025.
Prochazka walked up to the podium with a big smile already on his face. And why wouldn’t there be? For most of fall camp, he was part
of a five-player group of offensive tackles sharing the -OR- designation split between the left and right sides of the line. When game day dawned in Kansas City, he was tabbed as the the starter on the right side.
And the middle player. And the finisher. When the gun sounded, the offense had run 78 plays and he lined up at that right tackle position for all 78 of them. Seeing him out there brought smiles from many in the press box, even those who take a more hard-bitten look at sports. Honestly, who goes through that many rehab stints and keeps coming back for more? And at a position, which Henry Lutovsky told me in Vegas, really isn’t for everyone and definitely isn’t one where you WANT to hear your name called over the PA system.
Teddy talked some about it – and it’s definitely an overused phrase but multiple knee rehabs before one’s 25th birthday will have that effect – and sounded like someone wise beyond his years.
“It’s been a long road to get back to where I am now. The recovery process is always still there. I feel more sore after games but I feel like being able to get through that game and attack it as much as I could was a great feeling and something I look forward to doing each week.”
And he was very quick to credit the athletic department’s support staff, whom were also cited by incoming transfers as amazing and the biggest difference between Lincoln and wherever they had played previously.
“I have a lot of belief in myself and this staff here. The protocol they put me on to get me back, the rehab and all of that, I’ve been through it my freshmen year. I told my dad, ‘there’s no place in the country I’d want to be hurt more than here with this staff and these resources we have.”
He also gave a great deal of credit to fellow tackle, Tyler Knaak, with whom he spent the last several months battling for that starting job. They both realized no matter who won the job, the fastest way to becoming their best selves was to work together to bring out the best in each other.
“Tyler has really pushed me. My game and his game have both developed so much over fall camp with our competition. It just continues to get better. Both of us talk about picking one thing to improve on each day in run and pass. Watching film together, we really both matured a lot together. I feel like it’s been a great journey.”
There are still 11 games to be played, but just watching Prochazka’s face and body language, one can sense he’s more than prepared for whatever lies ahead, and whatever that is, he couldn’t be happier where he is right now in the moment – practicing full speed, strapping on the pads again and preparing for a home opener in Memorial Stadium as the Nebraska Cornhuskers’ starting right tackle.
One thing he didn’t know was lying ahead for him was a starring role in the Huskers Media film introducing the alternate black jerseys. Before his Q&A concluded, a reporter asked if that was indeed him in the video.
“That was me, thank you – Ceyair’s (Wright) agents from Hollywood were on my phone and all that. (Laughter) No, we were going out to practice during camp, and Rhule called me over, and I thought, ‘Oh gosh, what did I do?“ And I come over there, and he’s like, ‘You drive a truck, right?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah…’ He goes ‘All right, we have an alternate (uniform) video coming out, and we’re gonna have you drive a truck.‘ And I say, Okay.’”
And maybe not realizing how the south end of Elkhorn rolls, it was assumed he could zip up and find the fashion they were looking for in the shoot sitting in his drawers.
“So I ran home, and they told me to get farmer clothes. And I’m from Elkhorn, Nebraska, and I went to Elkhorn South, so I don’t have many farmer clothes, but let me see what I can do.”
This not being 1957, a gray hoodie and a red trucker hat were deemed sufficient for the character and he was off to the house where they were filming. He was introduced to an old Ford Ranger pickup, got in and drove some laps. He told us it was fun, but he didn’t need to. That smile was still on his a face as drew plenty of laughs from the press while he shared the story.
And after his time in front of the cameras, there was only one thing left to do.
“Then I texted all my buddies back home – it was like, ‘Guys, get ready!’ And they’re like, ‘What are you talking about?’ ‘I can’t say, just be on the lookout – your guy might be in Hollywood very soon.‘”
But before that, there’s the matter of the remainder of the 2025 season. And someone who worked so hard to get back will happily put his stardom on hold to take care of that business first.
And if you missed the video the first time around? Here you go. Go Big Red.
