The Nebraska football team's theme of the week is “Be Like Bud.”
Coach Matt Rhule said Monday he wants his players to model themselves athletically after Terence “Bud” Crawford, the unbeaten world champion boxer who has moved up two weight classes to fight super middleweight Canelo Alvarez on Saturday night in Las Vegas for a shot to become the first three-division undisputed champion.
Crawford is a lifelong resident of Omaha, about 50 miles from the Nebraska campus in Lincoln, and has become a friend
of the football program since Rhule took over three years ago.
Crawford is a regular at home games, and he gave a pregame talk and led the team out of the tunnel before last year's 28-10 win over Colorado. Rhule and several players appeared at Crawford's Vegas sendoff event in Omaha two weeks ago.
“What I love about Bud is he’s going to go out and fight Saturday night, and he's a first-ballot boxing hall of famer, and you know he's certainly not just doing it for the money,” Rhule said. “He could just sit back and be like, ‘No, I’m not going to fight Canelo. You know, I’m the greatest there ever was.’ He’s such a competitor."
Nebraska is 2-0 going into its home game Saturday against Houston Christian of the second-tier Football Championship Subdivision. The Cornhuskers open Big Ten play at home on Sept. 20 against No. 23 Michigan.
Rhule said he wants his players to respond to pressure the way Crawford responds to challenges. Crawford (41-0, 31 knockouts) has won titles at 135, 140 and 147 and 154 pounds and now will move up to 168 for the first time. Rhule said Crawford couldn't pass on a chance to accomplish something no one else has done.
“He accepts the challenge, he moves forward,” Rhule said. “He puts his city, his state, his legacy on his back, and he goes out there. He risks it all in the ring because he’s the ultimate, ultimate competitor. So that’s an analogy for our team.”
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