Commentary by David Max

This is my first ever commentary on HuskerPedia™ and the topic is the Tom Osborne campaign for Governor of the state of Nebraska. It has been over 30 years since I lived in Nebraska, but when people ask me where I am from I very proudly tell them "I am from Nebraska." I am also supporting Tom Osborne for Governor.

I remember the very first time I met Coach Osborne was when I was the trainer for the North squad in the annual Shrine Bowl game in August of 1972. He had yet to coach his first game as head coach and was at the camp looking at recruits. He was very unassuming and introduced himself as "Hello, I'm Tom Osborne." as if people wouldn't know who he was. I was in the locker room with "Touchdown Tommy" Heiser who had just arrived by bus and had a bad headache. Coach wished him well and expressed a genuine interest in his well-being.

Fast forward to this last week where Tom made a campaign appearance at the Whiskey Run Creek Winery in Brownville and took the time after his talk to pose for a picture with my 87 year old mother who has been a season ticket holder since they built the south end zone in 1965. When I saw him at his Spring Game rally two days later he asked how she was doing.

If you look at the three words below the Husker Vision at Memorial Stadium they say Loyalty, Teamwork, and Integrity. In a nutshell, that describes Tom Osborne. The state of Nebraska has the opportunity to elect a Governor that epitomizes the values of the state of Nebraska. In addition to these core values that Nebraskans hold dear there are a few more things that come with the Tom Osborne "package" that I see and are summarized below.

» There is no one that I can think of that cares more about and is more loyal to the state of Nebraska than Tom Osborne. Why else would he spend his "golden years" wanting to contribute more to the state when he could be out fishing and enjoying life. He obviously doesn't have to do this and he does not have any aspirations beyond being Governor such as the Senate or Presidential aspirations. He had the opportunity to become the head coach at Colorado and turned it down because of his LOYALTY to his players and the state of Nebraska. He will not spend his first term being careful and not get things done because he wants to play it safe to get re-elected to a second term. He will hit the ground running and will not have the political "baggage" that his opponents will.

» No obligations to special interests, large corporate donors, or political action committees (PACs). He only accepts a maximum of $1,000 from individuals. No corporate, special interest or PAC money. Vince Ferragamo told me Tom sent back his corporate check and he had to resend a personal check to make a donation to his campaign. I seriously doubt that another individual could get elected using this style of campaign funding and more importantly not having to pay back that "pound of flesh" to the large donors. This may never happen again in US political history and it would be a shame if the state of Nebraska missed this golden opportunity.

» Eleven years as an assistant coach and twenty-five years as head coach of probably the best 36-year college football dynasty in history. He was graded on his performance every football Saturday and during the course of his coaching career he had the opportunity to impact the lives of thousands of young impressionable student-athletes. He had the ability to get players to play together as a team and forgo individual goals. He will do the same for the state of Nebraska. If you read some of my past player interviews when I ask the "Tell us a Tom Osborne story" question I usually get the "I had to meet him at the track at 5 AM to run laps when I skipped class" version. 36 years of working in an atmosphere where TEAMWORK is the key component does translate well in getting the state of Nebraska to work together like a successful team.

» Six years in Congress in Washington, D.C. where he has developed personal relationships with the people of influence in the political arena that can use their influence to help Nebraska. Most people leave Congress and increase their salary an average of four times by becoming a lobbyist. Tom Osborne is willing to do that and his only client will be the state of Nebraska. FOR FREE. Now that's INTEGRITY.

This election presents Nebraska voters an opportunity that they will most likely never see again. I have not been a physical resident of Nebraska for thirty years but I am one of the most passionate about being "from Nebraska" and our family still owns farmland in Nebraska which gives me a vested interest in this election. I am not alone. 80 per cent of the readership of HuskerPedia™ resides outside the state of Nebraska but we are all Nebraskans. Most of us by birth, a few by marriage, and some that have never been to Nebraska, but are just Husker fans because they respect the Nebraska football program and Tom Osborne. 8 of 10 people that read this article can't vote for Tom because they do not live in Nebraska but they can pick up the phone and call their relatives in Nebraska and ask them to vote for Tom. Nebraskans that live out of state can also make a monetary contribution to his campaign. As former Husker Jim Pillen said at the rally last Saturday, "I don't want to wake up on May 10th and look in the mirror and say I didn't do every thing I could to help Tom get elected." I feel the same way as Jim. I have made my contribution and I will be calling and emailing everyone I know with a 308 or 402 area code and ask them to help Tom Osborne become the next Governor of Nebraska. I encourage everyone that reads this article to do the same. Let's not miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime to make Nebraska a better place.

Respectfully submitted,

David Max
Nebraskan by birth

For more information about the Tom Osborne campaign and to hear what others are saying about Tom please visit this web site and especially this page which deals with the topic of leadership. To read my three part interview with Tom; click here. Audio of the interview is located here; early years, head coaching years, political years.

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