NU receiver Broekemeier emerges to impress fans, coaches in win over Colorado

Early Friday afternoon, as Joe Broekemeier heard his name announced and jogged onto Tom Osborne Field for the last time, he was an afterthought. Most Nebraska fans likely had no idea who he was.

Considering Broekemeier had never played in a game, that's fairly understandable.

About 20 minutes later, however, the senior from Aurora, Neb., made his first career catch and had fans flipping through their programs to find out just who he was.

"I was just glad I didn't drop it," he said with a smile after the game.

His relief was understandable. This was, after all, the first time he'd played in a football game since 2002.

Broekemeier's career journey, which peaked with Friday's 45-17 win over Colorado in which he recorded three catches for 34 yards, is enough to make a Disney executive roll his eyes. Here was a guy whose idea of joining the team evolved from a running joke.

The last time the receiver was on a football field, he was Aurora's freshman starting quarterback facing McCook in the state semifinals.

Heading into the season opener of his sophomore year, Broekemeier suffered a back injury. After sitting out a month, he returned only to break his hand and miss the rest of the season.

Before his junior year, Broekemeier hurt his elbow pitching for Aurora's baseball team and was unable to throw, rendering him out once again.

He figured his football career was over. Even with football done, though, his athletic career was far from over.

Broekemeier was a four-year starter at point guard for the Huskies' basketball team and ran track all four years of high school. But baseball was the sport Broekemeier truly excelled at, and Baseball America rated him the top baseball player in the state.

He signed with Nebraska and redshirted in 2007 before pitching two years for the Cornhuskers.

But again, injuries crept up on Broekemeier, and he decided to call it a career after the 2009 season.

"After that baseball season, with my arm, I knew I couldn't really throw anymore," he said. "I was getting to the point where I knew I had to give up on that, because there wasn't much there."

It was then that the thought of football crept back into his mind.

"I kind of joked around with a couple players that I was pretty good friends with," Broekemeier said. "And all that joking ended up coming true after some talks."

Broekemeier joined the Husker football team during fall camp in 2009 and served most of that season as a scout team quarterback. But Broekemeier's talent just seemed too great to the coaching staff to stash on the sidelines. A natural athlete at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, the coaching staff moved him to receiver before the Holiday Bowl.

He still didn't get on the field, but his play began to earn him some notice during the offseason among NU's coaches.

"Whenever guys would throw in the summer or winter, the kids would come back and say, ‘That Broekemeier, he is a difference-maker,'" NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. "He's a really competitive guy in terms of hands, and he finds a way to make plays."

Broekemeier continued to climb the depth chart, and NU wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore kept telling him to be ready each week. Still, No. 9 spent each Saturday on the sidelines.

Then, Niles Paul broke his foot in practice.

After a sports career in which injuries held him back, it was another's misfortune that finally earned Broekemeier his chance.

"Once Niles went down in practice, I knew I'd get in this week," he said. "I don't know if I can put it in words."

Watson said he had no worries about inserting Broekemeier after Paul, NU's leading receiver, went down.

"We've seen these flashes from him in practice," Watson said. "The last two weeks, he's been lights out in practice, and we thought he deserved an opportunity to play. That's how impressive he's been."

Broekemeier said he was too busy concentrating on his assignments to be nervous once he hit the field Friday. After his three third-down catches, two of which resulted in first downs, he finally got to see something he'd been waiting for: his name in the box score.

Despite the excitement, the senior said he has no plans of framing Friday's stats sheet.

"Maybe my mom will do that," Broekemeier said with a laugh. "That's something she's up to."

danhoppen@dailynebraskan.com