Incognito calls it quits.

[Saulbadguy]

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) -- Nebraska center Richie Incognito has withdrawn from school after being suspended for the first two games of the season.

Incognito was suspended indefinitely before the Cornhuskers' opener for what coach Bill Callahan called repeated violations of team rules. Callahan said Tuesday that Incognito would not play Saturday at Pittsburgh.

The junior has had a troubled three years at Nebraska.

In February, he was charged with three counts of assault stemming from a fight at a party. He was found guilty of one misdemeanor assault charge after a three-day trial in June and paid a $500 fine upon his conviction. Another charge was dismissed and he was found innocent of the third charge.

He was also suspended in the spring of 2003, but went on to start all 13 games last season.

[Kid A]

to lose someone that talented, but you can't afford to have a problem like that on the team. I'm glad callahan laid down the law.

[Nuggets4]

**** NEBRASKA

*clap clap clapclapclap*

[SoonerBronco]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

**** NEBRASKA

*clap clap clapclapclap*

HUCK THE FUSKERS

[TexanBob]

Of course, he could always suit up as somebody else...

[Pezman]

Hey Saul... who was the guy saying that Incognito's dad was the one threatening the team? If that's true.. they are better off without the kid...

[Evenrude]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

**** NEBRASKA

*clap clap clapclapclap*

Boy, that was a great comeback..... your parents did alot of drugs when you were young didn't they?

Incognito was Nebraska's version of Romanowski... he was a great guy to have on your team on the field, but his off-field antics are not worth it. See ya Richie, have fun in Oregon. Now if we could just do something about 6 turnovers a game.......

Huskers!

[Evenrude]

Originally Posted by Pezman

Hey Saul... who was the guy saying that Incognito's dad was the one threatening the team? If that's true.. they are better off without the kid...

That was me that said that about his dad..... he "allegedly" threatened to sabatoge recruiting. He was a mainstay on the Nebraska rivals.com board. He was always a real hot-head.....you can see where Richie gets it......

[Kid A]

Originally Posted by Pezman

Hey Saul... who was the guy saying that Incognito's dad was the one threatening the team? If that's true.. they are better off without the kid...

http://journalstar.com/articles/2004...6904285182.txt
http://www.theindependent.com/storie...ognito02.shtml

"When the smoke clears, Richie will still be standing," Richard Incognito said, declining to say whether his son will remain at Nebraska if given the opportunity.

Incognito could not be reached for comment. His father, Richard, said he knew nothing about a suspension involving his son and that he has never spoken with Callahan.

"I'm not big into coaches I've never talked to," the elder Incognito said from his Arizona home.

Richard Incognito said he had spoken with his son Wednesday but that they didn't discuss his status on the team.

"Me and my son don't talk about the football team," Incognito said. "We talk about fly fishing and stereos."

Based on these comments, his father definantly could be a factor. Anytime the parent is a spokesperson I have to be a little leary. Fly fishing and stereos Sound like a headache for the football staff.

[Nuggets4]

Originally Posted by Evenrude

Boy, that was a great comeback..... your parents did alot of drugs when you were young didn't they?

Husker smack. Yawn.

[TheNextStep]

There's obviously only one thing Nebraska can do: FIRE BILL CALLAHAN!


Then again, that might be just sour grapes on my part...

[Nuggets4]

Originally Posted by TheNextStep

There's obviously only one thing Nebraska can do: FIRE BILL CALLAHAN!


Then again, that might be just sour grapes on my part...

Screw that. NU hiring Calahan is the best thing they could have done....

....for the rest of the Big XII.

[Evenrude]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

Screw that. NU hiring Calahan is the best thing they could have done....

....for the rest of the Big XII.

We'll see about that. He's done some great things with the offense, he just has an inexperienced QB that turns the ball over too often...... they get that fixed and they will be a tough team to beat. As far as the future is concerned, Nebraska is poised for one of it's best recruiting classes ever. I'm more than happy with Callahan so far. Sometimes getting out of Oakland is the best thing that can happen to a coach.... just as Shanahan.... or Gruden......

[FADERPROOF]

What is it with Bill Callahan and problems with his Centers?

[Nuggets4]

Originally Posted by Evenrude

We'll see about that. He's done some great things with the offense, he just has an inexperienced QB that turns the ball over too often...... they get that fixed and they will be a tough team to beat. As far as the future is concerned, Nebraska is poised for one of it's best recruiting classes ever. I'm more than happy with Callahan so far. Sometimes getting out of Oakland is the best thing that can happen to a coach.... just as Shanahan.... or Gruden......

The problem is, and I've heard this from Nebraska fans as well so don't say it's CU homerism, that NU's personnel is all set for the running game. It's gonna take at LEAST 3 years to get the new personnel in place to run the west coast offense. OL that can move, QB's that can throw. You're now competing against the OU's of the world in recruiting. I don't doubt that NU can get the recruits, but can the fans be patient enough? The same fans that ran Solich out after a 10-win season?

[Evenrude]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

The problem is, and I've heard this from Nebraska fans as well so don't say it's CU homerism, that NU's personnel is all set for the running game. It's gonna take at LEAST 3 years to get the new personnel in place to run the west coast offense. OL that can move, QB's that can throw. You're now competing against the OU's of the world in recruiting. I don't doubt that NU can get the recruits, but can the fans be patient enough? The same fans that ran Solich out after a 10-win season?

Here are the offensive stats for Nebraska through two games:

NET YARDS Plays Rush Pass Tot Avg
Team 158 637 420 1,057 6.7
Avg. 318.5 210.0 528.5

This is a huge improvement over last years offense. The problem?... too many mistakes/turnovers (which goes back to what you said about personel in a new system). I'd have to agree that it will take 2-3 years before the personel is in place to compete on a national scale, but people can see the improvements and a team on the rise instead of the team in decline they saw with Solich. Solich may have won ten games, but those three losses were ugly. If it wasn't for having a very good defense they would have been about a .500 team last year. The fans had better be patient because Nebraska could have a hell of a team in a few years if they give Callahan a chance....

Sorry I got a little testy earlier, you can't be all bad if you are a Bronco fan......

[Kid A]

Husker fans are very split in their opinions of AD Steve Pederson. Most the old timers the fact that he fired a nice guy like Frank after a 10 win season. Others, me included, felt it was time for a change. We were quickly falling further and further behind Oklahoma, K-State, and Texas in terms of talent.

Frank, as I said before, was a very likeable guy, but just watching him talk at pressconferences showed why he wasn't an expert recruiter. Callahan can actually give us a shot at getting top-notch recruits. Nebraska has never been a recruiting powerhouse, but we had really fallen off the pace.

The west coast offense is sure to draw players looking for experience that will prepare them for the NFL. The only problem is that we don't have players recruited to play it right now. I think the staff has done a good job of helping them adjust, but Dailey's performance showed that it will take a lot of growing pains.

As for Callahan getting fired anytime soon, I wouldn't count on it. Pederson has invested too much in him, and they have already said that it will take a few years to get where we want to be. Personally I think it is exciting to be a fan during this new era. I would rather go through a few bumps like losing to Southern Miss, than know that we are not trying to improve and will continue to accept losses to OU and KSU.

[Nuggets4]

Originally Posted by Evenrude

Sorry I got a little testy earlier, you can't be all bad if you are a Bronco fan......

Dude, it's CU-NU. I would be upset if you WEREN'T testy. Hell, I get worse stuff from my relatives. My mom's entire side of the family is from Nebraska. They say I'm the black sheep of the family. Well, at least being from Colorado, I can spell "black sheep".

OK, we're in agreement that it's 2-3 years before you're competing on a national level. My question is, can you actually see this year's team competing for a Big XII title? Granted, you're in the North which, as sad as it is, has CU playing the best ball of all the teams (all 30 yards of offense we've gotten all season not withstanding).

[Northman]

as much as i hate Nebraska i think hiring Callahan was a good idea as long as the Huskers can be patient and let the man do his thing. **** isnt going to turn to gold overnight. NU couldnt afford to remain a run only team as the rest of the NCAA is getting faster and better. it was getting far to easy to beat NU when they really had no passing attack ( see Championship game against the Hurricanes ). Callahan will do some good things there but its just a waiting game right now.

[Evenrude]

Richie not getting a warm welcome in Oregon

Scholarships should look beyond talent

Wednesday, September 22, 2004

One of the victims, described by a fellow Nebraska student as "a real little guy," got kicked in the head at a party. According to a police report, another victim was punched in the face and had his head slammed against a wall because he opened the bathroom door, interrupting a romantic moment between the 6-foot-6, 300-pound football player and some lucky girl. And there was also a post-practice fight involving a Cornhuskers teammate. And so when you're told that football star Richard Incognito Jr. might someday play for the University of Oregon, you think, "What? "

Goody, goody?


Yeah. Yeah. Me too.

You know, that's exactly what they're saying in Lincoln, Neb., today.

Incognito, a first-team all-Big 12 Conference center, left Lincoln. Cornhuskers first-year coach Bill Callahan had enough. He suspended Incognito indefinitely in early September.

Now, Incognito wants to be a Duck.

"Goody, goody, he's gone," said the mother of the Nebraska student who reportedly was assaulted by Incognito at the party Feb 7. "Richie's a time bomb. Let him go off somewhere else."

As of Tuesday afternoon, Incognito is not enrolled for the fall quarter. But there's time left. And if he enrolls soon, Incognito would be eligible to play as a senior in the 2005 season.

Ducks coach Mike Bellotti has confirmed that he's been contacted, and that transfer forms were sent to the athletic department. Bellotti is otherwise prohibited by NCAA rules from commenting on Incognito because he is considered a recruitable athlete, but if you're like me, you'd hoped for something a little stronger from Bellotti.

Maybe something like: "No single player is bigger than our program."

Except that was Callahan, not Bellotti.

Darn it.

Second chances, right? Right?

Except that when you examine Incognito, you wonder how many chances he's had. And when you look at Oregon, you wonder if Bellotti, fresh off the Rodney Woods recruitment, isn't looking more and more like Jerry Tarkanian.

S econd-Chance U. isn't as glamorous as it sounds, though.

Incognito is a wonderful football player, sure. He's large. And he flattens people. The same ferocity that makes him a menace at a campus party makes him a hero at the campus stadium. But also, there are issues of decency and respect here.

Playing football isn't a right, it's an opportunity. And Oregon, a publicly funded university, shouldn't be handing out promises of scholarships like they were lollipops.

This isn't an inconsequential matter.

There is a college community in Eugene that deserved fair warning that student life post-Joey Harrington was going to be complicated and messy. I'm sure nobody at freshman orientation pointed out to parents that men with multiple assault charges wouldn't just become classmates, but also receive future scholarships and potentially represent the entire campus on Saturdays.

By the way, new father-to-son, Saturday-night advice in Eugene: Don't drink and drive. And son, don't get yourself kicked in the head tonight. Now, go have some fun.

To his credit, said Incognito: "I've got to tone it down a little."

Except he said it in an interview before the 2003 season.

You'd love to hear from Incognito today, sure. But calls to his parents' house in Glendale, Ariz., were not returned.

Instead, his recent history speaks:

Charged with felony theft at a party in 2001 -- dismissed. Charged with misdemeanor assault in February 2003 -- guilty. Suspended by then-Cornhuskers coach Frank Solich in spring 2003 -- unspecified reasons. Locker room fight with Nebraska teammate, September 2004. Finally, cut loose by Callahan for a violation of team rules.

All this might come to Oregon?

It's not for sure, yet? Well, goody, goody.

And good luck to us all.

John Canzano: 503-294-5065; JohnCanzano@aol.com

[Evenrude]

Originally Posted by Nuggets4

OK, we're in agreement that it's 2-3 years before you're competing on a national level. My question is, can you actually see this year's team competing for a Big XII title? Granted, you're in the North which, as sad as it is, has CU playing the best ball of all the teams (all 30 yards of offense we've gotten all season not withstanding).

I see this years team competing for the Big 12 North title, but it is highly unlikely that they will do much more than that. I think 9-10 wins and another bowl game is a pretty good goal for this team.

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Not only is Incognito an A-hole. He was the dirtiest player in college football. Ask the Michigan State QB who volunteered for special teams last year. He pulled similar stunts in several games I saw last year. He belongs in jail, not on a college campus.