Steven Sipple: Janiran Bonner has quite a story to tell; why we should keep an eye on Bryce Benhart; and Barney Cotton shares never-been-told vignette
Things I know, and things I think I know: Three years later, Nebraska redshirt freshman Janiran Bonner still doesn’t know exactly what happened in the car accident. Because he had been sleeping in the passenger seat, he doesn’t know exactly how the accident unfolded. He has no recollection of flying out of the windshield of the car that his friend was driving.
A native of Ellenwood, Georgia, Bonner does remember what a doctor told him a few days after the accident occurred in May of 2020.
“The doctor that was working on my leg, he told me that it’s possible I might not see a football field again,” says Bonner, who suffered a broken femur in his left leg.
The femur, or thighbone, is the longest and strongest bone in your body.
The doctor was simply being honest with Bonner.
“I really brushed it off because I feel like I can do whatever I put my mind to,” he says.
Janiran Bonner sets mind to learning new position
This spring, Bonner is putting his mind to learning a new position with a new coaching staff. The 6-foot-3, 217-pound player came to Nebraska as a consensus four-star receiver but has shifted to a hybrid tight end role. He falls under my “players to watch” category this spring if only because new Husker head coach Matt Rhule has mentioned his name prominently.
Bonner already has quite a story to tell, and it could get better in time.
Fully recovered from his injury, his position switch makes sense because of his big frame and overall football ability.
Bonner also pushes forward with a winning mindset.
“I just feel like football is something that’s going to get me from where I’ve been to where I want to go,” he says, noting that he takes academics seriously for the same reason.
Bonner’s broken femur robbed him of the entire regular season of his junior year at Cedar Grove High School. Even so, he became one of the top 50 receivers in the country in his senior season.
His will to succeed is evident. Again, he doesn’t remember much about the car accident. However, he does know that the driver — a high school teammate — suffered a seizure that led to it.
“I guess we crashed, and I guess I flew out the windshield,” Bonner says. “I don’t remember it, but I know I had glass and stuff in my head, and I was outside the car when people came (to the rescue).”
As a senior in high school, Bonner recorded 50 catches for 816 yards and nine touchdowns while helping lead Cedar Grove to a 12-3 record. His successful response to the doctor’s rather dire words in May of 2020 no doubt pleased his mom, Rasheenea Young.
“She gave the doctor a piece of her mind,” Bonner recalls with a smile. “She wasn’t happy that he was telling her son that he might possibly never play football again. That’s something I’ve been doing my whole life.”
His most exciting days just may be ahead.
Bryce Benhart slims down noticeably
At nearly the halfway point of spring camp, Nebraska offensive lineman Bryce Benhart also falls under my “players to watch” category.
For one, he appears to be noticeably slimmed down. That’s my layman’s read, anyway.
Granted, the 6-9, 315-pound junior, one of the nation’s top offensive line recruits in the class of 2019, already has started 29 games at right tackle in his college career. But I regard him as a “player to watch” because not only is he in excellent physical condition, but he also gets a clean slate with the new staff.
Along those lines, Rhule expresses confidence in a Nebraska offensive line that has been targeted by fans and media as being a major issue the past few seasons.
Of course, Benhart has drawn his share of criticism. But in interviewing him last summer, I was struck by his hard-edged, all-business nature. I came away intrigued.
That intrigue has only grown this spring.
Barney Cotton makes sure Pelini wasn’t forgotten
Sometimes the best stories come well after the fact.
This one comes from Barney Cotton, who was Nebraska’s offensive line coach in 2014 before serving as interim head coach for the Holiday Bowl in the wake of Bo Pelini’s dismissal.
It seems Pelini wasn’t a fan of having team photos taken during preseason training camp.
“He said, ‘We’ll take it before the bowl game,’” Cotton recalled last week during an appearance on “Early Break” (93.7 FM in Lincoln).
Although Pelini wasn’t around for the bowl game, Cotton had a plan as he gathered the entire team for a photo in the big meeting room in North Stadium.
A seat was left open for Pelini, even in his absence.
“That seat stays empty,” Cotton told the photographer. “There’s only one guy who should be sitting in that open seat, and he’s not here. This team picture will have an empty seat.
“I wasn’t going to let somebody sit in the seat that should’ve been for the guy whose team it really was.”
That was a very tight-knit staff, and Cotton is a heck of a dude.
Matt Rhule plays down his role in Solich’s return
Rhule says a lot of things that should strike a positive chord with Nebraska fans.
He did it again Saturday, playing down his role in Nebraska being able to finally convince Frank Solich to be honored on campus. It’ll occur during the April 22 Red-White Spring Game.
Rhule gives the credit to Trev Alberts, Tom Osborne and Solich himself for deciding to do it.
Osborne and Solich were examples of selfless coaches.
Rhule also appears to be that way.
“I really want everything to be about Nebraska,” he said. “The first day (of his tenure), they put my picture up in the elevator. The second day it was down.”
The implication is Rhule had it taken down.
“This is never about me,” he said. “It’s about the players.”
He added, “Coach Solich coming to the spring game hopefully is a tremendously unifying event for everybody.”
Frank Solich’s classic quote
Solich acknowledged in an interview with Eric Olson of the Associated Press that he’s heard about the curse on Nebraska football since his firing in late 2003.
“I would say this: if I had the ability to put on curses, there would be a few more people in trouble,” Solich said.
Is Steve Pederson one of those people, Olson asked.
“I’m not going there,” Solich said with a laugh.
How about Harvey Perlman?
Never mind.
The post Steven Sipple: Janiran Bonner has quite a story to tell; why we should keep an eye on Bryce Benhart; and Barney Cotton shares never-been-told vignette appeared first on On3.