Dave Feit’s Greatest Huskers by the Numbers: 98 – Grant Wistrom

Dave Feit is counting down the days until the start of the 2025 season by naming the best Husker to wear each uniform number, as well as one of his personal favorites at that number.

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Greatest Husker to wear 98: Grant Wistrom, Rush End, 1994 1997 Honorable Mention: none Also worn by: Demoine Adams, Isaac Armstrong, Will DePooter, Lee Jones, Dan Lindstrom, Zach Potter, Casey Rogers, Tony Samuel, Vincent Valentine, Daren Williams, Josh Williams Daves Fave: Wistrom Any college football program that considers itself a blue blood can point to several amazing seasons or even extended periods of success.

But few programs can match the dominance Nebraska displayed between 1994 and 1997.

The Huskers went 49-2.

They won three national championships and nearly played for a fourth.

NU was 16-1 versus ranked teams and outscored everybody by an average score of 44-14.

It is not a coincidence that those were the four years Grant Wistrom played for Nebraska.

Grant Wistrom was the best defensive player on those championship-era teams.

Heck, hes in rarefied air all time.

In 2024, I put together a list of eight Huskers with a legitimate claim to the Greatest Of All Time crown.

Going in, I wanted to limit the list to eight names.

Wistrom was ninth.

His list of accomplishments is lengthy, but here are some of the highlights: 1997 Lombardi Award winner (NUs fourth).

One of 13 Huskers to be a first team All-American twice.

Two-time Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Nebraska career leader in tackles for loss (58.5) Second-most sacks in school history (26.5) Set position records (Defensive Ends, Rush Ends, and Outside Linebackers) with 15 total tackles and 11 assists against Colorado in 1996.

Twice named a first-team CoSIDA Academic All-American.

Wistrom was a freak athlete who re-wrote the record book.

The mid-90s Husker teams were absolutely loaded with talent.

And yet, Wistrom always stood out.

He was strong enough to fight through offensive linemen, yet fast enough to chase down a running back.

He had an instinctive nose for the ball that allowed him to force fumbles and intercept passes.

Simply put, Grant Wistrom was a winning player.

Wistrom won an incredible six championships in a nine-year stretch.

Two in high school, three in college, and a Super Bowl.

*** Fun fact: Nebraska was not a lock to sign Grant Wistrom out of high school.

As Wistrom told Huskers Illustrated , he grew up an OU fan, and had the Brian Bosworth haircut.

But Oklahomas probation and Barry Switzers resignation meant the Sooners werent a national power.

Missouri his home state school was never really in the mix.

Wistrom really liked Michigan and strongly considered the Wolverines.

Nebraska? Well, Wistrom didnt exactly fall in love with the school during his official visit.

He didnt mesh with the guys he met, including his recruiting trip host, Trev Alberts.

But position coach Tony Samuel (who also wore #98 for Nebraska) convinced Wistrom to give Nebraska another chance.

A second trip to Lincoln is where Grant fell in love with the place.

Where would Nebraska have been without him? *** Tom Osborne was going to retire after the 1996 season.

That was the original plan.

In 1991, he had made a promise to Frank Solich the loyal lieutenant who was becoming increasingly interested in leading his own program.

Osborne would coach for five more seasons, then hand the keys over to Solich.

Osborne, as detail oriented as they come, had his exit planned out: I think an ideal scenario for me would have been to go through recruiting, go through spring ball, and then disappear in May.

But Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter altered the plan.

In January of 1997, Osborne met with both Wistrom and Peter.

Osborne assumed he was going to hear the Coach, Ive got to do whats best for me and my family speech informing him that his two best defensive players both planned to forgo their senior seasons and enter the NFL Draft.

They likely would have been first round picks.

Instead, they told Osborne that losing two games in 1996 (to Arizona State and Texas) was not very good.

Osborne agreed.

They didnt want to leave Nebraska with that bitter taste in their mouths.

So, the duo told Osborne they planned to come back in 1997, and win em all.

Wistrom told the Omaha World-Herald in 2017.

I think it just kind of epitomized that whole team.

Everybody was selfless on that team.

Everybody had a job.

Jason and I could have put ourselves first, but we put our family team above our own needs.

Unless you were in the room where it happened, nobody knows for sure what came next.

Did Wistom and Peter convince Osborne to stay? Did they even know about his promise to Solich and plans to walk away? Did Osborne feel an obligation to coach another year because his star players were coming back? Was Osborne worried about altering his promise to Solich?* *The symmetry between the transition from Bob Devaney to Tom Osborne and from Tom Osborne to Frank Solich is interesting.

Devaney had made a promise of his own: Devaney would step aside (and full-time into his role as athletic director) after the 1971 season.

But the 1971 team rolled to a national championship Nebraskas second in a row.

Devaney decided to go for a three-peat in 1972.

When that team fell short, he honored his promise and promoted Osborne.

Now, Osborne was putting Solich who had interviewed for the Minnesota job in December 1996 in a similar situation.

Tom Osborne decided to coach the 1997 season.

Instead of following his original plan to disappear in May, Osborne announced his retirement on December 10, 1997, effective at the conclusion of the 1998 Orange Bowl.

That same day Osborne announced his retirement, Grant Wistrom was named the winner of the Lombardi Award as the nations outstanding college football lineman.

*** For all of his on-field accomplishments, Wistrom might be most fondly remembered for his leadership.

He (and Peter) were vocal leaders who held themselves and everyone else to a championship standard.

After spring ball in 1997, Wistrom led the team through voluntary workouts.

In one session, held on a steamy May day, Wistrom wasnt pleased with the level of intensity he was seeing from a handful of teammates.

So, the team ran the stadium steps again.

And again.

And again.

After a while...

well...

lets just say the trash cans needed to be hosed out that night.

As Wistrom told Sports Illustrated before the 1997 season, That got the message across real quick that we werent going to put up with a lot of the b.s.

from (1996), the lackadaisical attitudes and everything.

After that, we had one of the best summers any of us can remember.

Nebraskas sports psychologist, Dr.

Jack Stark told a story about Wistroms leadership and championship mentality on the 1997 Unity Council.

A player who had been missing classes was brought in.

Wistrom said you will get your butt out of bed and you will go to class.

If you dont go to class, you will run with me at 6 in the morning and I dont care what the coaches say.

When the player tried to give an excuse about his car not starting, Wistrom said he would come pick him up and drive him if thats what it took to win a championship.

(Wistrom and Peter) really set the tone for that 1997 team, Osborne told Huskers.com in 2007.

The talent was obviously pretty good, but the dedication and commitment was exceptional.

Grant Wistrom is one of the greatest athlete leaders the Nebraska program has ever known.

Who would dare to dump the Gatorade bucket over Tom Osbornes head after the 1998 Orange Bowl Osbornes final game? Wistrom and Peter were the only ones who could get away with it.

Nearly 30 years later, Nebraska fans still thirst for player leadership like Grant and Jason displayed.

The same holds true for players of their abilities.

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