BRANDON LECHTENBERG

“Not so fast my friend,” is the famous tag line of long time College Football Game Day Analyst, Lee Corso.  So what does he have to do with Brandon Lechtenberg and UNL rugby?

Lechtenberg who was a standout 8-man football player for Butte, located in northeast Nebraska, played for UNL between 2000-’04 as a shifty inside center as well as a hard-hitting flanker.  He was introduced to the game of rugby by his older brother Shane who played for the club in the mid-90’s.

As a preface to the rest of the story, Brandon and about eight of his friends road tripped to Valentine, NE to check out a mechanical bull that was for sale from a local bar. The collectively bought it for $1500, brought it back to Lincoln, tuned it up and readied it for its new home at 12 & Y Streets.

As the story goes, the #1 Oklahoma Sooners were playing #2 Nebraska in 2001 and Game Day was in town for the matchup.  Lee Corse picked OU during the week prior to the game.  Lechtenberg emailed Game Day and told Corso that if Nebraska won, that he had to ride the mechanical bull.  To the surprise of the group, Corso’s “people” replied and agreed.  He further went on air that Saturday morning and told the nation about the bet.  The crowd soon began the chant, “Ride the Bull, Ride the Bull!”  

The Huskers pulled off the upset, and during the post-game wrap up said, “Who is helping me with the bull?”  Lechentberg, who was dressed as Herbie Husker, made his way to the front of the masses, and the next thing he knew, Corso, who was accompanied by two State Patrol members, began the walk across the viaduct to the North Bottoms to fulfill his bet. A mass of humanity followed not knowing what was about to happen.

The group arrived at the house to the mass of humanity, many of whom followed them from the stadium.  He mounted the bull, it bucked a few times, and as he was about to dismount, someone dropped the controller and the bull went into “spin mode.”  The only thing stopping the bull from fully sending the sportscaster into the dirt was the brute strength of Brandon fighting against the machine and holding it in place!

Once the controller was back in the proper hands, the event was over, however, Corso needed a ride back to the stadium.  One of Lechtenberg’s roommates took Corso and his bodyguards back to the stadium in the back of a Toyota Camry called the “Rice Rocket,” and he safely returned him to the set.  And the rest is Husker Lore!

Today, Lechtenberg is the defensive coordinator at Central Oklahoma and has served in a variety of coaching positions in football programs across the Midwest including as a grad assistant at TCU.  He hopes to one day coach at a large college so he can make a significant donation back to the club where he has, “tons of great memories and friends still to this day!”  He credits rugby for making his four years of college some of the best of his life.

He and his wife Dee Anna have three young children, Irene, Jayne and Harris.