Free safety Tony Veland saw Jared Tomich and Grant Wistrom, the Peter brothers, and linebackers Jay Foreman, Phil Ellis and Terrell Farley all tear up opposing offenses all season long.
For all their ferocity, it was Veland that opposing players feared most.
He had a reputation. In 1994, he blasted UCLA receivers J.J. Stokes and Kevin Jordan, creamed Texas Tech’s Byron Hanspard and left Husker teammates limping, sore and almost fearful of his ability to hit hard.
“Oh, nobody wanted to get hit by Tony,” teammate Clester Johnson said. “He hit harder than anybody on that team, and that was a defense of hitters.”
Veland quietly earned second-team All-Big Eight honors in 1995. He was a team captain and was considered the quarterback of the defense that rambled through a season of dominance.
“I didn’t get to go on most of those zone blitzes, like we ran against Colorado and Florida, but when I did, I had a ball,” the former multisport standout from Omaha Benson said. “We had so much fun playing for each other that year, I’ve never experienced anything like it before or since.”
Veland played six years in the NFL with Denver and Carolina. He also played a couple of seasons with the Lincoln Lightning indoor football team.
Veland was the starting free safety for most of the 1994 season after Mike Minter was hurt, and started every game at free safety in 1995.
Tom Osborne praised Veland’s intelligence in making the correct coverage calls and for his consistent play.
Now a financial planner in Omaha for 21st Century Financial Group, Veland says he stays in touch with former teammates Johnson, Damon Benning, Aaron Taylor and Aaron Graham. He also joined the 90-plus members of the 1995 team during a reunion last week in Lincoln.
“It’s funny, we talk a little bit of football, but mostly it’s about what we’re all doing now and what we think about the current Huskers,” he said. “We’re about as close now as we were then. I still think we cover each other’s back and we’d be there if somebody needed something.”
Veland said fighting back against the national perception that Nebraska couldn’t “win the big one,” was the motivation for the 1995 team.
“We came close in 1993, and that loss probably helped us understand how much work we’d have to put in to win it all in 1994,” he said. “Then, when we won, and we finally beat a Florida team, we had to prove it wasn’t a fluke by beating another Florida team in 1995.
“Remember, we were the team that couldn’t play on grass and we were the team that couldn’t stop the sophisticated Florida passing offense,” he said.
Veland had a special insight into offensive football.
Recruited as a quarterback, he worked his way up to No. 1 on the depth chart in the spring of 1992. He was set to take over for Mike Grant, but suffered an injury. In the fall of 1992, just before he was to be named the starting quarterback, he had another injury and freshman Tommie Frazier was given the nod.
That sent Veland to the defense, except for a midseason stretch in 1994, when he was brought back to fill in for the injured Frazier and Brook Berringer. Eventually, Matt Turman filled in at QB and Veland went back to defense full-time.
“I never looked back with any regrets,” Veland said. “I had so much fun and learned so much from playing with those guys. It was a time none of us will ever forget.”
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.