THE NEBRASKA 100

Tom Rathman still recalls competitors smirking when he first stepped on the runway. He looked more like a shot putter than a high jumper.

But Rathman cleared one height, then the next, then the next. By the time he was finished at GIHS, he'd posted 6-foot-7. He won a state gold medal as a junior.

The long-time 49er fullback and current Lions assistant rushed for 881 yards his senior year at Nebraska, still a single-season record for the position.

He went on to bring versatility and toughness to a San Francisco dynasty, finishing with two Super Bowl rings.

Rathman totaled 4,392 yards from scrimmage and scored 34 touchdowns during eight seasons in San Francisco -- his 73 receptions in 1989 led NFC running backs.

"To be able to do that on Sunday and get paid for it, coming from central Nebraska and having a dream and living that dream, that's what it's all about," Rathman said.

He was the oldest in front yard games in Grand Island, a 13-year-old who stiff-armed 10-year-old neighbors. "Come tackle me," Rathman would say. That task never came easy, even to the big boys playing on Sunday.

He planted the seed of athletic success in Grand Island, though. Rathman detassled corn as soon as he could reach high enough. He poured concrete. He worked the graveyard shift at a manufacturing company.

"That's the foundation of Tom Rathman," he said.

-- Dirk Chatelain