To most college football fans, the image of pediatric cancer patient Jack Hoffman scoring a touchdown in the Nebraska spring game last year was a touching one, but one probably quickly forgotten.
The Cornhuskers, however, haven't forgotten anything.
Coach Bo Pelini informed his players at practice this week that the team's adopted young player was bound for Boston for the next stage of his care for a brain tumor. The players, in turn, delivered a message to Hoffman:
Pelini has earned his reputation for being gruff at times, and tone-deaf to how six consecutive four-loss seasons are received by much of the Cornhuskers fan base, but the program's support of Hoffman illuminates a different side of the former LSU defensive coordinator. Credit Pelini for keeping Hoffman's honorary status with the team alive and well, particularly in light of the latest news in Hoffman's care. Now eight years old, the ardent Nebraska fan's recovery suffered a setback when it was discovered earlier this month that the inoperable tumor, at one point classified as in remission, had grown.
Hoffman's relationship with the program sprung from his friendship with his favorite player, former Cornhuskers running back Rex Burkhead.
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