Rahmir Johnson ensures that Pinstripe Bowl win is Nebraska football game to remember

Early on in the Pinstripe Bowl when the Nebraska football team was struggling to execute, there were some Husker fans who inexplicably believed that perhaps the team really didn’t want to be there. That, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth.

If there has been one thing Matt Rhule, his coaches and players have made clear in the last few weeks, it’s that they understand how important the bowl game was for the program. The first bowl game for NU since 2016. 

And after the game, it became clear that the Pinstripe Bowl was especially important for one veteran Nebraska football player. Rahmir Johnson put an exclamation point on a career with the Huskers that didn’t go as he’d hoped, but in the end, it was plenty admirable.

Nebraska football’s Rahmir Johnson puts exclamation point on NU career

Johnson was back in his old stomping grounds and he made the most of that return to New York. He carried the ball 10 times for 60 yards and the game’s first touchdown. He also had a big carry on 4th down late in the game that allowed the Huskers to put the 20-15 game away.

And he won the Pinstripe Bowl MVP Award. And he did all of this having lost his mother just last month.

That little tidbit was revealed during Rhule’s post game press conference. As it turns out, Johnson’s mother passed away in November, but the veteran running back didn’t want anyone to know. According to his coach, Rahmir told only Emmett Johnson among his teammates.

Rhule also said that when the senior was going through that, he was told to go home and deal with his family stuff, but he refused to do so, only going home when the team had a bye.

Johnson’s dedication to the Cornhuskers has been evident since he first got to Lincoln. He’s long been the guy who has struggled with injuries and with the previous staff, bad coaching. But he’s stuck it out. He never thought about transferring.

And now, as his Nebraska football career comes to a close, he finishes with exactly 1,000 yards and memories of helping this program come a long way from when he arrived. Rhule said Rahmir is the kind of guy that makes coaching worth it.

He’s also the kind of player that makes being a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan worth it. On a team of good guys, he’s one of the best.