The amazing Ed Weir

Ed Weir, as an All American.

Although the Nebraska football team resumed a home and home series with Notre Dame in 2000 and 2001, the two teams have not played each other often in the last 75 years. But from 1915 through 1925, the two teams played regularly, and the rivalry was considered one of the fiercest in the nation, played between two of the premier football programs in America. It is probably fitting that during that 11 year span each team won five games and there was one tie.

During the 1920s, Notre Dame dominated college football. For three years they were led by The Four Horsemen, immortalized by the leading sports columnist of the day, Grantland Rice. Those Notre Dame teams, with the Four Horsemen, played 30 games and only lost to one team, Nebraska -- twice. The Nebraska teams that beat the Irish in 1923 and 1925 were led by Ed Weir.

Ed Weir was born in Superior in 1903. He was a standout at Superior High School in football as well as in track and field, and excelled even more in those two sports later at the University of Nebraska.

In those days, freshmen were not eligible to play varsity sports, but as a sophomore, in 1923, Weir quickly became a mainstay of the Cornhusker line. That year, Nebraska played its first game in the new (Memorial) stadium, against Oklahoma, a game which Nebraska won 24-0. The game was marked by a solid defense by the Nebraska team, two touchdowns by NU Captain Dave Noble, and a delay of game, caused by a football, which deflated after a monster kick.

The 1923 Notre Dame game, a Nebraska win, brought Weir to the attention of Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame coach, who was greatly impressed with the young Nebraska tackle.

He was even more impressed the next year. After the '24 game, Rockne insisted on being admitted to the Husker dressing room. He walked over to Ed Weir, who was in a near state of exhaustion, grabbed his hand and said, "Weir, I want to say to your face that you're the greatest tackle and the cleanest player I've ever watched." It was ironic, because this was the only Husker loss to the Irish during Weir's career.

The 1925 game with Notre Dame might have been Weir's finest. A special chartered train brought fans from Superior to Lincoln to cheer on their hometown hero.

He did not disappoint. Weir broke through the line and blocked a punt, which set up the first Husker touchdown. He played his usual strong game on defense, carried the ball and caught a pass on offense. He kicked the extra points after both touchdowns and kicked a 25 yard field goal in the third quarter to cap off a 17-0 victory.

Weir recalled that late in the game he looked over at the Notre Dame bench. Rockne broke into his contagious grin and gave Weir a big wink. No one else knew what the gesture meant. "But I understood," said Weir. Rockne often repeated that Weir was the finest tackle he ever saw.

Ed Weir was elected captain of the Husker team in both '24 and '25. He also garnered All Missouri Valley and All-American honors in both 1924 and 1925. In addition, Weir was a standout on the Husker track team. He led the Huskers to a Missouri Valley Conference title in 1926 when he won the 120 yard high hurdles.

Weir's exploits on the gridiron earned him a spot as a charter member of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1950, and in 1970 the Football Writers Association of America named him to the all star line-up of best players from the 1920s. At his Hall of Fame induction, Weir was asked about his greatest moment in sports.

Weir cited two games, of which he was especially proud -- the 1923 victory over Notre Dame, when the Four Horsemen were juniors, and the 1925 victory over Illinois, when Red Grange was a senior -- the only game that the "Galloping Ghost" was kept from scoring a touchdown in his stellar collegiate career.

Following Weir's college career, he played three seasons for the Frankford (Philadelphia) Yellow Jackets, after which time he returned to the University of Nebraska to join the Cornhusker football coaching staff.

Ed Weir enjoyed singular success as a football player, certainly, but it was as a coach that he achieved his greatest success, and left a lasting mark on Nebraska athletics. Weir's coaching career really began during his third year with the Yellow Jackets, when he assumed the position of player/coach and led the team to a 11-3-2 record and a second place finish in the league.

In 1929, after three seasons of professional ball Weir was ready to move on. In the pre-TV '20s money for professional athletes, especially football, was not that great and when the position of Assistant Football Coach under new coach Dana X Bible, and Assistant Track Coach under veteran coach Henry (Pop) Schulte, opened up at Nebraska

Weir jumped at the opportunity -- thus beginning a career that would span five decades.

As an assistant football coach, Weir served under Dana X Bible from 1929 until 1936, then one season under Biff Jones, in 1937. He returned during World War II, in 1943, to assist Adolph Lewandowski in 1943. In his 10 years on the sideline, Weir helped coach the Huskers to seven Big Six Conference football titles.

Weir assisted Track Coach Schulte from 1929 through 1938. In 1939 he assumed the position of Head Coach for NU's Track and Field program and coached the Cornhuskers to 10 conference titles from 1939 to 1955.

Weir had the knack of taking high school sprint champions and turning them into 440 and 880 runners, expanding the depth of his squad and assisting his stars by collecting enough more second and third place finishes to win most of their meets.

At the end of the 1955 season Weir stepped down as track coach, but was not finished with NU athletics. He served as assistant athletic director from 1955 to 1968, during the Bob Devaney years.

During more than 40 years with the Nebraska athletic programs Weir achieved an exalted status with the Husker nation, and was known as "Mr. Nebraska Football."

He continued to see himself as an athlete, lifting weights well into his 70s.

He was a familiar figure in Lincoln, riding his bicycle to and from the university campus, through downtown Lincoln at age 85. He was a regular at Husker games, just waving at ticket takers as he entered the stadium, to take his place on the end of the bench with the football players. He frequently invited young neighbor lads (or coffee buddies) to be his guest at Cornhusker games.

At the Big Eight Outdoor Championships in 1974, Nebraska dedicated the Ed Weir Track and Field/Soccer Stadium (located between Memorial Stadium and the NU Coliseum) in Weir's honor. He is honored in his hometown, Superior, with the annual "Ed Weir Relays."

Ed Weir passed away in Lincoln in 1991 at age 88. His son, Bill and wife, Nancy live in Imperial.

Source: "The NU Football Legacy" by Mike Babcock, Huskers.com