There are very few places in Omaha that inspire nostalgia quite like Rosenblatt Stadium. From home runs in the bottom of the ninth to teams that seem to capture the city to the pandemonium that reigned when Nebraska made trips to the College World Series, for half a century there has never been a dull day in Omaha during mid-June.
However, what sums up Rosenblatt isn’t so much the games or the competition; it’s the experience in and around the stadium. Fighting traffic, tents lined up and down 13th Street for a mile or more, bitting into a freshly grilled Zesto burger and sharing time with newly made friends in the next parking stall before and between games are all part of the fun.
The College World Series is a product that always delivered both on the field at Rosenblatt and in the neighborhood surrounding it. It’s more than just an event – it’s an institution.
So, with all this history it’s understandable that there was much skepticism when it was announced last spring that something new called the United Football League would be bringing in a team that would play at Rosenblatt Stadium.
What kind of football is it? Where are the players going to come from? How are they going to play football at Rosenblatt Stadium? But probably the most pressing: is this really going to work in Omaha?
To put it simply: yes, it does.
What seems initially out of place when you walk into the stadium soon becomes overlooked and even accepted. Some of it has to do with us Omahans.
We’ve been to Rosenblatt before, and we have the blueprints for what makes it a fun and entertaining experience regardless of what sport is being played. However, despite our reputation as Omaha sports fans, the Nighthawks work because of the product they put on the field and how that product is presented throughout the game.
It’s real football – real good football. The players are big and fast, hit hard and have tremendous skill.
Anyone who has ever been a fan of the NFL will easily recognize what’s going on in the UFL. You’ll also recognize some of the names: Jeff Garcia, Ahman Green, Daunte Culpepper, Dennis Green, Cato June and Maurice Clarett.
If you’ve been to Arrowhead, Invesco, the Metrodome or any other NFL stadium recently, you’ll recognize the fan experience. There’s music at the end of every play, the stadium announcer encourages the crowd to yell “first down,” and there’s an unnecessary number of cheerleaders.
All that being said though, what you’re likely to recognize most is the style and level of play. It’s hard to run the ball, it’s hard to establish a drive and it’s just plain hard to have any kind of offensive success.
That isn’t to say that the game lacks power, though. If that were the case, we all would have stopped watching the NFL a long time ago. The potential for something big is always right around the corner. A running back or receiver breaks a tackle and look out, a play that was intended to get four or five yards has turned into 25, 40 or a whole lot more.
The game commands your attention, not only because of the potential for something big but because of the skill on display in almost every play. There’s no easy pass to complete. Quarterbacks have to fit the ball into very small windows to have any success.
There are very few running lanes to be found. When a back does get free it’s often due to some fancy footwork to avoid a defender.
It’s just good football. It’s easy to see that, it’s very hard to do things well and it’s not difficult to find an appreciation for the level of competition that the UFL provides.
It also doesn’t hurt that both of the home games the Nighthawks have played so far both were decided by late scoring. Two weeks ago a touchdown pass from Garcia to Jeb Putzier led to an Omaha victory over Sacramento with just over five minutes remaining.
The week before, Garcia found Robert Ferguson in the corner of the end zone with eight seconds left to secure the win against Hartford. There’s excitement, the stands are full, the crowd is loud and you almost forget you’re watching all of this go on inside Rosenblatt Stadium.
The fans have clearly embraced this team and this league. So far Omaha has sold out both home games and created an immediate home field advantage. With the Mountain Lions driving late in the fourth quarter, you could honestly feel the ground shake beneath you.
This wasn’t lost on Sacramento head coach Dennis Green.
“Clearly Omaha gets it,” said Green. “I think the fans, the excitement, the tailgating, the whole ball of wax.”
Even former NFL stars rave about the environment at Rosenblatt.
“The atmosphere here is great,” said Sacramento starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper. “The people here in Omaha, they obviously love football. When you go into a hostile environment like this it makes it a little tougher.”
With football leagues that aren’t the NFL, the future is never guaranteed. It is a bit troubling that the only two times the league has sold out were the first two games Omaha ever played in.
With this kind of a start there is little concern around Omaha that Nighthawks will stop anytime soon. Some of that is because Nebraskans love their football, but most of the credit has to go to the UFL plays on the field.
They haven’t tried to make it different or unique. They’ve just tried to make it good football. And that’s what it is: real, good American football.