Classic story shared by Mike Vedral from Nebraska's 1992 trip to Japan in today's 16 for 16....
http://nebraska.n.rivals.com/news/16-for-16-huskers-take-down-kansas-state-in-tokyo
A never told John Parrella story from Tokyo
When the game ended against Kansas State, Nebraska's players had the evening to take in the town. Former Husker tight end Mike Vedral shared a story from that night that's never been told before.
Vedral said shared that also in Tokyo that weekend were the All-Star Wrestlers, including "The Road Warriors" (Future Legion of Doom in WWF) and other big name wrestlers such as "Mr. Fuji."
In an elevator heading up to a Tokyo night club at 3 a.m. the professional wrestlers, led by "Hawk" of "The Road Warriors" started to gang up on Nebraska linebacker David White. They called him a racist slur and White retaliated in the elevator and the wrestlers began to gang up on him.
White had no chance against the wrestlers until defensive tackle and current Husker defensive line coach John Parrella stepped in.
“I don’t think we were doing anything crazy,” Vedral said. “These All-Star Wrestlers got all drunk up and decided to pick a fight with David White. The funniest part was it was (John) Parrella that came to the rescues and he just knocked the (explicative) out of the Hawk. I thought his face was going to come off his head because Parrella hit him so hard.”
The "Hawk" was no small man either, coming in at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds, but that didn't stop the 6-foot-5, 290 pound Parrella from stepping in.
“(Hawk) said something racist,” Vedral said. “He called David White the ‘n-word’ and David tried to fight back and all of a sudden (the wrestlers) all jumped on David White and Parrella just kind of paraded through them and grabbed David White with his left hand and he unloaded on the Hawk with his right hand and we all took off. We all got the hell the hell out of there because we didn’t want the cops to come.”
Vedral joked that thankfully that was the end of the story and no Japanese authorities got involved after the fact. The next day Vedral said the team was required to go on an all day tour of Tokyo before leaving, needless to say there wasn't a lot of excitement to do that after a game and a late night in Tokyo.
“That next morning, classic Bob Devaney story for you,” Vedral said. “I was sitting next to Coach and he said ‘I don’t know about you Mike, but why don’t we just go find a bar and I’ll get us a taxi to the airport, because I don’t want to go on this tour.’"
http://nebraska.n.rivals.com/news/16-for-16-huskers-take-down-kansas-state-in-tokyo
A never told John Parrella story from Tokyo
When the game ended against Kansas State, Nebraska's players had the evening to take in the town. Former Husker tight end Mike Vedral shared a story from that night that's never been told before.
Vedral said shared that also in Tokyo that weekend were the All-Star Wrestlers, including "The Road Warriors" (Future Legion of Doom in WWF) and other big name wrestlers such as "Mr. Fuji."
In an elevator heading up to a Tokyo night club at 3 a.m. the professional wrestlers, led by "Hawk" of "The Road Warriors" started to gang up on Nebraska linebacker David White. They called him a racist slur and White retaliated in the elevator and the wrestlers began to gang up on him.
White had no chance against the wrestlers until defensive tackle and current Husker defensive line coach John Parrella stepped in.
“I don’t think we were doing anything crazy,” Vedral said. “These All-Star Wrestlers got all drunk up and decided to pick a fight with David White. The funniest part was it was (John) Parrella that came to the rescues and he just knocked the (explicative) out of the Hawk. I thought his face was going to come off his head because Parrella hit him so hard.”
The "Hawk" was no small man either, coming in at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds, but that didn't stop the 6-foot-5, 290 pound Parrella from stepping in.
“(Hawk) said something racist,” Vedral said. “He called David White the ‘n-word’ and David tried to fight back and all of a sudden (the wrestlers) all jumped on David White and Parrella just kind of paraded through them and grabbed David White with his left hand and he unloaded on the Hawk with his right hand and we all took off. We all got the hell the hell out of there because we didn’t want the cops to come.”
Vedral joked that thankfully that was the end of the story and no Japanese authorities got involved after the fact. The next day Vedral said the team was required to go on an all day tour of Tokyo before leaving, needless to say there wasn't a lot of excitement to do that after a game and a late night in Tokyo.
“That next morning, classic Bob Devaney story for you,” Vedral said. “I was sitting next to Coach and he said ‘I don’t know about you Mike, but why don’t we just go find a bar and I’ll get us a taxi to the airport, because I don’t want to go on this tour.’"
