Brook Warren Berringer (July 9, 1973 – April 18, 1996) was an American

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team in the mid-1990s. Berringer came to Nebraska from

Goodland, Kansas Goodland is a city in and the county seat of Sherman County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 4,465. It was named after Goodland, Indiana. Goodland is home to Northwest Kansas Technical College ...

and played a backup role to

Tommie Frazier Tommie James Frazier Jr. (born July 16, 1974) is an American former college football player who was a quarterback for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football, Nebraska Cornhuskers. He earned consensus College Football All-America Team, All-American ...

. He was best known for replacing the injured Frazier during the 1994 season and leading the

Cornhuskers The Nebraska Cornhuskers (often abbreviated to Huskers) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The university is a member of the Big Ten Conference and ...

to seven consecutive wins and to the

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

national championship game against the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

Hurricanes. Berringer died in a plane crash just two days before the

1996 NFL draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The NFL draft, draft was held April 20–21, 1996 NFL seas ...

Early life

Berringer was born in

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th-most-populous city in N ...

. When Berringer was seven years old, his father died from cancer. He lived with his mother and two sisters in

. Throughout his childhood, he played several different sports.

College career

Freshman and sophomore seasons

Because of his successful high-school career, Berringer was recruited by many Big 8 schools, ultimately committing to the

. In his freshman and sophomore seasons (1992 and 1993), he appeared in 15 games in a backup role.

Junior season

In 1994 as a junior, Berringer started seven games because starter

had a blood clot in his leg. Berringer completed 94 of 151 passes (62%) for 1,295 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions. Prior to that year, Berringer had completed only 17 passes. Frazier recovered in time to start the

. In the game's first quarter, Frazier threw an interception on Nebraska's second series. Berringer replaced Frazier and threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Mark Gilman that drew the Huskers within three points. Nebraska eventually won the game 24–17, with Berringer playing through the middle quarters before coach Tom Osborne reinserted Frazier in the fourth quarter.

Senior season

As a senior, Berringer again was a backup. He played sparingly, completing 26 of 51 passes for 252 yards in nine games played. For the third consecutive year, the Cornhuskers played in the national championship game, the

Fiesta Bowl The Fiesta Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played annually in the Phoenix metropolitan area since 1971. From its beginning until 2006, the game was hosted at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. Since 2007, the game has be ...

. Berringer played at the end of the 62–24 blowout game, scoring a one-yard touchdown for Nebraska's final points in the win over

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Plane crash

Despite having spent most of his college career as a backup, Berringer had shown enough promise that he was expected to be selected in the

. However, he was killed in an airplane accident just two days before the draft. A private pilot, Berringer was in control of a 1946

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

over Raymond, Nebraska when the aircraft crashed in an

alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

field. The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

ruled the probable cause to be a partially closed fuel valve, resulting in fuel starvation, engine failure and loss of control. Berringer's friend Tobey Lake, the brother of Berringer's girlfriend Tiffini, was also killed in the crash. A memorial service for Berringer was held before a crowd of 48,659 on April 20 at Memorial Stadium before the start of the annual Red-White Spring football game. Berringer is interred at Goodland Cemetery in

Legacy

The country group

Sawyer Brown Sawyer Brown is an American country music band. It was founded in 1981 in Apopka, Florida, by Mark Miller (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Gregg "Hobie" Hubbard (keyboards, vocals), Bobby Randall (lead guitar, vocals), Joe "Curly" Smyth (drums), an ...

recorded "

The Nebraska Song ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

" in tribute to Berringer. (The song was actually written before his death.) The song appears as Track 18 (the same number as Berringer's jersey) on the group's 1997 album ''

Six Days on the Road "Six Days on the Road" is an American song written by Earl Green and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio songwriter Carl Montgomery, made famous by country music singer Dave Dudley. The song was initially recorded by Paul Davis (not the same as the bett ...

'', and its first live performance was at the Devaney Center on the University of Nebraska campus during the 1997 Nebraska State Fair. Sawyer Brown lead vocalist Mark Miller was a pallbearer at Berringer's funeral. Following Berringer's death, the Nebraska Cornhuskers football program established the Brook Berringer Citizenship Team in his honor. Awarded annually before the Spring Game, the Brook Berringer Citizenship Team recognizes Cornhuskers football players for leadership, involvement and service. A trophy case dedicated to Berringer is located in the lobby of Goodland High School's Max Jones Fieldhouse. In 2006, the University of Nebraska erected a life-size bronze statue of Berringer with coach

Tom Osborne Thomas William Osborne (born February 23, 1937) is an American former football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and politician from Nebraska. He served as head football coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 1973 to 1997 (25 sea ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berringer, Brook 1973 births 1996 deaths American football quarterbacks Accidental deaths in Nebraska Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Sportspeople from Scottsbluff, Nebraska People from Goodland, Kansas Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1996 Players of American football from Nebraska