LINCOLN ‹ Butterflies, Major Culbert saw a bunch as a Nebraska freshman, fluttering before his eyes, on the football field not in a biology lab. And that wasn't good.
When you see butterflies, "it's all over," he said. "You're not in shape."
You're bent over, hands on knees, gasping for breath.
Culbert thought he was in good shape when he arrived. But like most newcomers, he was sadly mistaken. He'll admit it now. "I was in bad shape," he said.
"I don't think anybody understands. When you come in here, you're pushed to the maximum limit. You never know until you get here."
You never know what position you'll play, either, if you're as athletic as Culbert. He played running back and defensive back at Narbonne High School in Harbor City, Calif. Though he rushed for more than 4,000 yards and scored 37 touchdowns during his career, he was recruited as a safety - and that's where he expected to play.
Safety is where he began. And he's there now. But during his first two seasons he endured a position-identity crisis. He was moved to I-back when injuries diminished the depth there. And he finished last season as an outside linebacker.
Because his move to I-back was for depth, his chances of playing were slim, though he carried five times for 35 yards and a touchdown in the opening victory against Nevada. That was the extent of his game action at that position, however.
At 6-foot and 203 pounds, he's hardly linebacker size, even an outside linebacker. But he gave it a shot, too, without complaint. "When you're an athletic person and a couple of guys go down, that's expected to happen at every level," he said.
"I just talk to the coaches. If they tell me to move to a certain spot then I'll do it. It's kind of great that you can move to any position on the field."
Even so, he sometimes regrets the versatility.
"But I shake it off," he said with a laugh.
Sometimes shaking it off isn't easy, such as when he was moved to linebacker in a 3-4 alignment for the Missouri game his freshman season. His mission was to shadow Tigers quarterback Chase Daniel, and he accomplished that in a 34-20 victory.
He was credited with six tackles, including four unassisted. He thought he had worked his way into the mix. He was wrong. And he was disappointed.
"I just thought the next game I should be on the field. I had showed the coaches what my abilities are," said Culbert. "You're young and you just want to play.
"Regardless of where you're at, you just want to play."
He accepted the coaches' decision, however, and then when they asked him to move to running back during practice for the Cotton Bowl, he readily agreed.
"I'm like, 'OK, that's what I played in high school,'" he said.
Through it all, though, his heart was in playing safety. And the changes that occurred after last season have allowed him to return to the secondary.
He has a new position coach, Marvin Sanders, and a new lease on football life. He has thrown last season out the window, he said. "I feel like safety that's my spot. I focus better there. I feel more comfortable when I'm at safety."
Nevertheless, "the coaches are going to know what's best," he said.
Whether or not Culbert remains at safety, "time will tell," said Sanders, a safety himself during his career at Nebraska. "If he proves he's a good enough athlete to be able to play on the defense, then that's where we're going to play him."
Culbert has already proven to Sanders that he'll do what he's asked for the good of the team. "He's a real good kid. He talks team first, even when you talk about linebacker," Sanders said. "I told him, 'Do you feel good at safety?'
"He says, 'Coach, I want to play. I want to be wherever I can help the team, and if you feel safety's better, that's where I'll play.' He's a total team player."
Culbert was all smiles on Wednesday, when spring practice began.
"I feel real great at safety," he said. "Hopefully, I'll stay there."
Changing positions was "a small little hump I had to get over," he said.
Eliminating the vision of butterflies was a different matter, more of a big hump. He saw a lot of them his first season. "Yes, sir," he said. "Yes, sir."
And that wasn't good. "No, sir," he said.
Mike Babcock is a freelance writer who covers Nebraska football.
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