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By Randy York
We’ve all seen the 30-second Big Ten icon video that features quick-hitting clips of the men and women who are an integral part of the nation’s oldest intercollegiate athletic conference. Tom Osborne flashes on that screen. So does Johnny Rodgers wearing a graduation cap, gown and ear-to-ear smile. It took Osborne and Nebraska Academic Associate AD Dennis Leblanc decades to convince Rodgers to finish his degree, and once he did, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. Today, the N-Sider yields its editorial real estate to Jean Ortiz Jones, who writes for University Communications. She frames the delayed degree life of Steve Warren and why his crowning moment goes well beyond the lessons he learned playing football. Here’s that feature, distributed to encourage others – athletes and non-athletes alike – to find the time to get their degrees back on track:
Steve Warren doesn’t remember when football wasn’t part of his life. By age 5, he was playing tackle football. By 8 or 9, he dreamed of going pro. “I actually told one of my teachers in second or third grade that I was going to play in the NFL one day,” he said. Warren was a standout defensive tackle at Nebraska — earning a 1997 national championship ring, All-American accolades and spots in the Nebraska Hall of Fame and on the Green Bay Packers’ roster. But professional football wouldn’t prove to be his only dream.
In 1999, when he was just a semester away from graduating with a degree in sociology, he left UNL to prepare for the NFL draft. After an injury cut his professional career short, he returned to Lincoln in 2004 to earn a degree in sociology. Today, he is the founder and president of the Omaha-based nonprofit D.R.E.A.M. — Developing Relationships through Education, Athletics and Mentoring. The organization, established in 2006, strives to expand opportunities for at-risk youth by providing positive role models who emphasize values, good character and the importance of education.
Even in his early days at UNL, Warren was the social guy — the one everyone came to for advice. He had that innate curiosity about how people interact and a knack for problem solving. As a freshman, his advisers recommended that he major in sociology – the study of human social behavior, its causes and consequences. UNL’s sociology curriculum provides students with valuable skills such as how to learn and think objectively, communicate effectively, analyze data and to understand and appreciate social and cultural differences among people.
Warren admits that when he launched his collegiate career he wasn’t looking past the football field. But on his return, the older, wiser, life-experienced Warren saw what his advisers had years earlier: Sociology was a perfect fit. After earning his degree that same year, he put it to use doing something he loved: working with kids. He began developing the concept behind D.R.E.A.M. — something he said was inspired in part by his parents, who raised him with strong values and instilled in him an understanding of the importance of giving back. Credit also goes to his coaches at Nebraska who helped reinforce those messages, he said.
Since its beginnings as an after-school program at one Omaha elementary school, D.R.E.A.M. has continued to grow and so does its impact in the community. The program is preparing to expand to a sixth Omaha school, and has chapters in Springfield, Mo., and in California. Fundraising support also continues to grow; for instance, the organization’s annual Celebrity Bowling Challenge raised $60,000 this past April.
Warren hopes to take D.R.E.A.M. nationwide some day. “For us to reach as many kids as we can, we need more help from the community,” he said referring both to a need for volunteers and for funding to grow his staff and to support programming.
Warren’s team — composed mostly of volunteers with some staff — provides students with lessons about good character and accountability, while emphasizing the importance of furthering their education. D.R.E.A.M. exposes its older students to career possibilities while giving them life strategies and experiences that will shape them into the leaders of tomorrow.
Warren hopes not just to affect the students with whom his team members directly work, but also enable them to spread D.R.E.A.M.’s messages among their friends. “These kids are with each other and they’re influencing each other one way or another,” he said. “We’d rather teach them to influence each other in a positive way.” Concepts like accountability are critical today, Warren said, especially in the face of interactive technology that is not without its pitfalls — like the rise of cyber-bullying and the decline of face-to-face social interaction. “These kids are exposed to much more negative things than past generations were and at younger and younger ages,” Warren said. “We want to be a vehicle for positive exposure.”
Although Warren has had the help of several former NFL and collegiate players — which he said offers an easy way to connect with students — they rarely talk about football. Warren funnels his sporting interests into the Warren Academy, a separate program that offers sports performance training for youth and incorporates similar messages about leadership and character. Through it all, he said he’s grateful for his UNL experience. From the high standards the university sets for its students to the lessons he learned through his involvement with athletics. “It shaped how I approach everything every day,” he said.
We publish the Steve Warren Story to encourage anyone, athlete or non-athlete, to take care of unfinished business. Set a goal and pursue the diploma that’s eluded you. Dream like Warren did and fill the void. Even if it won’t change the way others feel about you, it will change the way you feel about yourself.
We’ve all seen the 30-second Big Ten icon video that features quick-hitting clips of the men and women who are an integral part of the nation’s oldest intercollegiate athletic conference. Tom Osborne flashes on that screen. So does Johnny Rodgers wearing a graduation cap, gown and ear-to-ear smile. It took Osborne and Nebraska Academic Associate AD Dennis Leblanc decades to convince Rodgers to finish his degree, and once he did, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. Today, the N-Sider yields its editorial real estate to Jean Ortiz Jones, who writes for University Communications. She frames the delayed degree life of Steve Warren and why his crowning moment goes well beyond the lessons he learned playing football. Here’s that feature, distributed to encourage others – athletes and non-athletes alike – to find the time to get their degrees back on track:
Steve Warren doesn’t remember when football wasn’t part of his life. By age 5, he was playing tackle football. By 8 or 9, he dreamed of going pro. “I actually told one of my teachers in second or third grade that I was going to play in the NFL one day,” he said. Warren was a standout defensive tackle at Nebraska — earning a 1997 national championship ring, All-American accolades and spots in the Nebraska Hall of Fame and on the Green Bay Packers’ roster. But professional football wouldn’t prove to be his only dream.
In 1999, when he was just a semester away from graduating with a degree in sociology, he left UNL to prepare for the NFL draft. After an injury cut his professional career short, he returned to Lincoln in 2004 to earn a degree in sociology. Today, he is the founder and president of the Omaha-based nonprofit D.R.E.A.M. — Developing Relationships through Education, Athletics and Mentoring. The organization, established in 2006, strives to expand opportunities for at-risk youth by providing positive role models who emphasize values, good character and the importance of education.
Even in his early days at UNL, Warren was the social guy — the one everyone came to for advice. He had that innate curiosity about how people interact and a knack for problem solving. As a freshman, his advisers recommended that he major in sociology – the study of human social behavior, its causes and consequences. UNL’s sociology curriculum provides students with valuable skills such as how to learn and think objectively, communicate effectively, analyze data and to understand and appreciate social and cultural differences among people.
Warren admits that when he launched his collegiate career he wasn’t looking past the football field. But on his return, the older, wiser, life-experienced Warren saw what his advisers had years earlier: Sociology was a perfect fit. After earning his degree that same year, he put it to use doing something he loved: working with kids. He began developing the concept behind D.R.E.A.M. — something he said was inspired in part by his parents, who raised him with strong values and instilled in him an understanding of the importance of giving back. Credit also goes to his coaches at Nebraska who helped reinforce those messages, he said.
Since its beginnings as an after-school program at one Omaha elementary school, D.R.E.A.M. has continued to grow and so does its impact in the community. The program is preparing to expand to a sixth Omaha school, and has chapters in Springfield, Mo., and in California. Fundraising support also continues to grow; for instance, the organization’s annual Celebrity Bowling Challenge raised $60,000 this past April.
Warren hopes to take D.R.E.A.M. nationwide some day. “For us to reach as many kids as we can, we need more help from the community,” he said referring both to a need for volunteers and for funding to grow his staff and to support programming.
Warren’s team — composed mostly of volunteers with some staff — provides students with lessons about good character and accountability, while emphasizing the importance of furthering their education. D.R.E.A.M. exposes its older students to career possibilities while giving them life strategies and experiences that will shape them into the leaders of tomorrow.
Warren hopes not just to affect the students with whom his team members directly work, but also enable them to spread D.R.E.A.M.’s messages among their friends. “These kids are with each other and they’re influencing each other one way or another,” he said. “We’d rather teach them to influence each other in a positive way.” Concepts like accountability are critical today, Warren said, especially in the face of interactive technology that is not without its pitfalls — like the rise of cyber-bullying and the decline of face-to-face social interaction. “These kids are exposed to much more negative things than past generations were and at younger and younger ages,” Warren said. “We want to be a vehicle for positive exposure.”
Although Warren has had the help of several former NFL and collegiate players — which he said offers an easy way to connect with students — they rarely talk about football. Warren funnels his sporting interests into the Warren Academy, a separate program that offers sports performance training for youth and incorporates similar messages about leadership and character. Through it all, he said he’s grateful for his UNL experience. From the high standards the university sets for its students to the lessons he learned through his involvement with athletics. “It shaped how I approach everything every day,” he said.
We publish the Steve Warren Story to encourage anyone, athlete or non-athlete, to take care of unfinished business. Set a goal and pursue the diploma that’s eluded you. Dream like Warren did and fill the void. Even if it won’t change the way others feel about you, it will change the way you feel about yourself.
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