Cam Taylor-Britt had an exciting couple of days. The junior cornerback was named a captain on Saturday and a Blackshirt on Monday. Taylor-Britt didn’t just find his Blackshirt in his locker on Monday, either. He was presented with the coveted jersey by a former Husker himself and new Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts.
Nebraska handed out the Blackshirts prior to the first game of the season in 2019, which included a group of former Blackshirts who helped to hand out the honor to the newest members at the time. The process of handing out the jerseys for the 2021 season sounds like it mirrors what Scott Frost and the Huskers did in 2019, but with coaches and university officials. Players mentioned receiving their Blackshirts from people like Alberts, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and director of high school relations Kenny Wilhite.
Three players from the secondary received Blackshirts—Taylor-Britt, Deontai Williams and Marquel Dismuke—which means the battle for the corner spot opposite of Taylor-Britt rages on.
“That’s what we need,” Taylor-Britt said, “the other guys to step up.”
On the defensive line, Damion Daniels said he received a jersey, as well as Ben Stille, Ty Robinson and Deontre Thomas. Daniels was excited for Thomas too, who is a first-time Blackshirt.
“That’s my brother right there,” Daniels said.
At linebacker, JoJo Domann, Nick Henrich, Luke Reimer, Garrett Nelson and Caleb Tannor received the jerseys.
“Getting a Blackshirt puts things in perspective every time,” Domann said. “It just reminds you of the rich history of this place and all of the people that came before and all of the people that will come after you, and how we’re just here in this moment and we have to maximize it.”
Stille, Taylor-Britt, Dismuke, Williams, Domann, Nelson and Tannor have all previously been named Blackshirts.
Honor those before you ☠️#blackshirts /// #thegoodlife pic.twitter.com/FSt8pIiI1v
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) August 23, 2021
There’s a lot of history behind the Blackshirts and the logo., and the news surrounding the jerseys is always a big deal each season. Frost waited to hand out jerseys until the second week of the season in 2018. The Huskers had previously used gold shirts as motivation in 2018 before players were awarded the coveted jersey. After handing the jerseys out with former players in 2019, Frost waited until Nebraska’s win over Penn State in 2020 to hand the Blackshirts out.
As of Monday, the tradition continued once again.
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
