Stephanie Croston

    "Man, woman and child, Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers just shook them loose from their shoes!"
     With that, uttered by Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers himself, 72-year-old Lois Giesselman almost sat up.
     "We were trying to get her to sit up for pictures," Rodgers said April 21. When he said that, "she jumped straight up. She was pumped up and excited. She was on it then."
     "All her life, she's been a Husker fan," her daughter, Linda Cahoon, said April 16. "I remember all four of us would sit on the floor and watch Husker football. We would cheer for Johnny."
     When Rodgers repeated part of Lyle Bremser's famous call from a punt return during the Game of the Century against Oklahoma in 1971, Cahoon said, "it woke her up and she tried to sit up."
     Giesselman was a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and was the first pianist for the Goehner melodrama. But she was also a huge Husker fan, Cahoon said.
     Rodgers was always Giesselman's favorite player, and as her health failed, her last wish was to meet the 1972 Heisman Trophy winner.
     "The Friday before Easter she got really sick," Cahoon said. "All she talked about was wanting to meet him."
     She got her wish April 12, when Rodgers came to Seward to see her. She had been unresponsive, running a fever and battling a "fib-flutter," which affects the heartbeat, and severe lung disease Cahoon said. Hospice of Tabitha helped arrange the visit.
     Rodgers said he is often asked to visit sick Husker fans and feels honored to be asked, especially for those who have been long-time fans.
     Rodgers spent about an hour with Giesselman, holding her hand, and brought an autographed copy of his book, An Era of Greatness, and a picture for her.
     Cahoon said Rodgers spent time signing autographs for other visitors, as well, including Giesselman's roommate. Cahoon's children took advantage of the opportunity, too.
     She said her fourth-grade son Daniel is a football player and wants to win the Heisman Trophy. When he told Rodgers that, Rodgers said, "Let's practice," and posed for photos with Daniel in the Heisman pose.
     "Children know what their parents and grandparents tell them," Rodgers said. "It's like the old days, where they would give stories and pass them down."
     He said the stories help develop new Husker fans.
     "It's an honor to pass down the heroes and legends," he said.
     Cahoon's sisters, Laural Anderson and Cindy Mavis, were also there for Rodgers' visit, although her brother, Bryan, who lives in Colorado, was unable to come.
     Giesselman died April 19, right before the annual Red-White game, Rodgers said.
     "It was her last wish, and thanks to him it came true," Cahoon said.