UNL senior Abi Schoup walks to Memorial Stadium before Nebraska’s game against Ohio State on Saturday.
Even now, it’s tough for Nebraska football fan Alex Gordon to go completely unnoticed.
Standing on a crowded sideline in the southwest corner of Memorial Stadium on Saturday in the minutes before Nebraska took on Ohio State, Gordon sported a red Husker baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, and a red hoodie. He snapped cellphone photos of his kids. He joked with some family members. At least one fan asked, “Who’s that guy?”
“Got kids, friends, everything (here),” Gordon said. “Nothing better than Saturday in November, watching a football game.”
Gordon was back in his hometown to help surprise the Hastings Little League baseball team, which was recognized during the first quarter after qualifying for this summer’s Little League World Series, where it became the first Nebraska team to win multiple games in the event.
It’s the kind of thing Gordon can do with ease now, one year into his retirement after a 14-year MLB career with the Kansas City Royals. Four months prior, he made the trip up I-29 to serve as the torch lighter for the Cornhusker State Games.
“Our family’s fully committed to Kansas City with just activities, sports, school,” Gordon said. “(But) we want to get back here more, (we) still have a place here. Just try to get back as much as possible.”
It’s been a fun year just being a dad, Gordon said, after announcing his retirement from professional baseball in September 2020. He left the game as one of the most beloved figures in Royals history, a World Series champion, multiple Gold Glove winner, owner of one of the most iconic moments in franchise history with his Game 1 home run in the 2015 World Series.