Huskers mourn, remember Foltz
Fighting back tears, Kieron Williams stood in front of the hundreds of Nebraska athletes, coaches, students and fans on the north side of Memorial Stadium on Sunday afternoon trying his best to find the right words amid a true Husker tragedy.
Shortly after learning that his friend and Husker teammate Sam Foltz had been killed in a car accident in Wisconsin late Saturday night, Williams and several other NU players and staff organized a prayer vigil for the public to grieve and remember.
The vigil couldn’t have been held at a more fitting location, right next to the statue of honoring Brook Berringer. In many ways, Foltz may have been the Husker most similar to Berringer because of their play on the field and more importantly their impact on so many people away from football.
“I was actually at church,” Williams said of when he got the news of Foltz’s passing. “To be honest, once I got the text message I couldn’t tell you what the sermon was about. That’s my brother, man. That’s my brother. I have one brother, but I have 150 other ones. That’s my brother, man… And he’s gone. He’s gone.”
Williams was joined by Husker players Graham Nabity, Zach Darlington, Sam Hahn, Zach Hannon, Caleb Lightbourn, and Jamie Sutcliffe, and all spoke about their relationships with Foltz and how he personally affected each of their lives.
Several other players quoted Bible versus and sang hymns, and mixed in were moments of silence and time for prayer.
Players from nearly every NU sport were in attendance, which spoke volumes about how well liked and respected Foltz was across the entire athletic department.
“You could tell everyone was here for reason, because he really inspired everyone here,” Sutcliffe said. “He was friends with everybody. He really meant a lot to everyone.”
Few Huskers were as close to Foltz as Hahn. During his speech, the senior offensive lineman said he planned on Foltz being the best man in his upcoming wedding.
Hahn admitted he was still in disbelief at the vigil, and the reality that he had lost his best friend probably wouldn’t fully set in until later.
“Sam was the guy who was always the leader,” Hahn said. “He was always the pep talker and he was always leading the drills. It’s crazy, one of our best leaders on the team was your punter. That’s just the type of guy Sam was. I’m just honored to have known him.
"I’m just thinking of his family and everything right now. Those guys are going through a lot. I ask anybody who’s going to listen to this or read this to keep his family in your thoughts and prayers. That’s really what’s important now. Don’t forget about Sam. I’m just thankful I got to call him my best friend.”