Jon Schuetz was settling in as the new public address announcer at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Neb., when he received a phone call late Monday night from a University of Nebraska official.
Schuetz, a Nebraska native and former sports director at Omaha's ABC television affiliate, was about to lose the job that he had landed a week ago.
The university official began reading a nine-month-old Facebook post in which Schuetz, 51, criticized Nebraska officials after former football coach Bo Pelini was fired.
Schuetz told Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World-Herald that he hadn't thought about the post since last winter. He certainly didn't remember it during the job interview, but Schuetz said he cringed as his own words were read back to him.
He didn't disclose the contents of the message, but that didn't stop the message from circulating. A post dated Nov. 30, 2014, read: "[Nebraska chancellor] Harvey Perlman is as [sic] disgrace. Remember this was the guy who extended [former athletic director] Steve Pederson's contract only to fire him a few months later. When will he be held to account?"
Schuetz received word Tuesday that he went too far. He won't call Saturday's season opener against Brigham Young, or any other Nebraska games.
"If I were in their shoes, I would've done the same thing," Schuetz said. "I've hired people. I get it. If you say something about a prospective future employer, it's legitimate to say if you're not on board with what we do here, maybe you shouldn't be here."
Schuetz, who has been a financial adviser since 2010 after 24 years in broadcasting, had no intention of pursuing the public address job. But when longtime public address announcer Patrick Combs was accused of stealing more than $360,000 from two elderly women, the school moved fast to find a replacement.
They moved quickly to replace Schuetz, too, hiring radio sideline reporter Lane Grindle. Grindle will continue to handle the sideline reporting duties for road games but will be replaced by former Cornhuskers quarterback Steve Taylor for home games.
They said it
• Pat Dooley of the Gainesville (Fla.) Sun, referring to the Tennessee football team as "the Kardashians of the SEC": "They look good, but they haven't done anything."
• Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, on the hype that Ronda Rousey's next opponent will give her a competitive fight: "I had no idea Godzilla joined the UFC."
Tag team effort
Former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan told TMZ that he wants to be Donald Trump's presidential running mate.
"Finding a ring to throw his hat into shouldn't be a problem," Dwight Perry of The Seattle Times wrote.
Sports quiz
Who were the two former Nebraska offensive linemen inducted this year into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Answer
Mick Tingelhoff and Will Shields.
Sports on 09/04/2015