As part of our continuing post-signing day coverage, HuskersIllustrated.com is contacting all of Nebraska's class of 2005 signees in order to get to know them better. This is a series that will continue for the next few weeks. Now let's meet a key piece in the 2006 recruiting puzzle in tight end Mike McNeill.

 

Rankings: Rivals.com No. 38 ranked tight end for 2006; Rivals.com No. 13 in the postseason Missouri Top 20 for 2006

Recent statistics: For his senior season, McNeill hauled in 35 receptions for 686 yards, four touchdowns and two two-point conversions.

Other schools offering scholarships: Wisconsin, Texas Tech, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern and Arkansas State.

Questionnaire:

1. Who is your favorite football player of all-time?

"Jeremy Shockey."

2. Why?

"Because people say I'm similar to him in the way I play, and he's kind of a crazy and funny guy who plays with attitude."

3. What is the best football team you've ever seen?

"I can't remember the year, but it was the Dallas Cowboys when they had Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith. The year I'm thinking of they beat the Steelers in the Super Bowl."

4. What position will you be playing at Nebraska?

"Tight end."

5. What will you bring to Nebraska as far as a strong point?

"Definitely a receiving threat at the tight end position, and I think leadership will be another thing."

6. What is the one thing you need to work on to play at the next level?

"Besides getting stronger and adding weight, probably my understanding of the game from watching films. I've only played football for four years, so there's quite a bit I can learn about what to look for on film."

7. Are you planning to redshirt?

"I'm not planning on it, but I might, and I'd be fine with it if the coaches think I should. You never know how that's going to work out until you get there and go through two-a-days."

8. What do you do in your spare time?

"Really? Play NCAA Football 2006 and read HuskersIllustrated.com. That's about it. Oh, I really like playing FIFA ,which is a video soccer game, too. I'm a huge soccer fan."

9. What food do you like the best?

"Pasta, hot ham, & cheese sandwiches and a friend got me hooked on corndogs. I have one of those three almost every day for lunch."

10. What's your favorite song?

"This is hard. I listen to so much different music that it's hard to pick just one song. Maybe something by Jack Johnson, who I like a lot. I listen to all kinds, but I'm kind of into mellow music more than anything."

11. What person dead or alive you would like to sit down and have dinner with?

"That's easy, Martin Luther King. He did so much for people that it would be cool to sit and listen to him tell his story."

12. Do you have a nickname?

"Most of my friends call me 'Big Mike', but the football team calls me 'J-Shock'."

13. How often do you work out, and what is your routine?

"I have a weight lifting class this semester and after basketball ends I'll be working with my personal trainer four days a week for an hour and a half each day."

14. Do you have a major picked out yet?

"It'll probably be something in Business. Maybe Marketing or Advertising or something along those lines."

15. Do you have a any pre-game rituals you go through?

"Oh jeez. Yes. I always wear a wrist band and a bracelet that I tape down before each game on each arm. One of the bracelets is for the fight against cancer, and the other is for the Kanakuk Christian Kamp that I've gone to during the summer."

16. What's your most embarrassing moment during a football game?

"Oh jeez, this one's easy. Every year we play McCluer North in a televised game called the Turkey Bowl, and there's an award they give out called the 'Hammer Time' for the biggest hit of the game. Well, last year, when I was a junior, our quarterback threw a pass that was to the left of me and I had to reach back to get it and (Adrian) Clayborn just laid me out. The crowd went crazy and I was so embarrassed."

17. What one thing was the determining factor in your picking Nebraska?

"The coaching staff."

18.What coach do you like the best at Nebraska?

"Coach (Kevin) Cosgrove was my recruiter, so I've mostly been in contact with him and we talk all the time. I do like coach (Shawn) Watson, though. He came and had dinner with us, and he seems to have a real good understanding of the offense and seems like a great guy."

19. Did the Nebraska coaches do anything unique in their recruiting?

"Well, when I got to my room at the hotel they had a big cookie cake with my name on it which was pretty cool. The other thing was when every single coach sent me a handwritten letter telling me how I should go to Nebraska because I could do special things in the West Coast Offense."

20. What was your favorite moment during the recruiting process?

"I have two, actually. One was on my official visit when I committed at 7:00am on Sunday morning and coach (Bill) Callahan's eyes got big and he jumped out of his chair and yelled, and the second was on Wednesday, February 1st when I got to sign my letter of intent."

21. What was the worst?

"This was never from you guys at HuskersIllustrated.com, but other recruiting services would call and misquote me. I mean, I knew what I'd said, but it would be all over the internet that I'd said something else when I hadn't."

22. Did you hook up and make friends with any current players at Nebraska or incoming freshmen during the process? Who and what did you like about him/them?

"Seth (Jensen) and I obviously have become friends. And Major (Culbert), too. I don't know if he remembers me or not, but he made his official visit the same weekend I did and we talked a lot."

23. Was there a humorous happening during your recruiting process?

"This is really funny. My mom, dad, and I were taking one of the tours on my visit and three guys walked up to me and said…'it's a great time to be a Husker, Mike, and we need you to come here'. That was pretty cool."

24. What was the best feature of your official visit to Nebraska?

"The game without a doubt. I think that really blew me away. The Nebraska fans are just crazy for the team."

25. If you didn't choose Nebraska, where do you think you would have ended up?

"Realistically, probably Mizzou or Texas Tech, but I knew where I wanted to go early on, so I didn't get a chance to look at schools like Wisconsin and UCLA. If I had, it could've been one of those two because there's something I like about Wisconsin, and UCLA was making a lot of contact with me."

26.What number would you like to wear at Nebraska?

"No. 44 because that's the number my grandpa wore in college. He was an all-american in both football and baseball and it'll be an honor to wear his old number."

27.Would you like to say anything to the Nebraska fans?

"Yes. I just want all the fans to know how proud I am to be part of this class and what the coaches are building. We're going to have real good season's the next four or five years, and I can't wait to get there and get started."