Big Red Diary: Zac Lee

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By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star

Zac Lee made his Husker debut Saturday night, throwing for 213 yards and two touchdowns in Nebraska’s 49-3 victory over Florida Atlantic. If fans didn’t know who Lee was before that game, they’re quickly learning. Lee found that out on Sunday, when he went out and about with his family and discovered the stardom that comes with being QB one at Nebraska. The topic begins Brian Rosenthal’s Tuesday conversation with Lee:

“Definitely around town, I went out and did some shopping with my parents on Sunday, and I definitely got noticed a little bit more. I got a few handshakes, a hug. Some guy. Just some guy. I’m sure it’ll get to be a little more, but it’s fine. We went out to South Pointe, just walked around. It kind of surprised me a little bit, but it’s part of the deal. It’s happened before but it’s a little more frequent now. You kind of get random people who kind of notice you and say, ‘Hi,’ and you’re like, ‘Oh, Hi! How ya doin?’ They just walk up and introduce themselves. It’s cool. It’s part of the experience.”

“Joe (Ganz), his advice to all of us is just be yourself. That seems to be pretty solid advice, just with everything, as far as playing quarterback, as far as doing interviews. Just kind of be you. That’s the way he handled it, and that’s the way I was going to do it anyway, but he kind of confirmed it.

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Zac Lee (Eric Gregory / Lincoln Journal Star)

Zac Lee (Eric Gregory / Lincoln Journal Star)

“I’m majoring in business administration. I’d love to get into coaching, whenever this football thing is over with, whenever that may be. But there’s a lot of things I’m really interested in. I’m really interested in real estate, maybe interested in the administration side of athletics on the college level. There’s a lot of different ways to go with it.

“My sister, Jenna, is on Fox Business channel. She’s got her own show in the morning, where she’s like a co-host. She does the 15 and 45 updates on Fox news, after her own show. She’s early morning, though. She wakes up at like 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock in the morning. She lives in New York, which is where she’s been for the last three years now. Sometimes when I get up to go to workouts and I’m up early in the morning, I’ll turn it on, just to see what she’s talking about. It’s kind of cool, kind of exciting. She texted me before the game, wishing me luck and stuff. And then I talked to her on Sunday a little bit. I’ll probably talk to her in the middle of the week. She’s my older sister; we have a pretty good relationship.

“I have an older brother who’s 30, who lives and works in San Francisco. He works in the restaurant business. He played baseball in junior college. He liked it, but he’s interested in cars, and a bunch of other stuff like that. He loves cars. That’s his thing.

“Outside of football, it’s hard (to have hobbies). I like just hanging out and getting some down time, actually relaxing. It’s just so go-go-go around here a lot of the time. During the summer, I’ll go golfing when the weather’s nice and when there’s time. And just hang out with friends and family. I don’t play any musical instruments. I wish I did. I think it might be kind of cool to play the guitar or piano. But I’m not so musically inclined. I kind of didn’t luck out that way.

“I live with Mat May and Tyler Legate. Good guys. Legate got in there for about 10 plays. He did a great job. He’s got a great fullback mentality. You’ll see that when you talk to him.”

“I went out to the Makovickas for Thanksgiving, two years ago, out in Brainard. I’ve obviously been to Omaha. I’m trying to think. That might be kind of the extent of my Nebraska travels. I’ll probably have to get out a little more. It’s been a really good place for me to be, as far as staying focused. Having all of this around really helps, with all the hours we put in, having a facility like this, having support we have from our fans. If you’re going to play college football, you might as well be here.”