Whether you call him retired or just rebranded, John Cook sure knows how to keep his name buzzing louder than Memorial Stadium on game day! The gates swung wide open for the first-ever Huskers Games at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, setting the stage for a day packed with everything from women’s flag football to women’s soccer, a Nebraska-Midland exhibition showdown, and a volleyball throwdown between Nebraska and Kansas. But if you were betting your last slice of Runza that Cook would be courtside for the volleyball match, hate to break it to you — you’d be way off. Instead, the 68-year-old legend, who just recently stole the show at the first-ever John Cook Roping Classic, traded volleyballs for lassos once again, pulling football stars like Harper Murray’s boyfriend, Heinrich Haarberg, right into his cowboy world.
Yup, instead of spiking balls, Cook was out there showing off his roping chops with the Huskers’ football crew — including Haarberg and Dylan Raiola — turning Memorial Stadium into a mini rodeo. Our four-time national champ wasn’t just having fun either; he took the reins and gave those football guys a crash course in cowboy skills, teaching them the ropes literally. And let’s just say, after the dust settled, Cook wasn’t shy about dropping a blunt and fiery message for the players he wrangled under his wing that day.
In a video shared by the folks over at Hail Varsity, the vibes were high and the laughs even higher as Ana Bellinghausen caught up with the cowboy coach himself, John Cook, after the roping challenge went down. Flashing that signature grin, Ana tossed the first question his way, asking, “Joined now by John Cook, after the roping challenge, what were your biggest takeaways of those football players on those horses?” — and oh boy, Cook didn’t miss a beat when he fired back with pure cowboy gold.
Without even blinking, he said, “They need to go back and practice, they need to talk less trash and go practice more, that’s what I saw. In the cowboy world, this is what they would have told them, you guys are throwing a purse, you need to throw a rope.” And honestly, if there’s anyone who could roast you and have you laughing while taking notes, it’s John Cook in full rodeo mode.
“They need to talk less trash and go practice more.”
John Cook spoke with @AnaBellMedia after the football team tried out Cook’s roping challenge. pic.twitter.com/PHn0CSngAy
— Hail Varsity (@HailVarsity) April 26, 2025
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