

Jerry Warner, the quarterback of the 1910 Nebraska football team, is the main subject of “Dual Threat: Football & Family,” which will have its world premiere Saturday at the Ross Media Arts Center.
In 1910, Beaver City farm boy Leon “Jerry” Warner led the Nebraska Cornhuskers to their first unshared Missouri Valley Conference football title.
Less than a decade later, Nebraska’s first dual-threat quarterback enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fly in World War I, training in California, where he met a banker’s daughter he would marry and bring back to his family’s south-central Nebraska farm.
There, Warner raised a family, became a very successful farmer, but, according to his daughter, was at his happiest when he returned to Lincoln to catch a Husker game.
That’s a brief sketch of the life of one of the first Husker heroes that’s spelled out in football-heavy detail in “Dual Threat: Football & Family,” a documentary from Nebraska filmmaker Donnie Dodge that will make its world premiere at the Ross Media Arts Center on Saturday, appropriately, after the Husker Spring Game.
Jerry Warner, the quarterback of the 1910 Nebraska football team, is the main subject of “Dual Threat: Football & Family,” which will have its world premiere Saturday at the Ross Media Arts Center.
Dodge, who made “All The King’s Men,” which detailed the 1910 season in game-by-game fashion, hones in on Warner, utilizing his letters home, letters from his bride-to-be and recollections of his daughter to give voice to the story and a combination of family photographs and vintage stock footage for its visuals.
Innovatively, Dodge finds a compelling way to retrace the 1910 season, which, of course, has no radio or television broadcasts. But, using newspaper accounts of the games, which were very detailed, he put together bits of play-by-play for each contest — which are delivered by Kevin Kugler, the Lincoln native who calls NFL games for Fox Sports.
Under Kugler’s narration are vintage photos from games at Nebraska, Kansas and Minnesota. In addition, the action was replicated by manipulated footage from players from the American 7s Football League, a semi-pro league from a decade ago. The modern-day players tried their hand at old-school football — without pads — and the action was shot in black-and-white reversal, which gave the look of football 100 years ago.
Warner, who was named the best quarterback in the Missouri Valley Conference, unexpectedly quit the team in the spring of 1911. That departure created the mystery that drives “Dual Threat.” It also shows why Warner deserves to be remembered as one of the all-time Husker greats.
“Dual Threat” will screen at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Ross, 13th and Q streets. Admission will be $5, with all proceeds going to the Food Bank of Lincoln.
20 moments of Husker glory
Huskers slip past Florida in Sugar Bowl 1974
Nebraska’s Brad Jenkins (92) celebrates as the Huskers score against Florida in the Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31, 1974, in New Orleans. Nebraska defeated Florida 13-10. (TED KIRK / LJS file photo)
Nebraska completes finals comeback in Seattle
The Huskers celebrate after rallying to defeat Washington in five sets in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament regional final on Dec. 13, 2008, in Seattle. “It was the most incredible comeback I’ve seen in volleyball,” said Nebraska coach John Cook. (JACOB HANNAH / LJS file photo)
Huskers claim first-ever trip to College World Series
Nebraska baseball players take a victory lap around Buck Beltzer Field after beating Rice in an NCAA Super Regional on June 3, 2001. The win clinched the Huskers’ first trip to the College World Series. (LJS file photo)
Nebraska knocks off No. 3 Kansas at Devaney
Terrence Badgett joins some of the fans at the Devaney Sports Center to celebrate the Huskers’ 68-64 upset of third-ranked Kansas on Feb. 7, 1993.
How many tackles can one man break?
Tommie Frazier’s iconic 75-yard touchdown run in the 1996 Fiesta Bowl clinched Nebraska’s second straight national title. Frazier broke as many as seven tackles on the play, the culmination of a 62-24 win.
Sitting on another title
Nebraska’s Dani Mancuso sits on her dad, Mike’s, lap after the Huskers defeated Minnesota in five sets in the NCAA Volleyball Tournament regional final in Gainesville, Fla., on Dec. 9, 2006.
Tolly Thompson claims heavyweight showdown with pin
Nebraska coach Tim Neumann (in suit) and the rest of the Husker bench celebrate after heavyweight Tolly Thompson pinned Michigan State’s Brian Picklo on Jan. 22, 1995. (LJS file photo)
Nebraska crowned Big Eight tournament champions
The Huskers celebrate winning the Big Eight Conference Tournament in March of 1994. (Ted Kirk / LJS file photo)
Toting the trophy against the Hawkeyes
Nebraska’s Jermarcus Hardrick (50) and Jay Guy (99) parade the “Heroes Game” Trophy for the Husker faithful as they leave the field at Memorial Stadium following NU’s 20-7 win against Iowa on Nov. 25, 2011. The two will finish their regular seasons against one another again this season on Friday.
Nebraska on the Olympics stage
Former Husker wrestling star Jordan Burroughs kisses his gold medal during the medals ceremony for men’s 74-kilogram freestyle wrestling at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Fist-pumping past the Golden Gophers
Nebraska’s Hannah Werth (44) and Brooke Delano (8) celebrate one of Delano’s kills in the second set against Minnesota at the NU Coliseum on Nov. 16, 2011.
Memorial Stadium claims 300th consecutive sell out crowd
Nebraska sold out Memorial Stadium for the 300th consecutive time Sept. 26, 2009. The ongoing NCAA record started in 1962 when Bob Devaney was head coach. (LJS file photo)
Nebraska baseball lights up the scoreboard
The scoreboard at Buck Beltzer Field, former home of Husker baseball, showed a football score of 50-3 following the second game of a doubleheader against Chicago State on March 17, 1999. Nebraska set NCAA records for most runs in a game and largest margin of victory. NU scored so many runs, the scoreboard couldn’t even keep up — the Huskers actually scored 10 runs in the second inning and 13 in the fifth.
Browne claims conference title
Nebraska’s Brandon Browne celebrates with the crowd his 3-1 victory against Missouri’s Raymond Jordan in the 174-pound championship at the Big 12 Wrestling Championships at the NU Coliseum on March 7, 2009.
Jared Crick brings out the American flag
Nebraska’s Jared Crick (94) carries the American flag onto the Memorial Stadium field Sept. 3, 2011.
Osborne exits Orange Bowl in style
Husker players carry Tom Osborne off the Orange Bowl field after Nebraska’s 24-17 victory against Miami on Jan. 1, 1995.
“The catch”
With the game-winning ball under his arm, Nebraska redshirt freshman wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp (1) gets a hug from his father, Bob, after making “The Catch” to give the Huskers a 27-24 win over Northwestern on a Hail Mary pass from quarterback Ron Kellogg III as time expired on Nov. 2, 2013, at Memorial Stadium. “Remember, never give up!” his father exclaimed as they hugged.
Playing into the night in OKC
Nebraska teammates greet Taylor Edwards (12) at home plate after Edwards hitting a game-tying home run in the 10th inning of the NCAA Women’s College World Series elimination game on Saturday, June 1, 2013, at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.
A farewell to”TO”
The east stadium spelled out “THANKS TOM” for retiring athletic director Tom Osborne at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012.
Huskers in the Olympics, Part II
Former Husker swimmer Penny Heyns shows off the two Olympic gold medals she won at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. (Ted Kirk / LJS file photo)
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