NAIA quarterback Jalyn Gramstad joins Nebraska football team

SAM MCKEWON
Omaha World-Herald

Nebraska football will have another quarterback in its upcoming training camp, a NAIA All-American who always dreamed of taking the chance to play for the Huskers.

Jalyn Gramstad, who just wrapped an illustrious career at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa, announced on social media Thursday he was joining NU for the 2024 team. On a dream and a whim, he attended Nebraska’s post-graduate camp on June 10. The two sides had mutual interest.

Now the 6-foot, 190-pounder — who threw for 3,681 yards last season as NAIA Player of the Year — will compete for playing time inside Nebraska’s room, where five-star true freshman Dylan Raiola, the favorite to start, is joined by returning starter Heinrich Haarberg and true freshman Danny Kaelin, a Bellevue West graduate.

“It’s a really high level of football,” Gramstad said in mid-June of Nebraska. “And I’m a little bit undersized. But it’s all I’ve wanted to do, and if there’s a chance to do it, now’s the time.”

Gramstad could’ve returned to Northwestern for a final year, and he had some connections and interest in Iowa. But Nebraska was his childhood love.

“I’d always write out my goals, and a goal of mine back in high school was to play at Nebraska,” Gramstad said. “Me and my dad and my grandpa are big fans. So I tried out. If you don’t you’ll never get a chance again.”

Nebraska has not been able to get through a 12-game season with the same starting quarterback since 2017. Last season, the Huskers used three starters — Jeff Sims, Haarberg and Chubba Purdy — during an injury-riddled 2023.

Photos: Nebraska football’s Red-White Spring Game, April 27

Nebraska’s Luke Longval looks to the sideline as he calls a play in the fourth quarter during the Red-White Spring Game, Saturday, April 27, 2024, at Memorial Stadium.

KENNETH FERRIERA Journal Star