Millard North High School football coach Fred Petito said he felt a "good flow" running through his veins this week.

Petito was buoyant as he discussed his former defensive back/quarterback, Eric Crouch.

"Good things happen to good people," Petito said. "As talented as Eric is, he's just as good a kid."

You know the old saying about nice guys.

In this case, though, the nice guy finished first.

Crouch, Nebraska's remarkably gifted and uncommonly humble quarterback, officially became an icon Saturday, someone to be revered and remembered long after his jet-black mane has withered and faded to gray. He is to be cherished as one of Nebraska's three Heisman Trophy winners, joining Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers (1972) and Mike Rozier (1983).

The "good flow" to which Petito referred swept through an entire state Saturday night.

Eric Crouch for governor.

Nah, he seems too gentle a soul for such a roughhouse position. He's too honest and genuine for politics.

"He's so respectful of other people," Petito said. "That hasn't changed."

Petito remembers when Crouch was a timid high school freshman walking around the Millard North weight room with a Florida Marlins baseball cap pulled down to his eyebrows. Oh, how the wiry kid would work, Petito recalled. But he didn't talk much.

Now Crouch is a man, poised and confident, yet still a little guarded with strangers.

Yes, Crouch is The (Heis)Man. But Petito will tell you Crouch hasn't changed much over the years, and probably won't, no matter how much fame comes his way.

All those yards, all those electric moments on Saturdays, all the victories and records - that's all well and good.

But 20 years from now, what I'll remember most about Crouch is his consistency.

He hardly ever played badly. Most of the time, he performed spectacularly. Hence the Heisman.

Best of all, he played, and played. He's tough as a leather boot. It's difficult to imagine him missing a snap, let alone a game, because of injury.

"He has outstanding toughness," Nebraska Coach Frank Solich said. "That's why we were able to build our offense around him."

Gentle by nature, Crouch becomes a warrior on the gridiron.

"He moves with such grace, but the thing that's most important is how he goes into contact," Petito said. "I don't know how much of a beating he really takes, because he gives it out."

Interestingly, Crouch said he finds power in consistency.

"I try to go out there every week and try to make better plays than I made the week before and do things more efficiently," he said. "There are always things you can improve on, for everybody in athletics."

Said Petito, "God, he'll never be satisfied."

His consistency extends beyond football.

In his five years at Nebraska, I've never seen Crouch overly happy, or overly upset, or overly anxious, or overly anything. I've never heard him raise his voice, never seen him sneer or act out toward an official or anybody else.

I've never seen him roll his eyes at an interview request, and there have been thousands of them. Believe me, you can't say that about every NU quarterback of the past.

Crouch seems to flow through life's rough waters with the sturdiness of an ocean liner.

He said he seeks stoicism. But with Crouch, there's no unpleasant edge to it.

"I want to be on the same plane all the time," he said. "I want to be focused. I don't want to get too excited, I don't want to get too down . . ."

Husker quarterbacks coach Turner Gill describes Crouch as being "quietly intense."

On behalf of my newspaper, I apologize to those who feel we've gone overboard with our Eric Crouch lovefest this season, particularly of late.

On the other hand, we're powerless to approach it in any other manner.

Folks, this kid's a prince - a prince with a warrior's heart. A prince with a Heisman.

He's a prince with all the pretense of a pauper. He displays nary a trace of affectation.

Bear in mind, my favorite team during childhood was the Oakland Raiders. Few would describe Al Davis as a prince.

One of my favorite athletes of all time is Sonny Liston, a street thug turned heavyweight champion.

We're going to miss him more than we know. Sometimes I wonder if we've taken his consistency as a quarterback, and as a gentleman, for granted.

Petito doesn't take his former player for granted. He appreciates the "positive flow" Crouch has created for the football fans among us. The wave of positive voltage carried Petito all the way to New York, as promised.

"Right after his senior year (at Millard North), I told Eric, 'When you win the Heisman, I'll be there to see it,' " Petito recalled. "I really believed it. He was a special player."

Not a bad fella, either.