Football player puts new dad skills to work as Huskers visit babies in hospital

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Husker football team visited local hospitals on Tuesday before the holidays.

One player had a special connection with the patients he met.

Defensive lineman Elijah Jeudy recently became a father.

On Tuesday, he stepped into his dad shoes as the team visited mothers and babies at Bryan Medical Center’s east campus.

As they took turns holding newborns, Jeudy was giving tips to his teammates, who were a little nervous.

“It’s harder than it looks because there are certain things you’ve got to do so the baby is secure,” Jeudy said. “Just teaching them how to do it, it was fun, it was funny.”

Jeudy said it brought back memories of when he was in the hospital with his own newborn.

“For me, it was just nice seeing the smile on the parents’ faces because I know these first couple of days being with the baby is going to be really hard,” he said. “I know it’s going to be a lot of crying, and you’ve just got to adapt to a new environment with a baby, so it meant a lot to me.”

The team took photos with new parents and signed jerseys.

It’s a tradition for the Huskers to visit patients right before the holidays.

Several traveled to different hospitals, including CHI Health St. Elizabeth and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.

“It feels great because not a lot of people can be with their family during the time of the holidays,” Jeudy said.

The trip came just a few days before the Huskers’ final regular season game against Iowa.

And Jeudy said it was a good experience to give back to the people who are rooting for them.

“For us to be able to come here and show how much we appreciate them and just to give them the support they need, it’s great,” he said.