SportsLine wire reports
March 31, 1999

LINCOLN, Neb. -- It's hard to picture Steve Warren being thrown around by anyone.

At 6-foot-1 and 305 pounds, Warren is one of the biggest players on the Nebraska football team. But growing up in the Warren family, he wasn't always the biggest boy. One of his older brothers is 6-foot tall and 280 pounds and the other one is 6-foot tall and 320 pounds.

"They threw me around a lot," said Steve, who weighed 290 pounds when he graduated from Kickapoo High School (Springfield, Mo.) in 1996.

Playing football against his older brothers and their friends helped Warren to become an aggressive defensive player and formed the foundation for his collegiate career. Now a senior, Warren is ready to become the leader of the defensive front.

Warren is thankful his brothers were willing to take him along to pick-up games.

"Some older brothers wouldn't take their little brothers along," Warren said. "They liked to take me along because I was big enough that I could go play with them and hold my own. I got used to playing with older people. As I was growing up, I was used to being physical. That helped me a lot."

AT NU, WARREN HAS PLAYED ALL THREE YEARS, recording six tackles and a half sack in 1996, 19 tackles and one sack in 1997 and 26 tackles and no sacks in 1998.

Junior lineman Luis Almanzar said statistics only tell part of the tale.

"He's a really strong, powerful guy," Almanzar said. "He's great at stopping the run."

For his size, Warren is remarkably quick and hard to move. Warren said his quickness and power are what enables him to play nose tackle.

Warren was unable to participate during winter conditioning as he recovered from knee surgery.

He's now 100 percent and ready to be a leader for the younger players.

"At practice I try to keep everybody having a positive attitude," Warren said. "I think this year we need to go out and have fun. I think last year, about midway through the season, people stopped having fun. It was beginning to be more of a routine. People were losing hope."

THE SOFT-SPOKEN WARREN DOES HIS LEADING mostly by example, but he's not afraid to get after people.

"I'm not a real vocal player," Warren said. "I'm not the rah-rah type, but if I have to, I will say something. If I see something I don't like, I'm going to make it known to the rest of the players."

Despite Warren's soft-spoken attitude Almanzar said Warren is unquestionably the leader of the interior linemen.

"We just follow behind him," Almanzar said. "He ignites the engine, and we just help him push it."