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+---- Thread: *9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL (/showthread.php?tid=19702)
*9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL - indonesianhusker - 03-03-2020
Growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia, Julio Tirtawidjaja never thought about playing in the NSFL. Let alone dreaming about playing, he barely knew what American Football was. He only knew about American Football from his dad, who went to college at LSU and from watching Hollywood movies. But here he is after finishing his senior season at Nebraska, Tirtawidjaja is getting ready to impress scouts at the DSFL combine to potentially becoming the first Indonesian-born player in the DSFL and eventually, the NSFL.
A country of 264 million people, Indonesia barely knows what American Football is. Those who do are people who went to college in the United States or randomly stumbling upon the game on Youtube and Instagram. Likewise, Julio Tirtawidjaja's journey to the NSFL didn't start on the gridiron but rather, on the rugby field. Tirtawidjaja started playing rugby at the age of seven with the local U-8 rugby club that his father coached. From a young age, he has shown the speed and vision that has brought him much success as a running back. He rose through the ranks at his local rugby club, playing as a center and often dominated players several years older than him. With his talent and many achievements on the rugby field, Tirtawidjaja dreamt of becoming a professional rugby player. But that dream changed in his sophomore year of high school when he and his family moved to Omaha, Nebraska, due to his father getting a job at the local Kawasaki manufacturing plant.
Tirtawidjaja enrolled at Gretna High School in the spring and immediately joined the high school rugby team. His name was immediately known through the school as he helped the Gretna rugby team reached the state semi-final before losing to eventual champion Millard High School. Gary Smith, head football coach at Gretna, immediately took an interest in this new student from Indonesia and approached him to join the football team. Making it as an excellent way to stay in shape in the summer and fall during the rugby team's offseason, Tirtawidjaja joined the football team.
Backing up All-Nebraska senior running back Damien Heyward, Tirtawidjaja mostly played on special teams while he learned about the game of American Football. His background and tackling technique as a rugby player helped him to become a significant contributor on the special team, as he recorded two forced fumbles during a kick off return and a punt return against Lincoln Southeast in his first-ever football game. Tirtawidjaja was called into action as a running back late in the season against Kearney High School went Damien Heyward tore his Achilles. Tirtawidjaja's first carry, a jet sweep play to the right, went for 30 yards before getting forced out of bounds inside Kearney's 15. He finished the game with 80 yards on 15 rushing attempts and almost scored a touchdown before getting stopped a yard shy from the endzone late in the fourth quarter.
But Tirtawidjaja's breakout game came against Millard South in the state quarterfinal, where he went for 285 all-purpose yards with two rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns. Gretna High School went on to win the state championship on the back of Tirtawidjaja's performance, rushing for 250 yards and a touchdown and adding another 100 yards on the air. College scouts started to take an interest in this running back who showed up out of nowhere in Nebraska. Offer letters from D-2 schools began coming, and several G5 schools have also inquired about Tirtawidjaja.
However, Tirtawidjaja's bright start to his high school football career didn't last as he tore his ACL in the following spring during rugby practice. The injury sidelined him for the rest of the rugby season and his senior football season. Any interest from colleges died down, and the letters stopped coming in. Although injured, Tirtawidjaja still went to every practice, absorbing all the coaching his teammates were going through on and off the field, including studying game film. Despite his brief relationship with the game, Tirtawidjaja has fallen in love with American Football. Thinking college football is now out of reach, Tirtawidjaja decided to enroll at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to stay close to his family and play club rugby there.
Nonetheless, his football journey didn't end there as unknown to him, his high school football coach, Gary Smith, sent Tirtawidjaja's game tapes to Ron Anderson, the assistant running back coach at Nebraska. Renowned for its walk-on program, the Nebraska football team hold a tryout at the start of every fall semester. Smith informed Tirtawidjaja of the tryout schedule, and his love for the game still burns strong; he tried out for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was surprised to learn he was one of three players who tried out accepted to the team as a walk-on for the Nebraska Cornhuskers that season.
Tirtawidjaja spent his freshman year as a scout team player, only appearing once as a special teamer late in the season during the away game against Minnesota as an injury replacement. Despite being a walk-on, numerous reports came out saying he often ran around the first and second-team defense during practice. Tirtawidjaja's sophomore year saw him playing more in the actual games, first as a special teamer where he forced a fumble and recovered the ball to score a touchdown against UCF and then as a change-of-pace running back to bruiser Devine Ozigbo. His breakout game came in the last regular-season game against bitter rival Iowa, where he rushed for 124 yards and caught a 50-yard touchdown. Nebraska played Stanford in the Rose Bowl, and just like in high school, Tirtawidjaja followed his breakout performance a dominant showing as he rushed for 221 yards and three touchdowns on 25 rushing attempts. Nebraska went on to win the Rose Bowl 45-3 and broke their 5-season streak of postseason loss. His strong performance convinced Nebraska head coach Scott Frost and his staff to award Tirtawidjaja a scholarship.
Julio Tirtawidjaja continued to dominate as a running back, leading the Big Ten in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns both his junior and senior year. Tirtawidjaja also dominated in the air, catching ten touchdown passes in his senior year with the Huskers. His 500 all-purpose yards against Wisconsin in his senior year remained as one of the most dominant showings in recent college football history. Finishing his eligibility at Nebraska, the former rugby player is now looking forward to the NSFL.
Once a thing he only saw on TV, Tirtawidjaja has an excellent chance to become one of the players thousands and thousands of people will see on the screen. Assigned to the New York Poodles for the SS22 Prospect Bowl, he managed a decent showing, recording 132 yards against the Miami Grenadiers and 81 yards against the New England Atoms. With much to learn and improve, the once unknown prospect out of Indonesia is preparing for the combine with the hope of hearing his name called in the DSFL draft and, eventually, the NSFL draft.
*9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL - IsaStarcrossed - 03-03-2020
Fantastic read! I feel like we don't get enough biographies these days. I love getting a feel for the players that we see on the field. And here I thought old Ironside's path to the NSFL was an interesting one. 9,000 miles is a pretty decent hop and a skip to play football!
*9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL - Exilizer - 03-03-2020
International Player Gang!
Great read, and its over 9000!
*9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL - infinitempg - 03-03-2020
(03-03-2020, 01:03 PM)indonesianhusker Wrote:Tirtawidjaja is getting ready to impress scouts at the DSFL combine to potentially becoming the first Indonesian-born player in the DSFL and eventually, the NSFL.
...is this where I say that my old player Micycle McCormick is also Indonesian?
Either way, this is awesome! Glad to see some representation from us Indonesians
Also, probably fair to say that Micycle was born state-side so I guess the claim still stands
*9,000 miles journey from Indonesia to the NSFL - indonesianhusker - 03-04-2020
Quote:...is this where I say that my old player Micycle McCormick is also Indonesian?
Either way, this is awesome! Glad to see some representation from us Indonesians
Daaaamn, I didn't know there are other Indonesians here. Thanks for reading the article! Ok, I'm still gonna claim Julio Tirtawidjaja as the first Indonesian-born player haha.