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Matt Rhule delivers powerful message to Terence 'Bud' Crawford before Canelo Alvarez fight

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby: Grant Grubbs08/30/25grant_grubbs_
Matt Rhule Bud Crawford
© Dylan Widger & © Sarah Stier-Imagn Images

In just over two weeks, Terence “Bud” Crawford will be squaring off against legendary boxer Canelo Álvarez in the ring. On Friday, hundreds of fans gathered in Crawford’s hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, to send off the light middleweight champion of the world. Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule was among the onlookers there to support Crawford.

However, Rhule didn’t simply clap his hands for the hometown hero. Instead, just a day after Nebraska defeated Cincinnati on the road in Arrowhead Stadium, Rhule shared a story about Crawford with the crowd.

“I got a lot of respect for Coach Prime and I knew he was going to come to Lincoln [in 2024],” Rhule said. “I said to myself, ‘I got to win this game.’ So I looked down at my phone. I was like, ‘Who can I call?’ And when Bud answered the phone, it was already written. It was already over. When the pound-for-pound king shows up, there ain’t no choice but to win the game.”

Crawford led Nebraska from its locker room onto the field for its traditional Tunnel Walk ahead of the Cornhuskers’ dominant 28-10 win over Colorado last season. Crawford also addressed the team before they took the field.

Clearly, his motivation worked. It wouldn’t be the last time Rhule would rely on Crawford to motivate his team.

“It was a close game last night, and I call a timeout, fourth-and-seven on the last drive,” Rhule said. “A lot of people want to know what I said. ‘Hey, should we play this? Should we play that?’ I called the defense up. I said, ‘Guys, listen, we got to win this game. I’m going to see Bud tomorrow. And if I show up with an L, he’s going to beat the you know what out of me.'”

Nebraska pulled out a narrow 20-17 win over Cincinnati in its season opener on Thursday. Now, Matt Rhule feels like it’s his turn to give back to Crawford.

“When he showed up last year to support our team, to support our fans, to support our state — like he’s been doing forever, like he does with the young kids in the community, like he does in every part of his life — he showed us what it means to be Nebraskan, what it means to be a Husker, what it means to be great,” Rhule said.

“To not be satisfied, to just say, ‘You know what, I’m the best.’ To have a legacy of being someone that no one else can be. He’s the best of the best, and yet he takes on challenge after challenge after challenge in a day and age where everybody just wants to post what they did. He said, ‘Watch out what I do next.'”

Terence Crawford and Canelo Álvarez will meet inside Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sept. 13. Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs), the reigning WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF super middleweight champion, will put his titles on the line against the undefeated, four-division king Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs).