Graduating in 1974 from Nebraska City High School, “Budge” earned 10 varsity letters in three sports for the Pioneers. He was a two time All Conference competitor in football, basketball and track and state honors in track for two years. He received a “full ride” to play football at UNL, making him the third generation Porter to play for the Huskers. This being the days of frosh football, Budge was a starter at defensive cornerback for the freshman. Things were looking up in the spring of 1976 when he came out of winter weights as the strongest defensive back in Husker history at that time. However that ended on April 21st of that year when during practice he made a tackle on I.M. Hipp that resulted in a broken neck and total paralysis. That didn’t stop “Budge” with a strong heart and many years of physical therapy he earned his degree in 1981 in Business and Distributive Education, He still lifts weights daily and when not working he goes fishing with his wife Diane in their six-wheel amphibious ATV which he also uses for hunting. Claire, the eldest of his three children, might sum it up the best when said, “My daddy is real strong, did you know that?”
