Former Nebraska and Omaha Beef quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. has etched his name into Nebraska sports history forever.
The signal caller will be inducted into the Omaha Beef Hall of Fame on Saturday. He said he learned the news from Beef owner Ricky Bertz.
“I’m super excited about it; it’s just a blessing,” Armstrong told Hurrdat Sports. “I know I’m the first one this year, but next to my name should be an asterisk of everybody that helped throughout that two-year span, from my teammates to my family to people that just made sacrifices. I always mention my teammates because I’m not me without my teammates. I can’t do the stuff that I did in 2023 and 2024 without them being a part of it. I’m just a small fraction of the whole entire collective group.”
Armstrong spent two full seasons with the Beef, leading the team to a 30-1 record and two championships, then after a brief retirement he re-signed with the team for the 2025 postseason, leading the team to a runner-up finish. He credits Husker and Beef fans for helping the team succeed.
“When you do certain things like that, for me, I felt like I was at home,” Armstrong said. “Everything was great. I felt like I was at UNL. Even if it was a fraction of the fans there, it was always loud. The passion, the grit of all the fans, they made those seasons happen. I couldn’t imagine playing in a fan base or a stadium that had nobody in there. They packed it out every year.”
That includes when the team was down. During Armstrong’s first season with Omaha, the Beef went 13-0 but the path wasn’t easy. They had multiple come-from-behind victories, but Armstrong said the team’s camaraderie helped them win.
“That’s a different type of relationship when you have guys that go to battle together,” Armstrong said. “That could be from the forces in real life, that could be guys that you go to battle with at your job as far as work, whatever you do. Anybody will tell you when you go through battles or hardships with certain people it brings you a lot closer than you think. When your back’s against the wall even though it’s football, it’s life or death.”
The Cibolo, Texas, native played for Nebraska before joining the Beef. He spent five seasons with the Huskers from 2012 to 2016.
Armstrong started 44 total games in a Nebraska uniform, which marks the most in school history. He’s first in career passing yards with 8,871, completions with 625, and touchdown passes with 67. He’s also first in offensive yards with 10,690 and total touchdowns with 91.
Armstrong said the opportunity to move away from home attracted him to the Cornhusker state.
“I got to Nebraska and like a lot of college athletes always say, they get to Nebraska and the one thing that they do not realize is how much the fans mean to the state, and how much the football team means to the state, and just how much people show up,” Armstrong said. “That’s what surprised me the most. Everybody knew who I was, my stats, all that. I’m like, ‘Man, this is crazy,’ but that’s kind of what drew me to it. It wasn’t anything that was special, it was more of just I felt that home just like I did when I went to Texas for the first time.”
Throughout his Husker career, Armstrong faced a lot of adversity. He suffered a foot injury in his junior season, then missed two games as a senior do to a hamstring injury. However, he did not let the injuries deter him.
“I know a lot of people in Nebraska know me as a quarterback that played with a chip on the shoulder,” Armstrong said. “You’d have to drag me off the field at times. My coaches hate that about me, but at the same time that’s the one thing they love about me. So I think the battles is what I will remember the most.”
Since finishing his collegiate and indoor careers, Armstrong has moved back to Texas where he’s a quarterbacks coach. He said that he learned a lot from his time with the Huskers and Beef.
“I think overall, it taught me as far as post-football just how to prepare,” Armstrong said. “Nothing’s given to you in this world, everything’s earned. That’s kind of what people are dealing with now that NIL’s a thing, and the money’s been an issue. Everything is given to them without them earning it, but being by myself in an area where I was unfamiliar with it helped me become the person I was. That was a guy that earned everything he got, worked hard, didn’t complain. I was the same person throughout every single season. I never changed, would never look back and say, ‘Oh, I wish I would have done this better,’ because that’s what molded me into the coach that I am today.”
As for younger athletes that hope to play sports at a higher level, Armstrong wants them to understand the importance of putting in the work.
“The biggest thing I would always tell people is it only takes one set of eyeballs to get you to where you need to be,” Armstrong said. “It doesn’t matter the timing of it. If you keep working, you keep being persistent, you keep being consistent and you keep believing in yourself, you’re going to get noticed by somebody.”
Armstrong will be hosting a meet and greet at Hurrdat Sports Bar in La Vista on Friday. There will also be merchandise from his line available for purchase.
“I’m looking forward to hanging out with everybody without thinking about football,” Armstrong said. “A lot of times when I hang out with people I already have in my mind, ‘OK, we have a game, I know we got this going on, but I have something to prepare for.’ This is a time where I can just kick back and relax and answer questions, take pictures, just enjoy the company of fans being there.”
For more on Armstrong’s journey check out Avarie Howard’s exclusive interview.
