Nebraska player proposes to cheerleader girlfriend after scoring first TD a year after they met at church

A strange college football tradition that dates back to 2007 continued on Saturday in Lincoln, where Nebraska tight end Luke Lindenmeyer dramatically proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after scoring his first touchdown in a blowout win over Akron.

'Luke Lindenmeyer at the very end proposed to his girlfriend, I'm so embarrassed, I don't know her name, but she's a lovely young lady and she's a Scarlet and he proposed and she said yes,' Cornhuskers coach Matt Rhule said after the 66-0 win. 'Excited for him.'

Her name, it turns out, is Kailyn Storovich, and by 'Scarlet,' Rhule was indicating that she's a Nebraska student. And not only is she enrolled at the school, but Storovich is a Nebraska native and member of the Cornhuskers spirit squad.

The plan had been in the works, as revealed in video recorded before and during the proposal by Nebraska's social media team.

'I'm so nervous,' the smiling Lindenmeyer told Rhule at the beginning of the clip, which was filmed in the moments after the final gun in Lincoln. 

'You'll do a great job,' Rhule said.

Not everything Lindenmeyer said to Storovich is heard in the clip, but the tight end and fellow Nebraska native does tell his girlfriend that he 'couldn't think of a better place to do this.'

After telling Storovich he wants to 'spend the rest' of his life with her, Lindenmeyer got down on one knee and revealed a ring as teammates and cheerleaders applauded.

The stunned Storovich had her back to the camera, but could be seen moving her hands to her mouth in amazement before nodding 'yes.'

The two then embraced, kissed and quickly inspected the ring together.

Lindenmeyer was called on by his teammates to give a speech, and he quickly obliged.

'This is the love of my life right here,' he said.

At that point the cheer squad circled around Storovich while Lindenmeyer slipped off into the arms of his family members.

'First congratulations to Luke Lindenmeyer, my man is going to be a husband and a father hopefully one day,' quarterback Dylan Raiola told reporters afterwards. 'That was cool, I've never seen that before. That was a touching moment for sure.'

Lindenmeyer caught three passes for 44 yards and his first college touchdown against Akron on Saturday. The former walk-on is now the Cornhuskers' starting tight end as a redshirt junior.

The couple met at Nebraska's home stadium a year earlier when Lindenmeyer noticed Storovich before building up the courage to introduce himself at church.

'The field, that's where I first saw her, that's when I first saw her face,' he told reporters afterwards. 'And then got to meet her at church and just getting to know her I fell in love with her.'

The proposal comes one week after the Cornhuskers beat the University of Cincinnati in front of another newly engaged couple: Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.  

As for the planned proposal, Lindenmeyer said that began to snowball when Rhule mentioned something to his teammates.

'I didn't really tell the whole team, I just told a couple of guys,' Lindenmeyer said. 'And then Coach [Matt] Rhule said something about it yesterday and the whole team they were just standing there. It was just awesome. Her family was there too. It was great.'

Nebraska (2-0) now prepares to face Houston Christian next week as the 6-foot-3 tight end and his cheerleader fiancée prepare for their new life together.

The couple is not the first to get engaged on a college football field.

Boise State running back Ian Johnson famously proposed to his cheerleader girlfriend after scoring the winning touchdown in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl against favorited Oklahoma.

Since then, a number of other players have gotten engaged on the field, such as Rhode Island's Patrick Conserve last season and Florida State's Brady Scott, who made his proposal after a dramatic loss to Jacksonville State in 2021.