• 1990s All-Decade team
• 2000s All-Decade team

Danny Woodhead has gotten his break in the NFL and Barrett Ruud is a stalwart of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense.

Even with them, the All-Nebraska football teams of the 2000s lack the star power of the previous decade.

No Heisman Trophy winner (Eric Crouch). No All-Pro running back (Ahman Green). No national-championship quarterback (Scott Frost).

But compared to the all-decade team I compiled at the time for the 1990s, this decade's All-Nebraska team has produced one more NFL player. There are six, including Woodhead (North Platte, 2001 to 2003) and Ruud (Lincoln Southeast, 1999, 2000).

The others are Seth Olsen (Millard North, 2002, 2003), Zach Potter (Omaha Creighton Prep, 2003, 2004), Titus Adams (Prep, 1999, 2000) and Sam Koch (Seward, 2000). There also are five players still in college who could increase that number.

The All-1990s team ended up with five — Green (Omaha Central, 1993, 1994), Frost (Wood River, 1991, 1992), Trevor Johnson (Lincoln Northeast, 1998), Chris Dishman (Cozad, 1991) and Tim Ridder (Prep, 1993, 1994). Note that Crouch (Millard North (1995, 1996) signed with the St. Louis Rams, but never played in the National Football League.

The all-decade teams are a personal list of the best of the best, reflecting performance on all levels. I became keeper of the newspaper's high school sports torch in 1990, so I've followed all of these players.

How the All-2000s team breaks down:

• There are fifteen schools represented. Class A dominates, with 20 of the 24 players from the state's largest schools. Millard North, which won two Class A titles in five finals in Lincoln, leads with four selections. Lincoln Southeast has three and Omaha North, Omaha Burke, Millard West and Omaha Creighton Prep two apiece.

• The best year for talent seems to be 2001, when seven of these players were All-Nebraska. Another six made it the year before, with five apiece from the 2002 and 2006 all-state teams. The leanest year, 2008, saw only Omaha North's Ron Coleman Jr., then a junior, make it.

A look at the All-2000s team:

Wide receivers: Niles Paul of Omaha North (2006) is one of Nebraska's few big-play threats this year on offense, scoring by punt return, reception and run. Alex Gordon of Lincoln Southeast (2000, 2001) plays professional baseball.

Offensive linemen: Only Olsen is presently in the NFL. He went to the Denver Broncos from the University of Iowa.

Ricky Henry of Omaha Burke (2004, 2005) and Trevor Robinson of Elkhorn (2006, 2007) are starting, respectively, for NU and Notre Dame. Nick Leaders of Millard West (2000, 2001) was the defensive MVP for Iowa State his senior year. Zach Copple of Lincoln Southeast (2002, 2003) just finished his career at Harvard.

Quarterback: Although he's uncommitted and waiting for a Division I offer, Millard South's Bronson Marsh (2009) is regarded by many as the state's best prep quarterback since Crouch. Marsh broke Class A passing and total-offense records in his three years as the Patriots starter, leading them to the state title last month. Next in line would be Bellevue West's Silas Fluellen (2005), who just completed a record-setting career at Wayne State.

Running backs: Besides Woodhead, the best runners were David Horne of Omaha Central (2000, 2001) and quarterback John McCardle of Millard North (2001, 2002). McCardle was the only quarterback of the decade to be a two-time All-Nebraska player and played for Kansas State and UNO. Horne ran for nearly 2,900 yards his final two seasons at Central and led Northern Iowa to the 2005 Division I-AA title after transferring from NU.

Place-kicker: Burke's Alex Henery, who was listed as the 2005 punter, handled both jobs this season at NU and was the All-Big 12 second-team punter.

Defensive linemen: Prep's Adams and Potter each went on to start at Nebraska and have NFL experience. Adams, in fact, made his first pro tackles last week for the New England Patriots against Carolina. Baker Steinkuhler of Lincoln Southwest (2006, 2007) has been playing on the D-line at NU. North's Coleman (2008, 2009), like Marsh, is hoping a Division I offer comes his way. Coleman was a rare four-year starter for a Class A team.

Linebackers: Besides Ruud, the middle of this defense consists of Paul Homer of Millard North (2004, 2005) and Matt Herian of Pierce (2001). Homer recently finished his college career at Washington. Herian played tight end for NU.

Defensive backs: This foursome has Jeff Souder of Bellevue West (2004), who ended up at UNO; Sean Fisher of Millard North (2006, 2007), a Blackshirt at NU; John Levorson of Crete (2006, 2007); and Jake Dugger of Millard West (2001, 2002), who played baseball at Arkansas.

Punter: Koch is in his fourth NFL season with Baltimore after punting for NU.

As for the team of the decade, Howells stands alone. The Bobcats won seven Eight Man-1 titles, five in a row ending in 2006, and the past two. They switched to 11-man for two years because their enrollment would have made Howells ineligible for the playoffs.

Other contenders were Millard North in Class A (two titles, five finals), Crete in Class B (three titles, four finals), Wahoo Neumann in Class C-1 (two titles, four finals), Blue Hill in Class C-2 (one title, three finals) and Lindsay Holy Family in Eight Man-2 (two titles, four finals).

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