Steve Octavien

Octavien is of Haitian descent,[1] and attended Lely High School. He became a starter at linebacker as a sophomore. In his last 2 years he was used as a two-way player.

In his junior season, he won the state title in the discus throw and finished second as a senior. In 2003, his personal-best throw of 193-7 was the tenth-best prep mark in the nation.

Octavien enrolled at Harper College. As freshman, he posted 124 tackles (15 for loss), 8 sacks, 3 interceptions, 2 blocked field goals and one blocked punt, while contributing to a 10-1 record. In 2004, he played in only four games because of an injury.

He also was a track standout, running the second leg on the school’s 2004 national champion 4 × 400 metres relay team and winning the Division III junior college discus throw title with a mark of 164-7.

Octavien accepted a football scholarship from the University of Nebraska. In 2005, he was injured in the season opener against the University of Maine, and was lost for the year.

As a redshirt junior, he only played in 9 games after missing 4 four contests while rehabbing a leg injury. He posted 32 tackles (4 for loss), one sack, 2 passes defensed, one quarterback hurry and one forced fumble, while contributing for a defense that ranked in the top 25 nationally in scoring defense.

As a senior, he started 8 out of 12 games at Will linebacker, leading the team with 92 total tackles, 15 tackles for loss and 9 quarterback hurries. He also had 3 passes defensed and 2 sacks. He was named the team's Defensive Most Valuable Player.

Played in 22 games with 10 starts in three years at Nebraska, finishing with 128 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 21.0 ~ tackles for losses, 1 1 pressures, five breakups and a forced fumble.

His sister Dayana was a three-time track All-American in the hammer and discus throw at the University of South Florida and competed in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, 2007 Pan American Games, and the 2008 Summer Olympics.[8]

• Nebraska profile