Meet Banks Floodman. Senior citizen Banks. Old Man Floodman.

He’s the only current Kansas University football player to see the field during the Terry Allen era, which wrapped up in 2001. That alone officially qualifies him for endless jokes about gray hair, sore joints and social-security checks.

Yet hardly anyone takes advantage and goes to work on Ol’ Banks, despite the huge bull’s-eye on his 43-year-old – sorry, 23-year old – body.

Are his teammates missing a delicious opportunity here? Why no teasing?

“It’s probably because of how he is,” KU linebacker coach Dave Doeren said. “He acts like a damn kid sometimes.”

Yeah, that’d do it. It’s hard to tease someone about his age when he does a great job imitating your little brother.

Floodman, a Wichita native, is a third of the Big Three – three senior linebackers who bust their tails on the field and act like complete opposites off of it.

Linebackers, from left, Banks Floodman, Kevin Kane and Nick Reid have helped turn Kansas University's football defense from porous to potent. The three seniors share a few common bonds that make them friends off the field - and one of the best linebacking corps in the Big 12 Conference on it.

Senior-citizen Banks is king of one-liners, can cut through tension like a razor blade when the time is right and isn’t afraid to make fun of anyone – including himself.

“He’s not a class clown. He doesn’t come in there looking to make jokes,” Doeren said. “But he is the guy that keeps everything on even-keel. He’s real good at lighting up the room.”

If anybody knows anything about Old Man Floodman, it’s Nick Reid and Kevin Kane, two other homegrown linebackers with the drive, instincts and intellect that have come together to make KU’s linebacking unit one of the best in the Big 12 Conference – and maybe even one of the best in Jayhawk history.

Even more special are their local ties; all are from Kansas or the Kansas City metro area. It’s a bond that has attracted opposites to a close friendship and that has made them work even better as a dangerous unit on the football field.

“Being local guys makes it personal for them as far as wanting to turn the program around,” Doeren said. “They have the same kind of local pressure. That brings them closer together.”

Crucial chemistry

Meet Nick Reid. The best athlete of the three, the one with the most realistic NFL aspirations and a former three-sport standout at Derby High who was courted by some schools to be a decathlete.

Don’t expect him to tell you how good he is, though. Reid is a guy who would prefer to knock the snot out of someone and continue on, rather than stop and tell reporters how he did it.

Not that he’s not cordial and accommodating to the scribes and throats. He just doesn’t bask in the media’s glow like some do. When the work on the football field is done, Reid would prefer to go home to the place he shares with Kane and be the exact opposite of what he is on the field.

“He’s kind of laid-back,” Kane said. “He likes his television, his couch and his candy. That’s about it.”

Fortunately for KU, life doesn’t always imitate football. Reid actually is as intense as they get on the field, and such an approach has helped him rack up 242 tackles in his last two seasons – not bad for a guy recruited to KU as a quarterback.

“He is a leader of this team,” KU coach Mark Mangino said. “Everybody likes him, but don’t fool with him, because he’s a tough customer.”

Reid has said as much himself. When asked what the three seniors will do to bring the younger players along, he wasn’t exactly nice about things.

“If they’re not coming along, we’re going to grab them and make them come along,” Reid said. “We won’t let them not be good.”

Mangino and Doeren do what they can to develop the new wave of talent at linebacker. Freshmen Joe Mortensen, Mike Rivera and Brandon Duncan may be earmarked as the future of the unit.

But an experienced corps can do as much good off the field as mentors than on the field as athletes. Those close to the situation notice as much with KU’s Big Three.

“We have a lot of great leaders like Kevin Kane and Nick Reid,” said Eric Washington, another newcomer at linebacker. “A lot of the young guys are growing up fast because our leaders are so good.”

So what do they teach? Reading offenses? Sure. Wrapping up some of the best talents in the country? They’d know how. Some little nuances to enhance pass coverage? Probably.

But maybe the most important lessons aren’t so technical, like learning to be tough.

Last year, Reid played the end of the season with a damaged knee that required surgery. Two years ago, doctors noticed before the Tangerine Bowl that Reid’s ankle slowly was starting to break. As a result, Reid played against North Carolina State with a screw protruding from his foot, wrapped in gauze and taped up. Reid registered seven tackles, and after the game doctors took the screw out.

Reid shrugged when asked what kind of pain it caused, saying, “It hurt a little, but it’s part of the game.”

Such sacrifice, coupled with Reid’s performance the last two seasons, has caught the attention of his peers.

“He’s proven it the last two years,” Kane said. “He’s the best linebacker in the Big 12 as far as I’m concerned.”

Historically speaking

Meet Kevin Kane. No words can do him justice.

He’s the smallest of the three, the slowest of the three and the one who had to fight hardest to see the field beyond special-team duties early in his career. A graduate of Kansas City (Mo.) Rockhurst High, he has heard jeers of his Jayhawk allegiance from every direction back home.

Kane’s personality? One-of-a-kind. He described the color of the new goalposts at Memorial Stadium as a “vibrant” yellow last season, claims he loves cold weather because he’s not a fan of sweating and is a member of an online social group at the trendy Web site thefacebook.com called “I Trip and Fall Like It’s My Job (Kansas Chapter).”

Call him a bit of a clown and you wouldn’t be completely wrong. But there’s a time and a place, and the football field isn’t where you’ll find it.

“I don’t remember once ever having to say anything to Kevin about hustling, finishing a play, going to the whistle,” Mangino said. “He does it all the time.”

Several other comments about Floodman and Reid point to the same trait: Though one-liners are blurted, M&M’s are devoured and quirky observations are documented, the three linebackers unite to bring a competitiveness to the field that was instrumental in turning KU’s defense from porous to potent in a short amount of time.

That’s why their place in KU football history is intriguing, to say the least.

There are certain Jayhawk units that stand out over time as being special.

The 1968 team had a remarkable backfield, with quarterback Bobby Douglass and fullback John Riggins leading KU to the Orange Bowl.

The 1992 team featured a big, talented defensive line led by Dana Stubblefield, Gilbert Brown and Chris Maumalanga, all of whom went on to have NFL careers.

Whether this year’s linebackers leave a similar legacy is strictly in the hands of the future. It’s unlikely Reid, Floodman and Kane are bound have the professional success that the 1992 defensive line had.

Leading the 2005 team to the success the ’68 squad had would be a monster task.

And none of them will come close to any sort of school record for tackles (former Jayhawk Willie Pless has marks well out of reach).

But their story is one that certainly has unforgettable attributes, nonetheless. Homegrown players always are more endearing, four-year letter-winners are easier to recall, and the trio’s success on the field – and personalities off it – have Jayhawk fans loving their 2005 linebackers.

Over the years, it seems the three have grown to love one another, as well.

“We’re always looking out for each other, and we’re all good friends,” Kane said. “It’ll definitely help us out because we don’t want to let each other down.”