DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Just a quick story.

It was a pick-up football game in a field between two barracks at Pensacola Naval Air Station, 1974. A bunch of sailors and a couple marines were playing tackle football with no equipment. The other team had a guy who had been a power running back in college before blowing out a knee. This was the only day in my life I had anything to do with him, yet I remember his name, Ron Paradise.

Ron was the center of their offense, they gave him the ball and he ran till we could get him down. That was usually after someone slowed him down enough for the rest of the team to catch up and tackle him. On one play, he broke through the line and suddenly I was the only one between him and the end zone. As he ran upfield, I mirrored him. I had the angle but I was no match for his power. He was going to run right over me. The moment came, I planted my feet, stiffened my body, and launched my shoulder at his waist.

IMPACT! I tackled him, a beautiful open field solo tackle. As we got up, he looked at me and said "nice tackle," and I said "thanks," but I was hiding the fact that I hurt; my shoulder, my back, my hips and my legs. I had never, and have never since, felt an impact like that.

It's 44 years later, and I still feel that impact. And I remember his name.

Good story.

You didn't strip the ball? Just kidding. Sounds like the "Winning At Your Expense Offense." LOLetc. I still think the single wing mentality lives in football today. This is its essence here.

This reminded me of my biggest hit. It also came from a backyard game of football.

It was such a destroyer type hit that immediately after my adrenalin cooled, I felt bad. I showed sportsmanship by helping the guy up and etc.

It too will be something I'll probably never forget. I just remember contact, a slight opposition in movement and then straight through with next to no break in my momentum.

Good story though. I like reading people's sports memory(s).

Ok, my biggest hit came in the 5th grade in organized football in full pads... I was a safety and read the screen pass perfectly and as the receiver was drifting toward the sidelines looking back I timed it perfectly as the ball got there.. helmet right to the chest which then slid up under the facemask and almost knocked the receiver unconscious.. it was as violent a hit as an 75 lb 5th grader can generate..

My teammates were jumping all over me, the other coach ran to the player on the field and took the helmet off.. it was a girl. Everything I did was completely legal but I still felt like absolute crap for a long time.

As a kid we played in a church yard with no pads on a regular basis. We played in a very physical manner. At that age, many of us feel invincible and the repercussions of your actions aren't always considered. I went to a very small school. As such they didn't have Pop Warner or any kind of football for kids in Elementary School.

So my first experience with organized football was as a seventh grader in Junior High School. After playing so physically without pads, strapping on that uniform to me was like wearing a suit of armor! I can't come up with one singly play or hit that stand out as "the most physical". I played both FB and ILB. Each and every down I hit everything in my path as hard as I could.

I was the guy on the team who wore down a defense and intimidated RB's. That's not to say I was some bad ass or anything. We were a very small school who payed against very small schools. In that environment I stood out. Yet at the same time, had I went to a very large school I may very well have been a marginal starter at best.

But I most certainly loved playing the sport and did play with great intensity.

Reminds me of my cousin. As a sophomore in high school, he was on the j.v. team - but j.v. and varsity practiced together - j.v. AKA Goon squad - ran the scout teams.

Cousin was all of about 5'9", 130 lbs. or so. Varsity had a guy, 5'11", about 200 lbs. Fast, quick, strong. I've never seen personally, a high school football guy that could run as low to the ground, and cut on a dime like he did. And do the dishing when contact was made. (He got a full ride to Army to play football. Started at fullback 2 years)

So, cousin is playing secondary, it's a run play (that's pretty much what our teams did back then - run the ball), he starts moving up to make a tackle as Andy - the stud back, comes through the line. Apparently, it wasn't pretty. I didn't see it, as the freshman had a different practice field.

As my cousin tells it: "I did everything exactly like I was supposed to. I was going to put my face mask to the side of his body, hit with my shoulder, wrap up, and take him down. What happened was - well, they carried me off the field.



Personal: We ran a 5-2 defense. I was the def. end/outside linebacker. 90% of the time, my job, on d, was making sure the ball didn't get outside of me. Turn everything back inside. 10% or so of the time, we'd run what we called "pinch". I'd line up in the same spot - just outside the tight end, but as soon as the ball was snapped, I was crashing the tackle/end gap.

It worked to perfection in a number of games - favorite one was, the qb was coming down the line on what we now call a read option I guess. Best hit I ever gave in my life, and I didn't even really know it. It just so happened we met right behind the tackle. Film of it was awesome.


Hardest I was hit, and survived? A 20 yard crossing pattern. Went out 20, cut hard to the inside. Pass was a little high - I went up and got it. While in the air, but coming down, the safety had timed it perfectly. He hit me hard - in the gut. Stopped my forward momentum, and knocked me backward actually. But the corner covering me was right there. It was an instant 1-2. Hit in front, knocked backwards into the corner that hit me. They both fell, and I scored.


Hardest hit I didn't survive? Freshman year - qb. Don't ever underestimate short, fat people. I was rolling out to the right, and a short ((5'8" maybe?) fat guy (250?) was trying to get me. I knew I was faster than him and he couldn't stop me from getting the corner.

I was wrong. He caught the back of my jersey, and in what I think was 1 motion, tugged backwards, stopping me in my tracks, and somehow flung me down in a nasty manner. When I woke up, the trainer was over me. I looked up at him and said "the sky is green. I see ducks" I was done for the day.

Sorry if I've told this story before - I find myself wondering that more and more lately - but what the hell, its just bandwidth. I was a smallish Center on my high school JV football team, about 5'9 at that age and 175 lbs. We were more of a basketball school when I went to West Tech HS in Cleveland (now gone), but the JV team went a respectable 5-4-1 while the Varsity won 1 or 2 games in Cleveland's West Senate. The day that sticks out, we played local powerhouse, St Ignatius. Their JV team could probably have beaten our varsity. They played a 5-2 defense, and the NT over me was a monster who probably out-weighed me by around 75 lbs. This guy started clubbing me in the head with his padded forearm the moment I snapped the ball, and it went that way all game long. My knucklehead coach insisted that I had to use two hands to snap the ball, even though I could do it with one hand. The problem was, I couldn't get my hands back up to protect myself after snapping the ball to block that forearm shiver to my forehead. Anyway, even though he pounded me all game long, I still held my own in pass blocking. But we just could not move the ball inside on running plays because their interior D-line was so big and so good. In the 4th quarter, we're down 40-8, and we call a sweep to the right. I try to get out there with the guards to lead block, but I see King Kong trailing the play down the LOS, so I peel back and hit him full force just above the knees. Guy does a full flip in the air and I remember the "OOF!" when he landed. All the sudden my head didn't hurt so much, and I saw my coaches on the sideline pointing at me, clapping as King Kong got helped off the field. Have some of that you fat bastard.

I can feel it. From the other side.

Defensive end/outside line backer - whatever you want to call it.

W.receiver split out. A sweep, to my side. I'm tracking the back - heading towards the side line. No way he's beating me, Had him dead to rights, until: The w.r. on that side came back in and in perfect form, hit me. Lifted me off the ground, and politely laid me back down, on my back. Well, actually, it wasn't politely. My head and feet kept going the direction I had been heading. But, my body stopped going that way. Consequently, my feet/legs and head made a V when my body stopped.

Nice topic. I wish I had read it earlier. The title is deceiving, but not in a bad way.

I have two because there were different outcomes.

Let me brag first:

I was a senior RB in high school and there was this dude who played DE from a school we hated. He went on to do some pretty big things in college and the pros. This was mid-1970s and he came in one play and picked up our qb from behind and pile drove him into the ground. He was talking a lot of smack.

Later, I got the ball and just so you know, my game was speed and moves. I'm not the tallest guy, but I'm pretty stout. Think Emmitt Smith or Walter Payton type of body. Well, I ran a quick 19 toss, which is just a simple pitch to the left that is designed to beat the line to LOS and then have me beat the corner w/a one-on-one move. The beast DE read the play, and was out there waiting for me. I put on all of my best Gregg Pruitt moves as if I was faking him out, he got a bit off-balance, and I trucked his ass! And kept running after he was down. I was obviously lower than him and I went full blast w/my helmet and shoulders square into right above his rib cage. Leverage is key. I can still feel that hit today.

The second hit didn't quite go so well. We were playing another conference rival when I was a sophomore and I wasn't starting on offense, but I was getting time at FS. This was back in the day when FBs were featured quite a bit. The other team had this huge farm boy at FB and he was tearing up our league. He broke through our line many times. I always took an angle and tackled him low, wrapping up his calf-to-ankle area. No problem. However, on one play.....I was guessing pass and they ran a draw. I didn't see the handoff due to the congestion and me watching their speedy receiver run a skinny post. So, big ol' country buoy is running free. Straight at me. I'm thinking......Oh blank. I dove for his knees because I wanted to get low. However, as I was diving........one of his pistons came up and drilled me the head. He went down, but only because he tripped over me. LOL. I got absolutely trucked.

Oh, and that was the first of the seven concussions I had as high school and college football player. Well, one clarification. I got one playing basketball when I was undercut going for a rebound by some turd who was pissed because I blocked his shot.