WEBVTT - The WolfCast Episode 4 - Waiting on a Crash 0:00:01.120 --> 0:00:04.640 You found the Wolf cast on Steelers Nation Radio and 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:09.879 Steelers dot Com. Defensive players are smart, yes, big grudgingly, 0:00:10.039 --> 0:00:12.760 I'll admit it, Okay, just speaking in general terms here, 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.560 most of them liked the trash talk. You know, then 0:00:15.560 --> 0:00:17.560 they're gonna come out and they're gonna attack like Genghis 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:18.800 Khan with his hair on fire. 0:00:19.040 --> 0:00:21.279 And they love it. Believe you me, they love it. 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.040 Whenever one of their nefarious blitz schemes hits home with 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:26.520 a team meeting at the quarterback and when it does, 0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:28.760 ooh baby, you're not gonna hear the end of it 0:00:28.800 --> 0:00:30.880 for the rest of the game. And if it happened 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.440 to be in a game with a say, a division rival, 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:36.040 well you'd probably hear about it in a rematch if 0:00:36.040 --> 0:00:38.159 they dropped the sack on your watch, if it was 0:00:38.240 --> 0:00:40.720 in the first go round of the year. The Browns 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:43.000 had some pretty hot rushers back in the day. You 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:46.839 know Clay Matthews, Chip Banks, Reggie Camp, the ever sneaky 0:00:46.880 --> 0:00:51.240 Bobby Golick, former Pitt Star basketball player turned football player, 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:55.040 Sam Clancy, and certainly you can't overlook the great Carl Harriston, 0:00:55.280 --> 0:00:57.400 who had the best spin move this side of Dwight 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:00.280 Freenie before anyone ever heard of Dwight Freenian. And that's 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:02.880 mainly because Dwight was only five years older so at 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.319 the time. So anyhow, what really caught me by surprise 0:01:06.400 --> 0:01:08.760 in a game with the Cleveland Browns this time around 0:01:09.240 --> 0:01:11.720 was the patience by which the Browns went about their 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.920 business on this day. Normally, the defense comes after you 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.680 hard and fast. Man, They're gonna fastball you from the 0:01:17.720 --> 0:01:20.240 get go. They're gonna throw their best at you and 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.240 get going right. But no, that's not the way it 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:26.200 went out this day. Sure, there were some defensive coordinators 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.399 who were more patient, willing to let things play out more, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:31.759 and then they'd set you up before trying to drop 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.160 a bomb on you. But for the most part, it 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:36.720 was usually a Katie bar the door attack mode coming 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:39.160 out of the locker room. Mean, it was on like 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:42.840 a furious vintage Mike Tyson first round knockout in his heyday. 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.200 So when the week run up to this game, I 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.640 had been, per usual watching an enormous amount of film 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.120 on the Brownies, you know, getting into the theater of 0:01:51.120 --> 0:01:53.400 the mind. You know, it's a huge part of pro ball. 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:56.760 You simply can't succeed at this level if you don't 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.800 put the necessary time into film study. Not part of 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:04.120 that study is to familiarize yourself with the opponent's tendencies 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:08.040 and peculiarities, what their go to rush is and who's 0:02:08.400 --> 0:02:12.440 involved personnel wise. And then you have basic past you 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.160 have basic pass pro rules to be able to pick 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:18.400 up the various stunts and blitzes of an opponent. This 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:21.160 was how it worked. The twist stunts that happened right 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.760 away were handled in a zone concept. Twists that were 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:27.840 delayed were handled man on man, no passing off a 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.320 rusher like on the quick twists. See, you got to 0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:32.040 have a plan, you got to work the plan, and 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.880 you got to stick with the plan and hopefully that 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:38.480 plan comes together. Just like one of my favorite television 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.040 shows back in the eighties, you know, the A Team 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.520 starring George Papard as Hannibal and mister t has Ba Barracas. 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:48.680 I love that the show always had that poignant moment 0:02:48.880 --> 0:02:51.560 where a gritting prepared would look into the camera and say, 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.920 I love when a plan comes together, over and over again. 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.239 I kept studying the opponent's schemes in the alarming rate 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.040 at which the Browns, they'd be running that banging me 0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:03.520 game and get home with it. And if they didn't 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.280 get the sack the fender bender that the guy playing 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.040 my position and the other teams I was watching would 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:09.760 get destroyed. 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.600 So it shouldn't surprise you when I tell you. 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.680 That a high level of anxiety started building early in 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:19.120 the prep week, along with a very conscious notation to 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:23.720 prepare for this particular stunt. Also to be concerned with, 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.320 over and above the lethal human land minds awaiting me 0:03:26.800 --> 0:03:30.240 was the individual characteristics and preferences of the players that 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.320 I knew I'd be locking horns with. For instance, no 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:36.320 stackle Bobby Gollick. Now he's shorter in stature than say 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:39.800 a Carl Harriston or certainly Sam Clancy, but he had 0:03:39.800 --> 0:03:43.120 a wrestling background. This dude had great body balance, with 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.840 a real solid base. He would lock up with you 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:47.880 and try to off balance you, try to get on 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.680 your edge rather trying than coming down the middle of you. 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:52.760 And he was a good hand fighter. He was always 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:55.440 trying to get an inside hand position. At the other 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.360 end of the spectrum was defensive end. Carl Harriston, he 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.080 of the pre fiend. He spin technique. He'd throw an 0:04:01.120 --> 0:04:04.120 uppercut and then try to lift or uproot you and 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:07.400 try to get his hip alongside yours like a judoka. 0:04:07.520 --> 0:04:10.160 You know, a judo student. You know, they're very good 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:12.960 at throwing those hip throws like oh goshi, all right, 0:04:13.000 --> 0:04:14.280 So you got to get that hip along there, and 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:16.000 you uproot them and woom, you throw them. 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:16.440 Well. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:20.039 After getting you to overplay his uprooting uppercut, he'd spin 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:22.400 and you'd be left swatting at air, wondering where the 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:25.039 heck he went. If you didn't, if you didn't punch 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.440 his hip with your free hand, it was sack city, 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:31.080 to be sure. Harrison had the uproot spin technique down 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:33.840 pat and he had such a tight spin you were 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.760 in trouble if he got that inside leverage. As we 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:38.760 used to say back in the day, this dude could 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.560 spin in a three quart bucket. Game day in old 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:45.680 Cleveland Municipal Stadium, which otherwise was known as the Mistake 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:48.680 on the Lake and the predecessor to the present day 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:52.680 Cleveland Brown Stadium, suitably dubbed the Factory of Sadness, was 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.960 a typical unsunny day in Cleveland. I've played in Cleveland 0:04:56.040 --> 0:04:58.279 during my career at least a dozen times, and when 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.280 you add another nearly two dozen trips as a broadcaster, 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.880 I encount on one hand the number of sunny days 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:06.640 we've ever had on a game day. Schmutze was the 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.560 typical weather forecast that we seemed to play in. Joe DiNardo, 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:14.240 the old beloved Pittsburgh TV weathermen, would call it Bertley cloudy. 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:16.960 The sky was alternately dark and gray on this day, 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:19.520 with periods of rain making the turf nice and muddy. 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.200 You know, just a regular Cleveland type day, if you will. Now, 0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:25.800 while watching a lot of film, the stunt that emerged 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:28.640 from the Brown scouting report was a delayed twist stunt, what. 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:29.760 We used to call me game. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:32.599 With the defensive end going up the field, he'd plan 0:05:32.680 --> 0:05:35.400 on his outside foot go hard inside a ninety degree 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.840 angle to try to earhole the guard on that side, 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.360 which of course would be me in this case, and 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.520 that was their favorite pass rush, that was their go to. 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.599 The defensive end would try to literally try to t 0:05:45.760 --> 0:05:48.000 bone me, and to do that, it was all about 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:50.560 the setup, which was in the purview of the defensive 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.760 tackle playing over me. Now, the key to this twist 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.240 stunt was in identifying what the defensive tackle rushing me 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.840 was doing. If he just bull rushed me, you know, 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.839 trying to run down the middle of me, that was 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:03.239 telling me there's no stunt coming. 0:06:03.520 --> 0:06:06.080 Kad zookes. That's easy, That's like hitting easy button. 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.400 That was why he did all those squats with manhole 0:06:08.480 --> 0:06:11.000 covered sized weights. Stack down a bar bell in the 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.039 off season. Get your squat monster on, take on that 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.960 bull rush, and use all that hamhock strength you're built 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:19.279 up in the off season to shut down the rusher, 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:22.480 you know stuff, I'm dead in his tracks. But if 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:25.320 he started to shake, rattle and roll or docy doe, 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:28.680 which meaning he's throwing head fakes, he's throwing shoulder fakes, 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.039 he's trying to dead leg you, you know, throwing a 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.479 hesitation step type brush just prior to contact, I knew 0:06:34.520 --> 0:06:36.560 he was just setting me up for a kills shot. 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.040 Him trying to occupy me without coming into contact was 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.640 the trigger that told me that the dastardly delayed banging 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:46.400 freaking me game was imminent. And I don't want to 0:06:46.400 --> 0:06:48.919 say that twice, And if it hit home, I was 0:06:48.960 --> 0:06:50.800 in danger of being at the point of attack at 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.880 the very least or depending on the offensive tackle playing 0:06:53.960 --> 0:06:56.920 next to me, about to be separated from some brain 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:59.600 cells for a period of time because the defensive ends 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:03.279 screaming and towards my blindside was humming, hostile, and full 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:06.760 of bad vibes and intentions, And so it was. On 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:10.400 every obvious pass rush situation in the first half, I 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:13.400 was on a def Con five alert status, you betcha. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:15.440 I was determined not to end up like a hood 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.040 ornament or be featured on the nineteen eighty five Cleveland 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:22.559 Browns pass rush Real look, getting caught blindsided by someone 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.760 at a full gallop that was anywhere from two hundred 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.040 and seventy five to three hundred pounds, I believe you me, 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:29.840 that was gonna hurt a lot. But even more so, 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.520 giving up a sack to the Cleveland Nights and having 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:35.000 to face Chuck Nole chin to chin in a post 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.840 sack sideline soiree was even a more daunting thought than 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:42.160 getting concussed. After all, a concussion is nothing more than 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:43.880 a party in your head for a little while. And 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.560 don't hit me with being insensitive about concussions. They're my concussions. 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:49.640 You're free to describe your own in your own way. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.160 And so it was all through the first half, pass 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:55.320 rush by pass rush, I kept waiting for the banging 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:57.720 me game to come at me. With every rush that 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:00.080 it didn't come, I knew it had to be the 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.000 next rush that they throw it at me. Then, Yet, 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:06.480 series by series, play by play, quarter by quarter, no go. 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:10.280 It was driving me crazy, frustrating really, because the stunt 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:14.120 was so potentially injurious that the built up anxiety and 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:16.320 expectations that I had gone to the game with was 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:19.160 kind of gurglating within me. So halftime came and went. 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.320 We trooped down the tunnel from Cleveland's visiting locker room, 0:08:22.600 --> 0:08:26.120 which was nothing more than an oversized closet, oh my goodness, 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:28.600 And actually it was designed for a baseball team, as 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.360 a Cleveland Stadium was a dual purpose football baseball stadium 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.720 back in the day. As I was standing in that 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:37.240 tunnel waiting to climbing a couple of steps out of 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.400 the dugout, I remember an unpleasant spell wafted it up 0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.360 to my nostrils. Apparently, when the baseball players were in 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.920 need of relieving themselves, they didn't bother walking all the 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:49.000 way to the locker room. It seems the tunnel we 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:52.120 were standing and sufficed. Now after hitting the field, I 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.720 made my way across the visiting team sidelines the bench 0:08:54.760 --> 0:08:57.200 area to get the blood flowing for the second half. 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.080 I was acutely aware that the Browns hadn't come out 0:09:00.120 --> 0:09:02.880 me with their version of the infamous banging me game. 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:04.240 Now I smelled a rat. 0:09:04.240 --> 0:09:06.959 To be sure, I kept reminding myself of the top 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:10.280 trigger keys to the Browns blitz game. Sure enough, right 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:12.800 out of the gate, on the first obvious third down 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:16.120 passing situation that we ran into in the first drive 0:09:16.120 --> 0:09:19.240 of the second half, Oh here it comes, the defensive 0:09:19.280 --> 0:09:22.560 tackle over me. Unlike the first half pass rushes started 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.120 giving me the oul hypnotic eye. He came at me 0:09:25.200 --> 0:09:27.679 using a head fake, a body fake, a non rhythmic 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:30.680 pass rush that resembled a cobra giving its probably a 0:09:30.720 --> 0:09:34.760 hypnotic ster before striking. Oh yeah, lookout, because the bomb 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.440 was about to drop on yours truly. Now, the whole 0:09:37.480 --> 0:09:41.040 week of preparation came together in a nano instant. All 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:44.439 the film, watching all the mental gymnastics I'd done, having 0:09:44.480 --> 0:09:47.079 my head stuck in the playbook all week long, made 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:48.400 what happened next possible. 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:50.000 As soon as. 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:52.920 I identified the rush, I quickly gave ground to assess 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.839 what the tackle next to me was doing. Pete Roustoski, 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.240 a converted defensive lineman who made the jumped offensive tackle, 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:02.160 was lock and mortal combat with the heat seeking coming 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:05.760 at my blind side human missile wearing Browns colors. Now 0:10:05.760 --> 0:10:08.000 I had a choice give even more ground and come 0:10:08.040 --> 0:10:10.280 behind Pete and pick up the defensive tackle over me. 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:12.920 Who would be the trailer on a twist stunt, or 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:15.640 we would exchange roles and I would take Pete's man 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.120 and he would take mine. Now, according to pass pro rules, 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.120 because it was a delayed stunt, it should have been 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.360 staying manned to man. But because I was so jacked 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.640 and so tuned into the bang and me game coming 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.120 at me, I broke the rules. So pent up with 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.480 aggression from a week's worth of watching film and fending 0:10:32.520 --> 0:10:35.360 off teammates trying to emulate the blind side shots that 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:37.760 the Browns were trying to hit me with, I didn't wait, baby, 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.280 I turned, I exploded, and like a heat seeking missile 0:10:40.320 --> 0:10:42.920 my own self, I speared that defensive end as he 0:10:42.960 --> 0:10:45.840 tried to crash my blind side. I kid you not. 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.160 I drilled the dude headfirst to the midsection or more 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.440 likely the groin area. But I will tell you this, 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:53.760 it was a wicked shot. We went down into a 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:56.760 huge pile of humanity with arms and legs all tangled 0:10:56.800 --> 0:10:59.120 up and bodies stacking up like a bunch of cars 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.600 would after a fe under bender and the fok pit tunnels. 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:03.360 I was ecstatic, man. 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.680 I jumped to my feet, with testosterone and adrenaline pumping 0:11:06.679 --> 0:11:09.760 through my veins mixing together, creating a potent mixture of 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:14.480 ferocity and intensity that surprised even me. I stood triumphantly 0:11:14.800 --> 0:11:17.400 over the pile that contained the guy that wanted to 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:19.920 t bone me. He lay at my feet, clutching his 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:23.960 recently spirit abdominal groin area, obviously in pain. I was 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:25.720 half out of my mind, and when I pointed him, 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.839 I screamed, I've been waiting for you all game long. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.480 My pony had just groaned and rolled over, wait for 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:34.040 the traders come out and attend to him. 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:36.480 I continued to platherway. 0:11:35.840 --> 0:11:38.720 At the noile, not feeling too well defensive end who 0:11:38.840 --> 0:11:41.480 just moments before was ready to play rock them sock 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:42.800 them robots with my head. 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:45.559 Now, it's not often you get to turn the tables 0:11:45.559 --> 0:11:46.559 down a ponent like that. 0:11:46.840 --> 0:11:49.080 And apparently I was in the midst of having an 0:11:49.120 --> 0:11:51.280 out of body experience, and I couldn't seem to zip 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:53.920 my big yapper and go back to the huddle. So 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.520 Pete Rosowsky's walking by me on his way back to 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:58.800 the huddle, he quizzically looked at me as if I 0:11:58.840 --> 0:11:59.560 had three heads. 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:01.240 I wasn't one to trash talk. 0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:03.800 Everybody knew that, and I think Pete was concerned I'd 0:12:03.840 --> 0:12:07.720 lost my marbles. Mike Webster was laughing. Tounch Ilkin, normally 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.719 the trash talker of the offensive line, started laughing as 0:12:10.720 --> 0:12:14.360 I continued to shoot my bazoo off. Yeah, the whole 0:12:14.360 --> 0:12:17.920 week of watching film, taking notes, studying the scouting report, 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:20.840 and getting extra reps on the practice field while doing 0:12:20.840 --> 0:12:25.160 the necessary mental gymnastics at night made the whole week worthwhile. 0:12:25.160 --> 0:12:30.960 At this moment, I love when a plan comes together. Well, 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:33.280 I'm Craig Wofully and this is the Wolf Cast. And 0:12:33.400 --> 0:12:36.080 remember I never let facts stand the way of a 0:12:36.080 --> 0:12:36.760 good story.