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Speaker 1: This is Seahawks Stories fiftieth season edition presented by Emerald

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Speaker 1: City Athletics.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another edition of the Seahawks Stories fiftieth season edition.

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Speaker 2: I'm Paul Moyer along with Dave Wyman, and we're going

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Speaker 2: to during this edition talk about one of the great

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Speaker 2: coaches of all time, a guy named Rusty Tillman, the

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Speaker 2: late great Rusty Tillman, who passed just a couple of

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Speaker 2: years ago from us. For those who don't know Russy,

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Speaker 2: and I mean, this guy's actually the longest tenured Seahawks

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Speaker 2: coach in history. Rusty spent sixteen years with this franchise.

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Speaker 2: He died at age seventy five, but he is known

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Speaker 2: as one of the greatest special team coaches and players

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Speaker 2: of all time. He played eight seasons for the Washington

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Speaker 2: at the time Redskins. He was known for the flying

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Speaker 2: Wedge where he would run down on the kickoff and

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Speaker 2: it's legendary. You go, when I go to Washington, d

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Speaker 2: see people still know who Rusty Tillman is. That's of

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Speaker 2: a legend. He is there and he would run and

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Speaker 2: there's film on it. You can go and google that

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Speaker 2: or or search it somewhere. Or he would run down

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Speaker 2: and he would just throw his body sideways at the wedge.

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Speaker 2: By the way, back then, you used to take two

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Speaker 2: or three guys on a kickoff return, wedge them together

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Speaker 2: and run up field. They don't allow that anymore. Again,

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Speaker 2: can't do that wedge because of safety. But he was

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Speaker 2: known as a kamikaze type of special teamer, and he

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Speaker 2: went in transition from the Redskins as a player, became

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Speaker 2: an assistant coach special team coach under Jack Buttera in

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Speaker 2: the early years of the Seattle Seahawks. And when I

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Speaker 2: say one of the great great motivators, great motivators, Rusty

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Speaker 2: was truly an innovative special team coach. Loved it, breathed it.

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Speaker 2: It meant so much to him. He made sure and

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Speaker 2: Chuck Knox and any of the other head coaches he

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Speaker 2: was under, that special teams weren't lip service. It was

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Speaker 2: as important as being a starter on offense and defense.

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Speaker 2: Special teams was twenty eight percent of the plays. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he would go through everything on that. And Russy was

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Speaker 2: the first coach I ever met, maybe second coach, but

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Speaker 2: in the NFL, he was the first one that really

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Speaker 2: emphasized I am going to allow you to be the

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Speaker 2: best you can be, and I am going to praise

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Speaker 2: you for it. I'm gonna, by the way, you have

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Speaker 2: a job to do. I'm going to coach this up

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Speaker 2: and you got to do it this way. But I'm

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Speaker 2: going to give you free latitude. A guy like Fred

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Speaker 2: Young that if you want instead of being outside leverage

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Speaker 2: on a kickoff and want to come inside a block,

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Speaker 2: you can do that as long as you make the play.

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Speaker 2: But if you don't make the play, you're wrong. But

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Speaker 2: I want to give you enough freedom that if you

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Speaker 2: feel you can make it, to make it. He was

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Speaker 2: a big believer that there are just some guys who

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Speaker 2: just have that knack for it. Me, I'm like, eh,

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Speaker 2: I'm a follow the rules, right, I'm like, and I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure i can make that play. And because I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure, I'm gonna stay outside. But there was I mean,

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Speaker 2: there were some great special team guys. Started to meet

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Speaker 2: with Donnie Dufat way back when you had Rufus Porter,

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Speaker 2: you had Fred Young. I mean, these are all Pro

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Speaker 2: Bowl special team guys, great special team returners, Bobby Joe Edmonds,

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Speaker 2: you know Paul Johns who we played with as well.

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Speaker 2: He was he was he was truly one of the best.

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Speaker 2: Here's what I will say. It didn't transaction transition as

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Speaker 2: well to being a defensive coordinator. And this is where

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Speaker 2: I tell people all the time, I go find what

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Speaker 2: you do really well. You know, there's some guys who

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Speaker 2: aren't head coach material, some guys who aren't defensive coordinator material,

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Speaker 2: some guys aren't even positioned coach material. But Rusty was

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Speaker 2: built and designed to be a special team coach because

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Speaker 2: he was a head coach for his positions, he didn't

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Speaker 2: have other coaches that he had to bring in. And

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Speaker 2: as a defensive coordinator, I got to get defensive line coach,

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Speaker 2: a linebacker coach, the outside linebacker coach, secondary coach, safety coach,

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Speaker 2: corner coach, that all these guys to buy into what

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Speaker 2: I'm trying to create as a defensive coordinator. As a

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Speaker 2: special team coach, Rusty he was you know, the judge

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Speaker 2: and jury on that. And he had great designs and

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Speaker 2: he motivated people, and he demanded that starter's play special teams.

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Speaker 2: You didn't get time off. And I thought he created

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Speaker 2: an environment, Dave, where if you were a starter, you

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Speaker 2: wanted to play special teams. I remember one of the

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Speaker 2: I got to be the special team captain in nineteen

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Speaker 2: eighty seven, and I was an honor, you know, for

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Speaker 2: Rusty to take you to be a special team captain

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Speaker 2: when it was so important to him. That was that

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Speaker 2: was really meaningful. And he mentored me as a coach. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: he's really one of the one of the great coaches.

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Speaker 2: You will tell some stories about him though you came

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Speaker 2: from a little bit different angle and that he was

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Speaker 2: your linebacker coach too.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, and actually he's the guy that worked me

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Speaker 1: out at Stanford and so and you know, he he

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Speaker 1: sort of pounded the table for me that, like I said,

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Speaker 1: there was a lot of teams that weren't gonna gonna

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Speaker 1: coach me. But but yeah, and then and he was

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Speaker 1: real friendly until I ran down on my first kickoff

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Speaker 1: in preseason and he screams out in front of the

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Speaker 1: entire team. My grandmother could cover kicks better than this,

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Speaker 1: you know. And here I was the second round draft choice,

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Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, okay, I guess we're not

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Speaker 1: friends anymore. No, he would and it was so interesting

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Speaker 1: what he did with like do you remember the rat

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Speaker 1: Patrol T shirt? Yes, Like how many huge NFL teams

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Speaker 1: had a T shirt commemorating their special teams. And you

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Speaker 1: know RAT stood for Rusty Andrew I think Tillman. His

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Speaker 1: middle name was you know, A. So it was the

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Speaker 1: Rat Patrol.

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Speaker 2: Okay, that's it. I didn't even know why they called

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Speaker 2: it Rat Patrol.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, there was. Actually we had a girl that

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Speaker 1: worked at the at the station that had one of

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Speaker 1: those T shirts. And Rusty was all about like promoting things,

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Speaker 1: and you know, he just he tried to He made

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Speaker 1: everything bigger and like sexier, and you know, it was

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Speaker 1: just like it like it was sexy to be on

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Speaker 1: you know, the special teams. And remember the Fred Young

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Speaker 1: where you know, he runs down and I can't remember

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Speaker 1: the player where he just head butts the guy and

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Speaker 1: just knocks him out, and you know, and Rusty would

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Speaker 1: play that over and over and over again. But one

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Speaker 1: of the funniest things to two things. One one with

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Speaker 1: Rusty was when he was linebacker coach. We we were

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Speaker 1: having you know, pass rush against the offensive line. A

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Speaker 1: guy named Marcus Cotton, know if you remember, and he

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Speaker 1: gets in a fight with Andy Heck. Okay, and Andy

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Speaker 1: Heck's a first round draft choice. So what Marcus does

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Speaker 1: and you know most of us and I know me

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Speaker 1: just at Meathead just starts, you know, throwing fit and hitting,

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Speaker 1: you know, a helmet and everything. Marcus Cotton grabbed Andy

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Speaker 1: Heck's face mask, pulled it out and then hit him

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Speaker 1: with an uppercut in the chin and just dropped him.

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Speaker 1: And Rusty put that on. And we had like a

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Speaker 1: fifteen minute during double days, we had like a fifteen

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Speaker 1: minute meeting that was all that, Like just that one

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Speaker 1: clip of Marcus dropping Andy Heck and he's like, this

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Speaker 1: is how you fight, and you know, and he just

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Speaker 1: went on and he was talking about his technique and

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Speaker 1: grabbing the face mask and why you shouldn't hit him

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Speaker 1: and the I mean, it was just and he was like,

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Speaker 1: all right, guys, that's it. That's all I got for

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Speaker 1: you tonight. So I mean he would He would do

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Speaker 1: that a lot of times. You would have very unique

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Speaker 1: type of meetings. One of them was I remember he

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Speaker 1: told us this, he goes, don't get held. If you

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Speaker 1: get held, it's your fault, Okay, So I don't care

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Speaker 1: if you kick the guy in the nuts. I want

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Speaker 1: I don't want any of my guys getting held. We

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Speaker 1: had a linebacker named Joe Caine, who took that literally,

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Speaker 1: and that was another one. It was the funniest moment.

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Speaker 2: We were we were dying ever in a film room.

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Speaker 1: Ever. So you see and Rusty's like, Okay, this is

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Speaker 1: my favorite plan. I think it was maybe the only

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Speaker 1: one he showed. And he's like, and so we kind

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Speaker 1: of saw it from like the end zone, and so

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Speaker 1: you could see the guy and he's holding Joe Caine,

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Speaker 1: and all of a sudden you see Joe's foot come up,

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Speaker 1: you know, from the other side. He's kicking the guy

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Speaker 1: in the nuts. And we played that over and over

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Speaker 1: and over again, and it was just the most hilarious

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Speaker 1: thing I've ever seen because Joe was like, he told me,

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Speaker 1: you know.

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Speaker 2: Well, I kicked him like five times. So the guy

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Speaker 2: finally let go, and what Rusty would say, he goes,

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Speaker 2: it's not a sin to be held, it's an it's

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Speaker 2: a sin to stay held.

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Speaker 1: And so you have to.

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Speaker 2: There's no excuse if they're not going to throw flag.

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Speaker 2: You have to find a way to get away from

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Speaker 2: this because that means kicking him, right and they grow

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Speaker 2: you do it, and he did, and it is It

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Speaker 2: was hysterical because it was wam wham. Finally the guy

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Speaker 2: dropped his hands.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, sure enough, it worked. And then there was a

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Speaker 1: I can't remember the guy's name. It was a couple

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Speaker 1: of weeks later we played the Steelers and his name

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Speaker 1: was Jerry Oh. He's this tough little linebacker that was

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Speaker 1: on special teams. And so Joe did it again and

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Speaker 1: uh and Jerry Oh says to him, hey man, that

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Speaker 1: ain't gonna work on me. And so, yeah, that one

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Speaker 1: was where but I remember one of them, and I

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Speaker 1: think it was Jerry. I think his name is O'Connell.

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Speaker 1: He they had like a nut kicking contest, so Joe

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Speaker 1: kicked him and then, you know, and then the other

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Speaker 1: guy tried to kick Joe and Joe like turned his hips,

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Speaker 1: you know, which was really comical to see. Yeah, and

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Speaker 1: it just went back and forth, and I guess the

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Speaker 1: guy told him, hey man, that stuff's not I saw

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Speaker 1: what you did on film. That's not working on me.

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Speaker 1: So we started calling him iron nuts Jerry or something

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Speaker 1: like that. But yeah, it was just, you know, he

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Speaker 1: took it literally, and Rusty could not have been more

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Speaker 1: delighted by Joe doing that. And I don't know if

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Speaker 1: anybody got a penalty. They probably didn't catch it or whatever,

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Speaker 1: but it was one of the funniest moments ever in

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Speaker 1: a meeting. But Rusty was like, yeah, I mean, there

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Speaker 1: you go, get it done. So he just he wasn't

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Speaker 1: He was very unconventional and he just did having been

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Speaker 1: a player. And by the way, you talk about the

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Speaker 1: wedgebuster thing, I think he called that the horizontal mambo

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Speaker 1: and somebody tried to do that one time and it

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Speaker 1: was a mess. I mean he ended up getting hurt

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Speaker 1: and everything. But yeah, Rusty talking about taking out the wedge. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and then you know, I think the other thing he

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Speaker 1: would do, like he would do a flying forty so

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Speaker 1: and that would be you know, time a guy who

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Speaker 1: is already on the run, because that's what you had

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Speaker 1: a kickoff. You know, your line up ten yards back,

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Speaker 1: and by the time you get to where the ball's

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Speaker 1: being kicked the forty yard line or whatever it was,

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Speaker 1: you know, it would you'd be at full speed. And

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Speaker 1: Rufus had this ridiculous I mean I remember him forcing

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Speaker 1: a kickoff return at the five yard line. That's how

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Speaker 1: fast Rufus was. I mean, some guys, you know, and

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Speaker 1: I don't know that he ran a great forty or anything,

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Speaker 1: but his flying forty was like superior, Like it was

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Speaker 1: the best in the NFL.

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Speaker 2: Yeah he was, you know, he created those things, and yeah,

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Speaker 2: he would praise you for for those type of things.

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Speaker 2: I remember one time we were playing Denver and it

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Speaker 2: was he goes, Paul, what's your what's your forty? I'm like,

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Speaker 2: what what for the whole team? Really?

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Speaker 1: You want me to do that?

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Speaker 2: And he goes, so he throws a number out, you know,

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Speaker 2: and I don't even know what it is, but it

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Speaker 2: wasn't what I wanted it to be. He goes, why

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Speaker 2: are you beating everybody down here? Yeah, when you're forty

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Speaker 2: is not as fast as blah blah blah blah. But

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Speaker 2: I thought Rusty he had a sense of integrity about

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Speaker 2: him too. So and what I mean by that is

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Speaker 2: he'd curse you out now if if he thought you

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Speaker 2: were wrong, particularly on game day. And I remember one

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Speaker 2: time we're playing a team and they almost block upon

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Speaker 2: and the I'm not going to call the guy's name out,

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Speaker 2: but I should for this. And he was the personal protector,

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Speaker 2: right and he says, well, Moyer didn't get his guy,

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Speaker 2: and so Rusty, you know, when Rusty gets mad. He's

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Speaker 2: got every time he walks by me, he's just like,

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Speaker 2: you know, it's like almost spitting on the ground, you know,

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Speaker 2: like he's disgusted with me. And I'm going russy. I'm

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Speaker 2: telling you, I got my guy. I don't know what

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Speaker 2: he's talking about. And the guy, the Person Protector, he

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Speaker 2: was there with Rusty. I'm on the bench. I'm like,

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Speaker 2: kind of get away from me. I think I was

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Speaker 2: starting at the time, and I'm like, I want to rest.

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Speaker 2: I go. When you watch film, you know you're you're

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Speaker 2: gonna be wrong. Sure enough, film comes the next day

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Speaker 2: and Rusty pulls this clip and he rips the Personal

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Speaker 2: Protectors up and down he goes. You called him out,

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Speaker 2: and Rusty called I'll call it a pillow fight, but

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Speaker 2: it was a chess block. He called it something else

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Speaker 2: and he he thank you, and he he called this

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Speaker 2: guy out unbelievable.

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Speaker 1: So he would he would.

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Speaker 2: Do certain things like that. The reason why I'm gonna

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Speaker 2: throw it. Rusty would always do what he said he

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Speaker 2: was gonna do. I'm going to bring back also, uh

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Speaker 2: before that play, because you're I think you're gonna know

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Speaker 2: this story, Dave. If you remember ephrin Herrera and for

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Speaker 2: those who didn't follow the Sea X back then, the

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Speaker 2: one thing they were known for were like fake punts

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Speaker 2: and fake fuel goals. Males are all rusty Tillman, he

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Speaker 2: would design those with uh, with uh uh Coach petera

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Speaker 2: who loved that too, and they would design all these

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Speaker 2: things and that was a lot of their offense. But

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Speaker 2: just to throw something things out here. Under coach Tellman,

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Speaker 2: the Seahawks had four players earn Pro Bowl honors total

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Speaker 2: six times on special teams. Norm Johnson in eighty four,

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Speaker 2: Fred Young a special teamer in eighty four and eighty five,

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Speaker 2: kick returned to Bobby Joe Edmonds in eighty six, and

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Speaker 2: then Lineberger Rufus Porter. I thought it was one of

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Speaker 2: the greatest special teamers of all time in eighty eighty

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Speaker 2: and eighty nine until Rufus became, you know, a dominant

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Speaker 2: edge rusher also. But before I talked about my favorite story,

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Speaker 2: do you remember when Rusty did a backflip? So Rusty

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Speaker 2: had neck issues and when I was coaching with him,

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Speaker 2: I had neck issues. Why I retired and he would

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Speaker 2: go we would go see a doctor, and I asked,

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Speaker 2: what's going on with your next from football. He goes, no,

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Speaker 2: he goes, I made a bet and there was somebody

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Speaker 2: on the team who did backflip. So I know, Harris, Okay,

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Speaker 2: so tell the story.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, So Rusty tries to do a backflip and like

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Speaker 1: he's he was still like he had like the kind

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Speaker 1: of adrenaline and pride and everything of a player, but

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Speaker 1: he wasn't and so Rusty to do that, and I

286
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Speaker 1: think it was on a cushion, luckily, but he didn't

287
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Speaker 1: even come close to executing the backflip, not even close.

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Speaker 2: Well you you've described it as it's like somebody dropped

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Speaker 2: a bowling ball on the ground with his head.

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Speaker 1: Right that's where he hit. I mean, he could have

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Speaker 1: seriously hurt himself, but I mean that's just how he was.

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Speaker 1: And he was like, hey, I'm gonna do it. Like

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Speaker 1: he was a crazy man. He really was. I mean

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Speaker 1: he was. You didn't want Rusty mad at you remember

295
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Speaker 1: Mike Tye. I remember him going, hey, Rusty, you know

296
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Speaker 1: we should have we should have been this way, and

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, and he's like.

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Speaker 2: Get the bleep away from me, just get out of here.

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Speaker 1: Tyson. Tyson's like, but Rusty, Rusty he's like following him

300
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Speaker 1: around like he really wanted, Like I don't know he was.

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Speaker 1: I think people were intimidated by Rusty and like kind

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Speaker 1: of scared by the way. Joe Kane, the uh, the

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Speaker 1: guy who kicked people in the nuts, He's like, I'll

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Speaker 1: whoop Rusty's ass because he said, all you got to

305
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Speaker 1: do is stay on his right side because Rusty had

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Speaker 1: that Remember he had that elbow that was like frozen. Yeah,

307
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Speaker 1: so he couldn't he couldn't extend, extend all the way

308
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Speaker 1: on the But I mean, Rusty was the type of

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Speaker 1: guy that you thought we might get in a fist fight.

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Speaker 1: You know, Rusty would would get in your face. And

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Speaker 1: I remember one time he was getting after me during

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Speaker 1: a game and then I snapped back at him. And

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Speaker 1: so then when I got on the on the bus,

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Speaker 1: he looks at me and he goes, well, I'm an

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Speaker 1: f U. And I stopped and I looked and I

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Speaker 1: go f you. And we were good after that. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: you had to show that you're gonna yeah, and I

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Speaker 1: think I don't know if Tye ever got to that

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Speaker 1: point with Rusty, but yeah, he was gonna He's gonna

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Speaker 1: challenge you, and you know in a in a way

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Speaker 1: that like you know, like I said, we might get

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Speaker 1: in a fist fight. It might be the first coach

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Speaker 1: player fistfight in NFL history. But yeah, that was that

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Speaker 1: was the kind of that was where he he pushed

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Speaker 1: you and then once he thought you were there, then

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Speaker 1: he would back off. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Well, I always thought once he had time to think

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Speaker 2: about something, he always came back did the right thing.

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Speaker 2: So that's why if he was wrong, he would tell

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Speaker 2: people he was wrong. If you were wrong, he would

331
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Speaker 2: tell people you were wrong. So there could be be

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Speaker 2: some challenges there. But he was also I got to

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Speaker 2: know him. I mean he really mentored me when I

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Speaker 2: became a coach. I mean I really mentored me on

335
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Speaker 2: a lot of areas. And he was an emotional guy.

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Speaker 2: I mean he loved his players. Now he cursed you

337
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Speaker 2: out to behind the scenes as players, but he would

338
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Speaker 2: fight for his player. He's the one guy who would

339
00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:39,399
Speaker 2: stand up to Chuck and didn't didn't have a problem

340
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Speaker 2: with that. But one of the most fun things he created,

341
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Speaker 2: which can't do anymore because of the salary cap and stuff,

342
00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:50,480
Speaker 2: and we actually had to stop doing this back in

343
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Speaker 2: like nineteen ninety two. It was called dash for cash,

344
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Speaker 2: and dash for cash was why every starter wanted to

345
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Speaker 2: play on special teams for Russy Tillman. First of all,

346
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Speaker 2: we were the number one special team unit for many years,

347
00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,960
Speaker 2: or were certainly top ten just about every year. It

348
00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:13,040
Speaker 2: was demanded we would be the best at special teams.

349
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Speaker 2: We worked at it like nobody's business. And you didn't

350
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Speaker 2: get time off. As matter of fact, I remember playing

351
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Speaker 2: one game start and I played every special team play

352
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Speaker 2: because and he kept saying, do you want to get off?

353
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Speaker 2: I'm like, no, I mean it's fun, you know, I mean,

354
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Speaker 2: I like it. Didn't love the kickoff because you get tired,

355
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:32,480
Speaker 2: but it was fun. And the other reason is we're winning.

356
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Speaker 2: And when we won a game that Monday, when we

357
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Speaker 2: get together as a team and after we would watch

358
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Speaker 2: special teams film, Coach Knox and all the coaching staff

359
00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:45,280
Speaker 2: would come in and we would do a thing called

360
00:18:45,480 --> 00:18:49,560
Speaker 2: dash for cash. And what that was is Rusty would

361
00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:55,200
Speaker 2: pay the players money for hitting achievements during this during

362
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,600
Speaker 2: the game on special teams. So give you an example,

363
00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:02,119
Speaker 2: if we held a kickoff the twenty yard line, every

364
00:19:02,119 --> 00:19:05,240
Speaker 2: guy on that special team got one hundred dollars if

365
00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:07,919
Speaker 2: you made a tackle inside the twenty yard line, you

366
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,720
Speaker 2: got two hundred dollars. If we returned a touchdown, everybody

367
00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:15,760
Speaker 2: on that kickoff return team or punt return team got

368
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,640
Speaker 2: two hundred dollars. Five hundred dollars you get a tackle

369
00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:22,199
Speaker 2: for five yards or less on a punt return, if

370
00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:25,480
Speaker 2: you made two blocks on a on a kickoff return

371
00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:27,080
Speaker 2: or a punt return, which I made a lot of

372
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Speaker 2: money because I'm gonna I'm gonna get two blocks. Matter

373
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Speaker 2: of fact, I may even let this one go just

374
00:19:31,600 --> 00:19:34,760
Speaker 2: so I can go get another one. And as long

375
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:38,080
Speaker 2: as you we won the game and you didn't have

376
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Speaker 2: a penalty, and I had a BS penalty called on

377
00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:43,520
Speaker 2: me one time, it costs me a lot of money.

378
00:19:44,160 --> 00:19:47,680
Speaker 2: And so Chuck would have a wad of bills, hundreds

379
00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,520
Speaker 2: and twenties, and he would call out every player on

380
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,359
Speaker 2: a punt return team how much money they won, and

381
00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,560
Speaker 2: you would go up individually, and you were so pumped.

382
00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,120
Speaker 2: They go Paul Moy Dave Wine with seventy five dollars,

383
00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:04,000
Speaker 2: and then Paul Moyer come up, Paul Moyer with twelve

384
00:20:04,119 --> 00:20:08,080
Speaker 2: hundred and fifty dollars. Hey, wait a minute, but it

385
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:11,520
Speaker 2: was God was so much funny in every starter, whether

386
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:14,560
Speaker 2: you were making a million dollars a year because it

387
00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:18,159
Speaker 2: was beer money, it was you had cash. You know,

388
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:20,439
Speaker 2: we didn't have ATMs. You were running to you had

389
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,159
Speaker 2: to actually go into a bank and fell out a

390
00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:27,479
Speaker 2: withdrawal slip to get money. You got money. It was

391
00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,240
Speaker 2: the most fun. And then I'll let you tell your

392
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:33,159
Speaker 2: part of it too. And then in nineteen ninety or

393
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,400
Speaker 2: ninety one, the word got out about it and the

394
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,120
Speaker 2: NFL shut us down from it and said, because now

395
00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:43,879
Speaker 2: there's a salary cap or something that it would that

396
00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:46,119
Speaker 2: would be a part of that, we couldn't. And it,

397
00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:48,959
Speaker 2: I tell you what, it ruined the special teams, and

398
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:51,919
Speaker 2: it ruined Monday. So if you knew you were winning

399
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:54,520
Speaker 2: as a starter, you wanted to play special teams.

400
00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,040
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I mean it was It wasn't a lot

401
00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:02,159
Speaker 1: of money. Like I remember leaving there a couple of times.

402
00:21:02,200 --> 00:21:04,719
Speaker 1: I think I forced a fumble on a punt and

403
00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:06,520
Speaker 1: then I was part of the team that you know,

404
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,120
Speaker 1: averaged inside the twenty or whatever. I think I came

405
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:13,160
Speaker 1: out of there with like two thousand dollars. Maybe it's

406
00:21:13,200 --> 00:21:15,960
Speaker 1: a lot, and yeah, maybe it was fifteen hundred, but

407
00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,000
Speaker 1: like it was the best money you ever got. I mean,

408
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:21,520
Speaker 1: you're not going up and collecting a check and going

409
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:23,679
Speaker 1: to the bank and signing it. It's like you just

410
00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,480
Speaker 1: got called out in front of all your peers. And

411
00:21:27,160 --> 00:21:31,360
Speaker 1: that money was it was like quadruple you know, as

412
00:21:31,359 --> 00:21:33,840
Speaker 1: far as what it meant to you. And yeah, it

413
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 1: was one of the most innovative things ever. I don't

414
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:38,800
Speaker 1: where did he get the cash from. I never figured

415
00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:39,040
Speaker 1: that out.

416
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,639
Speaker 2: Well, I mean Chuck Knox bought into it, and then

417
00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:44,760
Speaker 2: Tom Floores bought into it, and so they must have

418
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:45,680
Speaker 2: just said, hey.

419
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:50,040
Speaker 1: He would Letty cash for the team, and they you know, it's.

420
00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 2: An NFL team. They got money somewhere. Sure, Yeah, it

421
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:53,880
Speaker 2: wasn't his money.

422
00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:55,840
Speaker 1: Right, Yeah. I was just wondering if if that was

423
00:21:55,960 --> 00:21:57,680
Speaker 1: Chuck or whatever. But it was just.

424
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,600
Speaker 2: Chuck loved Chuck loved to give them because he would

425
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:03,600
Speaker 2: do he would peel it, yeah, keel it.

426
00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:05,960
Speaker 1: And then Chuck was kind of a big timer, like

427
00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,920
Speaker 1: he had he had the gold ring and he had

428
00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,959
Speaker 1: like the money clip and you know, with diamonds on

429
00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:15,359
Speaker 1: it and stuff. Yeah, he was he was all about that.

430
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,919
Speaker 1: But yeah, I just I just remember thinking, this is

431
00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:21,399
Speaker 1: like the greatest money you'll ever earn because it's in

432
00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:24,119
Speaker 1: front of your teammates, you know, your peers, and it

433
00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:26,840
Speaker 1: just meant so much. And it was just another way

434
00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,439
Speaker 1: that Rusty was so innovative. And like I said, the

435
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,439
Speaker 1: T shirts and the dash for cash and everything was

436
00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,440
Speaker 1: just all about special teams. You know, you come out

437
00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,320
Speaker 1: of college and you know, for me, I didn't play

438
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,720
Speaker 1: special teams since my sophomore year. You know, if you're

439
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,280
Speaker 1: a starter, so now you've got to get back into it.

440
00:22:46,359 --> 00:22:49,040
Speaker 1: And he just he just made it special. It was

441
00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:53,200
Speaker 1: never like that on any other team that that I was,

442
00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,200
Speaker 1: that I was with that Rusty didn't coach. And yeah,

443
00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:58,760
Speaker 1: he was just just very special about the way that

444
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:01,760
Speaker 1: motivated people. And you know, like I said, it's probably

445
00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:03,960
Speaker 1: it's not a lot of money, it's just that the

446
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:07,280
Speaker 1: way that he did it made it like tenfold.

447
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 2: Oh so much fun. Every everybody loved. No one wanted

448
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:13,040
Speaker 2: to miss miss that part of it. And you know,

449
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:16,480
Speaker 2: he was equal opportunity. I mean, he didn't care you

450
00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 2: were Dave Craig, Jacob green Kinney, it didn't matter. I mean,

451
00:23:22,119 --> 00:23:26,040
Speaker 2: he treated you the same in those special team meetings.

452
00:23:26,080 --> 00:23:28,080
Speaker 2: And I thought that's why he made it so special.

453
00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:31,879
Speaker 2: And again he was that guy they would do isolation.

454
00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,119
Speaker 2: If you had a good plague, a hustle play, you know,

455
00:23:34,200 --> 00:23:36,600
Speaker 2: you went out of your way to make an extra block,

456
00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,360
Speaker 2: they would show that on film. So it just gave

457
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 2: you that sense of I want to be a part

458
00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:45,439
Speaker 2: of that. And he would call out, you know, some

459
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:47,760
Speaker 2: of our big names. You know, if you weren't hustling,

460
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:49,080
Speaker 2: and if you didn't want to be a party, he

461
00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:51,040
Speaker 2: would said, get out. I don't want you in here.

462
00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 2: Then you don't want to be a part of this.

463
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:54,919
Speaker 2: And there I don't remember anybody not want to be

464
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:59,200
Speaker 2: in a part of it. And yeah, those were Yeah,

465
00:23:59,240 --> 00:24:01,240
Speaker 2: he was. He was at eight special team coach and

466
00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 2: I mean great, and that's why he was around for

467
00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 2: so many years. And you know from Petera, then Chuck

468
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:12,400
Speaker 2: Knox and Tom Flores and then eventually when Dennis Erickson came,

469
00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,200
Speaker 2: he'd moved to being become a defensive coordinator at that point,

470
00:24:18,240 --> 00:24:20,439
Speaker 2: and so I think he went to Tampa Beta or

471
00:24:20,520 --> 00:24:23,399
Speaker 2: Indianapolis to be a defensive coordinator. And yeah, it just

472
00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,160
Speaker 2: never was the same again because he was such an

473
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,280
Speaker 2: elite special team coach and he wanted to be a

474
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,640
Speaker 2: head coach someday, and he wanted to be a defensive coordinator,

475
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,640
Speaker 2: and I get it. I think if he had to

476
00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:37,680
Speaker 2: go back and do that all over again, I think

477
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,280
Speaker 2: he would have been the greatest special team coach.

478
00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:41,760
Speaker 1: He would be.

479
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:43,600
Speaker 2: I think he'd have been in the Hall of Fame

480
00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 2: if he had a state on that career. I'll leave

481
00:24:45,840 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 2: it with this with him as well. My wife and

482
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 2: most women I know thought Russy Tilman was the most

483
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:59,240
Speaker 2: handsome man. I mean, you go back and pull some pitchers.

484
00:24:59,320 --> 00:25:02,159
Speaker 2: He was a man's Yeah. He was you know, Northern

485
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:06,840
Speaker 2: Arizona College, you know, free agent plays eight years in

486
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:10,760
Speaker 2: the NFL for some of the great Washington Redkins Redskins

487
00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 2: teams back then. He was an absolute legend. Came here,

488
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:20,080
Speaker 2: became a legend as a special team coach. The Rat

489
00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:22,640
Speaker 2: Patrol the one thing they used to do the twelves

490
00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:25,200
Speaker 2: down in the end zone in the Kingdome and I'll

491
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 2: call it the South End Zone, and I think it's

492
00:25:27,600 --> 00:25:32,359
Speaker 2: where we our locker rooms were and they would draw,

493
00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,119
Speaker 2: you know, characters of all these special team players and

494
00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 2: they had the rat Patrol, just a huge I don't

495
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:44,840
Speaker 2: know paper, Yeah, like a big posters. Yeah post I

496
00:25:44,840 --> 00:25:46,679
Speaker 2: mean huge, and they would have all of us in

497
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 2: there and and had names for us. And they didn't

498
00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:52,920
Speaker 2: do that for the starters or the offensive DFA. It

499
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 2: was just for the special team. So for those of

500
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:58,879
Speaker 2: you who don't remember the special teams, there was really

501
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:03,920
Speaker 2: the first global popular group out here because we weren't

502
00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 2: a great defense or an offense at that time, but

503
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,399
Speaker 2: we had great special teams in the seventies through the

504
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,679
Speaker 2: eighties and Russey Tilman really was the reason for that.

505
00:26:12,840 --> 00:26:16,600
Speaker 2: So this NFL season, feel every play, every hit, every

506
00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:21,280
Speaker 2: moment with the Sony one thousand x five noise canceling headphones,

507
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:25,639
Speaker 2: the official headphones of the Seattle Seahawks. With premium noise cancelation,

508
00:26:26,119 --> 00:26:29,160
Speaker 2: You're in the zone, no distraction, just pure football. Whether

509
00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:30,880
Speaker 2: you're in the living room or on the go, you'll

510
00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:36,440
Speaker 2: never miss a beat with Sony headphones. So, oh, Rusty Tillman, Man,

511
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:40,000
Speaker 2: you'll never be forgotten. Man. You truly you change the

512
00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:42,720
Speaker 2: lives with so many people. And you were the best

513
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:44,720
Speaker 2: of the best at what you did. And you know,

514
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:46,520
Speaker 2: as you're in heaven now, you know, God bless you

515
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:50,800
Speaker 2: because you mentored so many people, so Dave and Paul,

516
00:26:50,880 --> 00:26:54,480
Speaker 2: we thank you again for another episode here on The

517
00:26:54,520 --> 00:27:01,480
Speaker 2: Seahawks Stories fiftieth Season Edition. More additions to come the