The first time I heard the term "high motor" I was 12 years old, and the player the commentator was speaking about was John Randle. When you're a kid, guys like this seem larger than life. It wasn't until later I realized that he was one of the smallest defensive lineman to play in the NFL. Hell, there are linebackers playing in the league bigger than he is now. But when it came time for action, and he put on that war paint, you knew he was gonna bring it every single snap.
This is a guy that was undrafted, even when the league had 12 rounds. He played his college ball at Division II Texas A&I.......never heard of it? Yeah, me neither. 137.5 sacks later, he gets to stand at the podium, and enter the Hall of Fame.....and become immortal.
His presenter, defensive line coach John Teerlink, explains how he was full bore not only on the field, but off of it as well. There was the time he practiced his swim move on a little old lady in the grocery store. One year he took couch cushions and taped them to trees outside his home in Texas and used them as a gauntlet. This is a man that would go full speed in every practice.
Randle was a unique personality and easy for fans to embrace. He was perfect for the Metrodome. He could make the place loud by just being himself. Opponents feared him. Brett Favre called him the toughest guy he's faced. Who could forget the commercial where Randle chases a chicken around thats wearing a Favre jersey?
It always amazes me that so many talented kids coming out of college that are twice as big and maybe just as talented as Randle fizzle out and become afterthoughts. John simply wouldn't allow people to forget his name or his face, and quarterbacks surely wouldn't forget him when he came bursting through the line like a crazed demon with wild eyes and a face painted like a warrior.
He's one of the best defensive lineman to ever play the game and he's also one of the coolest guys to come around, that's why he's being honored this weekend. I'm proud to say he's a Viking.
I will give you this one. One of the few Viking players you can't help but like no matter who you root for. Great player, great person, it is good to see him make it to the HOF.
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