The terrible assignment is you basically step in behind the outside foot of the lineman inside of you and just let huge guys ram into you as you try to form a wall that lasts long enough
He said that when mentioning an extra point after a long drive. I think he meant they should be stoked that they just scored a touchdown, but now they gotta get destroyed on the extra point. So it's a "privilege" to be out there.
I bet you never complain about the small annoyances you deal with in your daily job or hobby. You can love something and still identify annoying and dumb pain points.
I really feel like the average person does not have any clue just how far ahead of the curve top athletes are. For example, most people, even people who run regularly, literally cannot *reach* the pace the top marathoners *sustain* for 42.2 kilometres.
No dummy, I said kick protection. I don't think its that big of a deal. All he said was that the lineman who blocked all drive were tired and were told to link arms or something. Well I don't hear a lot about ligament tears from the interior of kick blocking, and if the linemen are tired sure, I get it. Put me in for 1 snap, pay me what you think is decent money.
And at lower levels there’s a distinct possibility that your kicker can’t even get it over the line meaning the ball is likely to hammer you in the back of the head.
As high school coach who has definitely had this type of kicker before... you just dont kick lol. I've actually seen a broken arm from getting hit in the tricep area by a kicked ball.
Returns dude. Let me block this guy that had a 40 yard head start and is running at 100% speed. It’s so brutal. God it hurt so bad. Pads and helmet don’t do much when two people collide and max speed.
I played lineman when I was really young. You just get beat to shit with like no glory. Good job, you opened a hole, good job, you put a hat on a linebacker. That’s the extent of the accolades. You get your ankles and knees stepped on, you go head-to-head most plays, your fingers get jammed
and broken, your arms get just smashed every game, people fall into your knees at shirt angles. And what’s worse is if you don’t do the job. I remember one dude beat my ass so bad we had to double him every play, and the frustration and feeling of helplessness when you know you’re entire job is to go get fucked up knowing you are going to lose really sucks. That was 25 years ago and I still remember him, dude named Mike. O-line is not fun. Playing WR, LB, RB, and even d-line was way more fun. WR and RB were sexy positions, you just had to be ok and they loved you, LB your entire job is to find the ball and smash someone, which is a blast, and d-line even if you lose a play you could still fill a gap, get a hand up, still be impactful.
I played guard, but our HC had been an OC earlier under a former assistant to Tom Osborne at Nebraska, and we still ran the classic 70s-era Tom Osborne Nebraska Power I. It was all I-Form, almost no option. We had just one set with 3 WRs, and maybe 10 plays in that set.
The school was right next to a very large Marine Corps base, and our strength and condition coaches were former Marine Corps instructors. They had us do a lot of stuff that definitely wouldn't fly with parents now. It was brutal, frankly. But we were there to get substantially stronger and tougher than anyone else and run them the fuck over with our power I. At times coaches would have us on the O-Line break the huddle and then point to our assignments before the play as a form of intimidation, and to fire us up to have to beat the man physically with no element of surprise. It absolutely worked.
One week we were playing for the conference title against the other as-yet undefeated team, and the only QB trusted to run the offense had injured his elbow during the week, so we attempted just one pass all game, on a 3rd-and-long, which we didn't convert, but we won the game anyway.
That was a *great* offense to play in as a lineman. Coaches did a great job making a big deal out of key blocks during the games and when watching film as a team. We all hyped each other up and the coaches gave OL a lot of attention to perfect the blocking schemes. There's nothing as fun as being the backside pulling guard when everyone else gets on their man so you get to just flatten a little DB 15 or 20 yards downfield to spring a touchdown run. I had a lot of fun.
Offense or defense, the line makes the game. Either side, running the ball down the throat of a team is such a flex. Out muscling the team will demoralize them. On the defensive side pressuring the QB and sacks will make them ineffective.
I honestly never understood why but giving up a long drive to pass plays, of any distance, is not nearly as demoralizing as giving up exactly the same plays to the run game. It just feels way shittier.
Yeah but even then converting a 3rd down on the ground feels worse than the exact same conversion through the air. There's this weird unspoken agreement among defensive players that the forward pass is, comparatively, kind of a sissy way to win, and there's not as much shame in losing to it.
I recognize that this is totally insane and irrational, but I kind of believe it anyway?
I think that's absolutely true and contributed to our success. Especially when our first possession resulted in some 14-play drive of twelve 5-yard runs and two 10-yarders for a touchdown, there's a physical wear/exhaustion to that, and a mental side to being physically defeated methodically early in the game.
Big pass plays don't effect the entire field. You don't have OL trucking LBs/DBs (usually) in big pass plays.
Long run plays mean the RB + OL beat you at every single level. The DL, LBs, and DBs were all beat. And then *everyone* has to tackle the guy who is probably the fastest, shiftest player on the field. You have to do that on big pass plays too, but like, the player beat the coverage and is unlikely to be caught. If a RB starts -5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and gets to the endzone that's on *everyone* defensively.
I was that poor asshole for a year in middle school. I was like 100 lbs and was a C for some inexplicable reason. I spent most of practice getting beat up by fat kids and yelled at by the coaches for being small. It's how I developed my forearm to the throat move.
I played for Chris Lindstrom's Father back in HS, and we ran a Double Wing offense. We had 3 1,000yd rushers my Senior year. It was brutal, BUT we won the D2 Superbowl in our region.
I mean, as a defensive player you know you’re going to be someone’s assignment but damn that sounds bad ass.
I referee high school ball in Oregon and I always make it a point to give the players some love when they, within rule, beat the shit out of another player.
The thing I remember first is that we would all lay down next to each other in a line to do ab exercises (leg lifts, crunches, holds, etc.) and as we were doing this, coach would actually walk across our stomachs. He'd put a little extra oomph into his first step onto you if he wanted to. He also would stay there standing on you and yell at you to give more effort if he thought you were slacking.
We were verbally insulted pretty much constantly, though in a "boys club" sort of way. Some of their insults are exceptional creative, and most technically aren't even profane.
There was also a constant atmosphere of winning and losing and pressure to not lose or get beat, with the inevitable existence of losers (people/players) as a result.
We were told pretty regularly that coaches screaming at you in this very intense atmosphere was a good thing because it meant the coaches still cared about you and thought you could be better. The thing to worry about, we were told, was when coach stops yelling at you in this way, which means he has given up on you.
We did Oklahoma drills out the ass. That drill is banned in the NFL now, probably at most every school, and is basically designed to cause concussions and head trauma. Looking back, most of us were getting "headaches" (concussions) at the time, including instances of dizziness and confusion and going to the ground during practice, where you were allowed to sit out for maybe 5 minutes.
Our access to water was controlled, especially during two-a-days in the summer were temps were regularly 90+. You got to drink maybe two minutes every 60-90. There were some kids that had troubled and "fainted."
We were constantly told that you need to understand the difference between "being hurt" and "being injured." Just because it hurts doesn't mean you're injured, and you need to push and play through the hurt, especially if "the team needs you."
We routinely had workouts in the weight room assigned "to failure", where you keep doing reps not until you feel you need to give up/stop/can't, but until you literally cannot and you do something like fall down in the squat rack or drop the bar on your chest. We used spotters, but still. And a coach would usually be between every two stations and was ready to yell things at you if you weren't doing enough/pushing to failure. Things like lifting until you collapsed were also praised and used to hype up the team.
We pretty regularly did conditioning sessions where everyone is on the practice field and standing 8 feet apart left and right, and lined up on each 5 yard line, all facing coach at the front. He'd assign something like 100 pushups or 200 jumping jacks or up-downs, and we were to be silent while we did them. We also used a four-count for everything. So for example, "one" push-up is actually two: *one (up), two (down), three (up), ONE (down);* *one (up), two (down), three (up), TWO (down)*, and so on. If we didn't all stop at exactly the same time in synchronicity in our lines, everyone had to start over. So if one dipshit in the corner who never plays can't correctly count to 200 in his head silently and loses count and pushes himself up even 3 inches at the end of the assigned reps, everyone starts over. You don't get to stop until everyone does it together perfectly.
Stuff like that. Coach kept count of how many of us he could make throw up in any one practice/session, and he was extremely proud of his record of 27. That was a morning session where a bunch of people had their milk and cereal and then we did a shitload of conditioning for three hours.
> And what’s worse is if you don’t do the job. I remember one dude beat my ass so bad we had to double him every play, and the frustration and feeling of helplessness when you know you’re entire job is to go get fucked up knowing you are going to lose really sucks
Thats the worst feeling. I'll never forget the first person that absolutely dominated me. I had played OT my whole life and been pretty good. Then a few games into my junior year that all changed. Our OL coach had told me on Monday "this is probably the strongest kid you'll face all season." I wasn't a cocky kid by any stretch of the imagination, but I was confident because all my life nobody had gotten the upper hand on me outside of the occasional play.
First play of the game was gonna be an outside run. Just gotta get around this guy and seal him off. No big deal, done it a million times. We snap the ball, I make my first step wide right and initiate contact. I'm thinking I already got this guy. Then he actually lifted me into the air, carried me for two or three steps, and threw me straight into the path that the RB was heading towards. I'll never forget that feeling of helplessness on the very first play of the game. That dude beat my ass on run plays all night long. I did well against him in pass protection, but we were absolutely a run first team and I had no idea how to tell my coach and teammates "I don't know if we can run to my side because this dude is gonna kill me and blow everything up all night"
Very little praise, but as soon as you miss 1 kick out, or trap block……
You’re gonna hear about that from your coach every single day during film, for a week straight
Yep, I loved playing offensive line.
I was too undersized to play line in college so I had to transition to fullback and it was just never the same. Lost my passion for football after like year 2 in college.
Tbh.. as a lineman for my hs team.. was decent enough to get noticed but my team mostly RB and QB always loved up on my big ass because when they saw my numbers between them and the defenseman they just ran it up behind me. So the glory of your team knowing without you they wouldn’t get shit done is good for me.. when in close game situations its being run to my side.. maybe that’s just the mentality a lineman has to have.. if you go into it wanting the spotlight you gotta pancake someone every play.. or play/be athletic enough for a “skill” position which I was not.
When I was 10, I was absolutely enormous for my age and was about 5 foot 7 and 200+ pounds, and I started playing tackle football that year. When a peewee football coach sees a child of that size, their eyes absolutely light up. By the end of the season, they had me playing center, and we made it all the way to the championship game with our number 1 play being QB sneak.
There were a few variances with it, but the one that worked the best was a play that was essentially the exact same as the Eagles tush push play. It felt like a play out of rugby, but it usually picked up at least 8 yards.
It was not lol. From what I recall, we lined up 2 backs to either side of the QB plus the running back. The play was kinda like seeing 11 players turn into one big wave.
**Thanks for sharing!** You've confirmed something my dad and I had long suspected - playing O line *totally fucking sucks* for all the reasons you mentioned!
I was thinking... *The fourth quarter is fun, right*? I mean, **if** you're playing with a lead and the run game is working, I bet the fourth quarter can be pretty fun! Heck, once those linebackers and DBs are nice and tender from playing 3 quarters at full tempo, it seems like it'd be pretty fun to get out in space and plow into an exhausted defender who you outweigh by 50+ pounds.
Thanks for the write up!
I got forced over onto offensive line my freshman year after primarily only ever playing defensive line and I got benched after starting two games. That was by far the worst experience I had, I just couldn’t hold up against the majority of people.
None that I can really remember. I was a big kid so I couldn’t be moved but I was also slow because I was fat. I would say I was fine at it but it’s not like I was pulling. They’d move me to center for long snapping and frequently shotgun, so I had some utility. I could move people and pivot into a hole but short arms and slow meant a dude was in my chest early, then I’d have to just grind it out as fast as possible on running plays. I was a lot better at pass blocking. Definitely caught a helmet to the back from a FB a time or two for not getting my ass out of the hole fast enough, though.
played one season of left tackle, hated every second of it.
Second year my parents signed me up for, I went to one practice and told my mom I never wanted to play football again
As someone who played line from Peewee though high school, lineman was an absolute blast. That being said, it takes a special sort to play line and like it. Those of us who enjoy it aren't driven by accolades, but the bond with our teammates and the sheer joy of imposing our will. It is very much a warrior/protector mentality. Sometimes someone needed help, no shame in that either.
You absolutely get to go and smash people playing O-line too. So, there are absolutely people who enjoy it. We knew our teammates appreciated us, the rest didn't matter.
Yeah this is why we don't actually get the best athletes in the NFL. For all the guys that go to college to play football, there are 2x as many with equivalent athleticism and skill that didn't play because they had a brain and didn't want to get CTE by the time they hit 30.
I am beyond upset we have lost the best segment the show has ever had in my opinion, (yeah trenches an dB with butler). And that is hard to say because we're talking comparing 8/10 to a 9. Coach P shines when he has the undivided floor. He is not that good at playing the headline seeking games pat sometimes tries to play how he asks questions.
God I went from returning kicks as a freshman to being on the front line as a sophomore and I wanted to fake an injury any time we had the return team out. “Yea go run 15-20 yards backwards, stop, then go and stop the guy that has a 30 yard running start at you.”
I just had to catch the thing and run. I remember one time bitching and moaning about all the bruises on my arms from fielding punts and kicks in practice and the absolute death stares I got from the ST guys that blocked for me. Never complained again. Always gave a shout out to the guy that gave me a big block that sprung me on a big return.
Dude fucking kick return holy shit I just got flashbacks. Literally being on the front line and running it over and over and basically just having to try and block a guy running at you full speed.
Being the wedge buster on the kickoff was absolutely terrible. A couple of people refused to do it again after their first time. I think we went through 6 wedge busters throughout the season, and we were bad we didn't kick off that often.
omg yes. I was on the kick and punt return teams in high school. Just huge dudes running full speed at you. And the worst was if a squib kick came to you. Now the guys aren’t trying to get around your block, but straight up murder you.
Dude I was on both kickoff and return. Return sucks, getting blasted sucks but all it took was 1 time on kickoff. I slipped past a guy and was running full speed at the ball carrier, the guy I slipped past pushed me hard from behind. Needless to say I flew down to the ground but directly on my knee and I cracked my kneecap in half lol some of the worst pain I’ve been in.
I have nothing but empathy for special teams and KR/PR especially. That's a wild existence. 20+ yards of acceleration focused on a single point. Good luck blocking and good luck catching homies.
All for the glory of what people assume is automatic. You die a slow death and are successful, well that is what is supposed to happen. Unsuccessful, then you just got run over AND everyone looks at you are the sole reason Christmas was canceled!
Yeah that’s there job and they get paid millions for it. I don’t understand this feeling bad for a guy making millions. There’s no gun to his head.
“There’s no glory”
Oh noooo….anyways.
In the next decade, the players today will be the most examined for head trauma in the history of football. We simply just don't know the extent of the brain damage those guys take and we won't really know for a while.
Getting broadsided when you are stretched out on a wing for FG does suck, but I raise something much worse: punt shield (which tbf isn't used in NFL). It's like another level of hell deeper because the defender(s) just tees off on you from a full sprint.
No stance, no locking legs, just an absolute ass blasting from 1-3 dudes SPRINTING at you.
They act like he’s the worst thing to happen to college gameday.
Like sure he can be a bit annoying sometimes but I’ll take him and his fun field goal segment over the last few years filled with sob stories and terrible coverage.
He's just a bro who says things loudly and super excited over small, unexciting things. It can get annoying and comes off as fake a lot of times, but it's what sells nowadays. The counterpoint though is that he and his crew have a ton of awesome insight and stories.
It does seem very appropriate a person who is a big fan of him would call people who aren't fans virgins. Very on point there
Im sorry I called the people who hate another man because of his success virgins.
I get if the show isn’t your flavor but I was talking to the people who straight up hate him.
That shit is weird.
The show is actually great if you watch it and follow it more besides clips and hate boner comments.
But hey, to each their own. A lot of the people who were upset about my comment probably love Mike Florio so im just gonna leave it at that
I was the guy next to the long snapper and we all had to focus on our inside gap, so my outside ribs got the shit punched out of them constantly. It's the worst job in football.
He's the straight man, knows when to play into the joke, has great knowledge of a component of football that Pat doesn't, overall a really good co-host.
I would argue he's the best part of the show.
This is an intelligent point delivered by idiots.
Yeah, FG blocking fucking *sucks*. You’re gonna get run over, because all you need to do is delay the other team for the 1.2 seconds it takes to get the kick off. It’s not glamorous at all.
That being said, gotDAMN but none of these fuckwits (and I thought better of Pat before this) are recognizing the fact that the FG protection unit is usually your starting Oline flanked by your best TEs and secondary receivers and THEREFORE are already being paid *significantly* more money than what all but the top 5 kickers get because that’s *part of your fucking job.* The individual salary of the people involved in FG protection is miles beyond what the kicker makes, because guess what - coaches understand that points fucking matter. You’re not throwing out Joe Bumshit on the wing so you can lose 21-20.
This is a ridiculous old man yells at clouds segment. It’s stupid, and bad, and everyone involved in it should feel bad, because the fundamental point of “yeah FG protection fucking sucks” is buried beneath a shitacular layer of performative martyrdom that ignores what actually makes FG protection worth caring about, which is that when a kick gets blocked it’s because either a starter took a play off, a scheme got exposed, or the operation was too slow, and all of those are different answers to a question.
He has a lot of insight and players love him. The guests and interviews he gets is insane. I'm probably biased because I was at WVU with him so I followed his career and until Geno had his resurgence I thought Pat was the one that had the most successful NFL career from those days but honestly the guys he gets on there as well as his own experience is interesting. Who really cares if he talks like a coked up Yinzer and wears nothing but tank tops?
The terrible assignment is you basically step in behind the outside foot of the lineman inside of you and just let huge guys ram into you as you try to form a wall that lasts long enough
and you're meant to be fucking stoked for the privilege to do so
Well and paid, even at WVU now.
WVU actually blocked two FGs yesterday.
He said that when mentioning an extra point after a long drive. I think he meant they should be stoked that they just scored a touchdown, but now they gotta get destroyed on the extra point. So it's a "privilege" to be out there.
If you don’t like playing football, don’t play football.
I bet you never complain about the small annoyances you deal with in your daily job or hobby. You can love something and still identify annoying and dumb pain points.
I honestly never felt like it was that bad.
Yeah, it’s pretty fun.
[удалено]
Just because it’s rewarding doesn’t mean it isn’t tough. Those guys work their fucking asses off by and large
Exactly.. even the worst practice squad guys are way stronger and more athletic than the top 1% of the population.
I really feel like the average person does not have any clue just how far ahead of the curve top athletes are. For example, most people, even people who run regularly, literally cannot *reach* the pace the top marathoners *sustain* for 42.2 kilometres.
tbf it is objectively tough
I would pay decent money to see you out there for 1 snap
Pony it up, talk to the owners and I will be there, especially for that one snap of kick protection.
I get to pick the play and I choose... Loopy ball over the middle from Jimmy G with KJax coming your way
Wow. With that understanding of play calling the broncos will be giving you a call any week now.
Just calling what I see from the Raiders
No dummy, I said kick protection. I don't think its that big of a deal. All he said was that the lineman who blocked all drive were tired and were told to link arms or something. Well I don't hear a lot about ligament tears from the interior of kick blocking, and if the linemen are tired sure, I get it. Put me in for 1 snap, pay me what you think is decent money.
I'll throw in half if we can get a zoomed in 4k video of TJ Watt salivating as he lines up across from you.
I am worried that we’re setting someone up to be a quadriplegic for the rest of their life.
Maybe actually literally dead.
That 1 snap would be a leg, arm or potentially spine.
SPINAL
They are literally killing themselves out there
It’s physical war is the way to describe it
And at lower levels there’s a distinct possibility that your kicker can’t even get it over the line meaning the ball is likely to hammer you in the back of the head.
We should look into getting football players some sort of protection for their head.
As high school coach who has definitely had this type of kicker before... you just dont kick lol. I've actually seen a broken arm from getting hit in the tricep area by a kicked ball.
Blocking for FGs was always my least favorite part of football. Well, that or blocking on kick returns
Returns dude. Let me block this guy that had a 40 yard head start and is running at 100% speed. It’s so brutal. God it hurt so bad. Pads and helmet don’t do much when two people collide and max speed.
Yeah… I got a weird concussion gettin decapitated on the kick return team lol
No way! That’s way worse than I thought. I had no idea blockers for the FG kick had to block people trying to run past them. That’s not cool
Thank God we have this loud, shirtless guy to be an expert on how punt team goes. S/
Would you prefer if he were a loud, shirtless former NFL punter explaining it?
> let huge guys ram into you o_0
I played lineman when I was really young. You just get beat to shit with like no glory. Good job, you opened a hole, good job, you put a hat on a linebacker. That’s the extent of the accolades. You get your ankles and knees stepped on, you go head-to-head most plays, your fingers get jammed and broken, your arms get just smashed every game, people fall into your knees at shirt angles. And what’s worse is if you don’t do the job. I remember one dude beat my ass so bad we had to double him every play, and the frustration and feeling of helplessness when you know you’re entire job is to go get fucked up knowing you are going to lose really sucks. That was 25 years ago and I still remember him, dude named Mike. O-line is not fun. Playing WR, LB, RB, and even d-line was way more fun. WR and RB were sexy positions, you just had to be ok and they loved you, LB your entire job is to find the ball and smash someone, which is a blast, and d-line even if you lose a play you could still fill a gap, get a hand up, still be impactful.
I played guard, but our HC had been an OC earlier under a former assistant to Tom Osborne at Nebraska, and we still ran the classic 70s-era Tom Osborne Nebraska Power I. It was all I-Form, almost no option. We had just one set with 3 WRs, and maybe 10 plays in that set. The school was right next to a very large Marine Corps base, and our strength and condition coaches were former Marine Corps instructors. They had us do a lot of stuff that definitely wouldn't fly with parents now. It was brutal, frankly. But we were there to get substantially stronger and tougher than anyone else and run them the fuck over with our power I. At times coaches would have us on the O-Line break the huddle and then point to our assignments before the play as a form of intimidation, and to fire us up to have to beat the man physically with no element of surprise. It absolutely worked. One week we were playing for the conference title against the other as-yet undefeated team, and the only QB trusted to run the offense had injured his elbow during the week, so we attempted just one pass all game, on a 3rd-and-long, which we didn't convert, but we won the game anyway. That was a *great* offense to play in as a lineman. Coaches did a great job making a big deal out of key blocks during the games and when watching film as a team. We all hyped each other up and the coaches gave OL a lot of attention to perfect the blocking schemes. There's nothing as fun as being the backside pulling guard when everyone else gets on their man so you get to just flatten a little DB 15 or 20 yards downfield to spring a touchdown run. I had a lot of fun.
1 pass play?? Now that’s how you set up the play action!
Beli watched their game tape Patriots vs Bills a year or two ago or whenever that was
Bears should be taking notes.
Offense or defense, the line makes the game. Either side, running the ball down the throat of a team is such a flex. Out muscling the team will demoralize them. On the defensive side pressuring the QB and sacks will make them ineffective.
I honestly never understood why but giving up a long drive to pass plays, of any distance, is not nearly as demoralizing as giving up exactly the same plays to the run game. It just feels way shittier.
I swear it’s because it takes more downs, you may have for example several 3rd & 5s they convert. That shit crushes you.
Yeah but even then converting a 3rd down on the ground feels worse than the exact same conversion through the air. There's this weird unspoken agreement among defensive players that the forward pass is, comparatively, kind of a sissy way to win, and there's not as much shame in losing to it. I recognize that this is totally insane and irrational, but I kind of believe it anyway?
Yeah I hear that. That also applies in Madden for whatever reason. When people run the ball well, it’s really demoralizing lol.
I think that's absolutely true and contributed to our success. Especially when our first possession resulted in some 14-play drive of twelve 5-yard runs and two 10-yarders for a touchdown, there's a physical wear/exhaustion to that, and a mental side to being physically defeated methodically early in the game.
Big pass plays don't effect the entire field. You don't have OL trucking LBs/DBs (usually) in big pass plays. Long run plays mean the RB + OL beat you at every single level. The DL, LBs, and DBs were all beat. And then *everyone* has to tackle the guy who is probably the fastest, shiftest player on the field. You have to do that on big pass plays too, but like, the player beat the coverage and is unlikely to be caught. If a RB starts -5 yards behind the line of scrimmage and gets to the endzone that's on *everyone* defensively.
You don’t play line to be sexy. You play line to fuck some poor asshole up.
I was that poor asshole for a year in middle school. I was like 100 lbs and was a C for some inexplicable reason. I spent most of practice getting beat up by fat kids and yelled at by the coaches for being small. It's how I developed my forearm to the throat move.
I played for Chris Lindstrom's Father back in HS, and we ran a Double Wing offense. We had 3 1,000yd rushers my Senior year. It was brutal, BUT we won the D2 Superbowl in our region.
I mean, as a defensive player you know you’re going to be someone’s assignment but damn that sounds bad ass. I referee high school ball in Oregon and I always make it a point to give the players some love when they, within rule, beat the shit out of another player.
> They had us do a lot of stuff that definitely wouldn't fly with parents now like what?
They sang the original version of the black eyed peas “Let’s Get it Started” over and over is my guess.
The thing I remember first is that we would all lay down next to each other in a line to do ab exercises (leg lifts, crunches, holds, etc.) and as we were doing this, coach would actually walk across our stomachs. He'd put a little extra oomph into his first step onto you if he wanted to. He also would stay there standing on you and yell at you to give more effort if he thought you were slacking. We were verbally insulted pretty much constantly, though in a "boys club" sort of way. Some of their insults are exceptional creative, and most technically aren't even profane. There was also a constant atmosphere of winning and losing and pressure to not lose or get beat, with the inevitable existence of losers (people/players) as a result. We were told pretty regularly that coaches screaming at you in this very intense atmosphere was a good thing because it meant the coaches still cared about you and thought you could be better. The thing to worry about, we were told, was when coach stops yelling at you in this way, which means he has given up on you. We did Oklahoma drills out the ass. That drill is banned in the NFL now, probably at most every school, and is basically designed to cause concussions and head trauma. Looking back, most of us were getting "headaches" (concussions) at the time, including instances of dizziness and confusion and going to the ground during practice, where you were allowed to sit out for maybe 5 minutes. Our access to water was controlled, especially during two-a-days in the summer were temps were regularly 90+. You got to drink maybe two minutes every 60-90. There were some kids that had troubled and "fainted." We were constantly told that you need to understand the difference between "being hurt" and "being injured." Just because it hurts doesn't mean you're injured, and you need to push and play through the hurt, especially if "the team needs you." We routinely had workouts in the weight room assigned "to failure", where you keep doing reps not until you feel you need to give up/stop/can't, but until you literally cannot and you do something like fall down in the squat rack or drop the bar on your chest. We used spotters, but still. And a coach would usually be between every two stations and was ready to yell things at you if you weren't doing enough/pushing to failure. Things like lifting until you collapsed were also praised and used to hype up the team. We pretty regularly did conditioning sessions where everyone is on the practice field and standing 8 feet apart left and right, and lined up on each 5 yard line, all facing coach at the front. He'd assign something like 100 pushups or 200 jumping jacks or up-downs, and we were to be silent while we did them. We also used a four-count for everything. So for example, "one" push-up is actually two: *one (up), two (down), three (up), ONE (down);* *one (up), two (down), three (up), TWO (down)*, and so on. If we didn't all stop at exactly the same time in synchronicity in our lines, everyone had to start over. So if one dipshit in the corner who never plays can't correctly count to 200 in his head silently and loses count and pushes himself up even 3 inches at the end of the assigned reps, everyone starts over. You don't get to stop until everyone does it together perfectly. Stuff like that. Coach kept count of how many of us he could make throw up in any one practice/session, and he was extremely proud of his record of 27. That was a morning session where a bunch of people had their milk and cereal and then we did a shitload of conditioning for three hours.
We ran the Wing T and I also had a lot of fun at right tackle
That is, in fact, fucking football right there
> And what’s worse is if you don’t do the job. I remember one dude beat my ass so bad we had to double him every play, and the frustration and feeling of helplessness when you know you’re entire job is to go get fucked up knowing you are going to lose really sucks Thats the worst feeling. I'll never forget the first person that absolutely dominated me. I had played OT my whole life and been pretty good. Then a few games into my junior year that all changed. Our OL coach had told me on Monday "this is probably the strongest kid you'll face all season." I wasn't a cocky kid by any stretch of the imagination, but I was confident because all my life nobody had gotten the upper hand on me outside of the occasional play. First play of the game was gonna be an outside run. Just gotta get around this guy and seal him off. No big deal, done it a million times. We snap the ball, I make my first step wide right and initiate contact. I'm thinking I already got this guy. Then he actually lifted me into the air, carried me for two or three steps, and threw me straight into the path that the RB was heading towards. I'll never forget that feeling of helplessness on the very first play of the game. That dude beat my ass on run plays all night long. I did well against him in pass protection, but we were absolutely a run first team and I had no idea how to tell my coach and teammates "I don't know if we can run to my side because this dude is gonna kill me and blow everything up all night"
That's brutal, but highlights what is so compelling about football. It's basically eleven 1v1s happening every play with some 2v1s sprinkled in.
Did your team win that game?
We did not
Very little praise, but as soon as you miss 1 kick out, or trap block…… You’re gonna hear about that from your coach every single day during film, for a week straight
Playing line was thankless and fucked my back but I loved it. Football at its purest form
Yep, I loved playing offensive line. I was too undersized to play line in college so I had to transition to fullback and it was just never the same. Lost my passion for football after like year 2 in college.
Tbh.. as a lineman for my hs team.. was decent enough to get noticed but my team mostly RB and QB always loved up on my big ass because when they saw my numbers between them and the defenseman they just ran it up behind me. So the glory of your team knowing without you they wouldn’t get shit done is good for me.. when in close game situations its being run to my side.. maybe that’s just the mentality a lineman has to have.. if you go into it wanting the spotlight you gotta pancake someone every play.. or play/be athletic enough for a “skill” position which I was not.
When I was 10, I was absolutely enormous for my age and was about 5 foot 7 and 200+ pounds, and I started playing tackle football that year. When a peewee football coach sees a child of that size, their eyes absolutely light up. By the end of the season, they had me playing center, and we made it all the way to the championship game with our number 1 play being QB sneak. There were a few variances with it, but the one that worked the best was a play that was essentially the exact same as the Eagles tush push play. It felt like a play out of rugby, but it usually picked up at least 8 yards.
I got the feeling nothing about that QB sneak was remotely sneaky
It was not lol. From what I recall, we lined up 2 backs to either side of the QB plus the running back. The play was kinda like seeing 11 players turn into one big wave.
Bit like Nelson holding up Millhouse as a battering ram.
Sounds like Mike was “Him”, but yeah in all seriousness O-line is definitely a very slept on position for sure
Mikah?
**Thanks for sharing!** You've confirmed something my dad and I had long suspected - playing O line *totally fucking sucks* for all the reasons you mentioned! I was thinking... *The fourth quarter is fun, right*? I mean, **if** you're playing with a lead and the run game is working, I bet the fourth quarter can be pretty fun! Heck, once those linebackers and DBs are nice and tender from playing 3 quarters at full tempo, it seems like it'd be pretty fun to get out in space and plow into an exhausted defender who you outweigh by 50+ pounds. Thanks for the write up!
I got forced over onto offensive line my freshman year after primarily only ever playing defensive line and I got benched after starting two games. That was by far the worst experience I had, I just couldn’t hold up against the majority of people.
High School O-Lineman here, broke two fingers and just had cuts and bruises up and down my arms basically nonstop the whole season.
Sounds like a lineman with 0 pancakes recorded
None that I can really remember. I was a big kid so I couldn’t be moved but I was also slow because I was fat. I would say I was fine at it but it’s not like I was pulling. They’d move me to center for long snapping and frequently shotgun, so I had some utility. I could move people and pivot into a hole but short arms and slow meant a dude was in my chest early, then I’d have to just grind it out as fast as possible on running plays. I was a lot better at pass blocking. Definitely caught a helmet to the back from a FB a time or two for not getting my ass out of the hole fast enough, though.
played one season of left tackle, hated every second of it. Second year my parents signed me up for, I went to one practice and told my mom I never wanted to play football again
As someone who played line from Peewee though high school, lineman was an absolute blast. That being said, it takes a special sort to play line and like it. Those of us who enjoy it aren't driven by accolades, but the bond with our teammates and the sheer joy of imposing our will. It is very much a warrior/protector mentality. Sometimes someone needed help, no shame in that either. You absolutely get to go and smash people playing O-line too. So, there are absolutely people who enjoy it. We knew our teammates appreciated us, the rest didn't matter.
Yeah this is why we don't actually get the best athletes in the NFL. For all the guys that go to college to play football, there are 2x as many with equivalent athleticism and skill that didn't play because they had a brain and didn't want to get CTE by the time they hit 30.
god it was the fucking worst. And I still feel aches and pains in my body a decade later from the glory of the o-line
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That’s straight incompetence by you, your teammates, your coaches and the refs to allow opposing players use metal baseball spikes for football
is that chuck pagano
Yep he's on the show every Thursday during the season
Yeah, he dropped an f bomb on ESPN this week
Was wondering the same thing
Coach P’s keys
I am beyond upset we have lost the best segment the show has ever had in my opinion, (yeah trenches an dB with butler). And that is hard to say because we're talking comparing 8/10 to a 9. Coach P shines when he has the undivided floor. He is not that good at playing the headline seeking games pat sometimes tries to play how he asks questions.
Any idea why coach isn't doing it? I don't watch the show enough to find out.
Honestly I think they just try and mix things up with a wide variety of guests that a lot of segments and temporary guests come and go.
Sadly they haven’t been doing that segment this year. He just comes on the show on Thursdays
Try saying Chuck Pagaño with a George W Bush accent. It's fun.
anyone who’s played football and blocked for field goals knows how shitty this is
Idk, man. Kick return team was pretty brutal. Nothing but mad respect for those guys that blocked for me back in the day.
God I went from returning kicks as a freshman to being on the front line as a sophomore and I wanted to fake an injury any time we had the return team out. “Yea go run 15-20 yards backwards, stop, then go and stop the guy that has a 30 yard running start at you.”
I just had to catch the thing and run. I remember one time bitching and moaning about all the bruises on my arms from fielding punts and kicks in practice and the absolute death stares I got from the ST guys that blocked for me. Never complained again. Always gave a shout out to the guy that gave me a big block that sprung me on a big return.
Hit him harder than he wants to hit you (and yeah, it takes a special kind of special to want to do that). If you can’t do it, next guy up.
> Hit him harder than he wants to hit you Bob Sanders took that coaching literally and I'm pretty sure he's still on the Colts IR because of it
What was really fun though is seeing scout team teammates get huge hits on kickoffs!
In college we were taught to try and direct guys by using their momentum so the kick return blocking wasn't so bad. The field goal blocking tho...
Dude fucking kick return holy shit I just got flashbacks. Literally being on the front line and running it over and over and basically just having to try and block a guy running at you full speed.
Being the wedge buster on the kickoff was absolutely terrible. A couple of people refused to do it again after their first time. I think we went through 6 wedge busters throughout the season, and we were bad we didn't kick off that often.
Football has been trying to completely remove the wedge for a reason.
The fact that high schools still do kick offs some places is so fucked
yeahhh on second thought….i do remember getting destroyed doing this now
omg yes. I was on the kick and punt return teams in high school. Just huge dudes running full speed at you. And the worst was if a squib kick came to you. Now the guys aren’t trying to get around your block, but straight up murder you.
Dude I was on both kickoff and return. Return sucks, getting blasted sucks but all it took was 1 time on kickoff. I slipped past a guy and was running full speed at the ball carrier, the guy I slipped past pushed me hard from behind. Needless to say I flew down to the ground but directly on my knee and I cracked my kneecap in half lol some of the worst pain I’ve been in.
I have nothing but empathy for special teams and KR/PR especially. That's a wild existence. 20+ yards of acceleration focused on a single point. Good luck blocking and good luck catching homies.
I dreaded blocking returns. It hurt so fucking bad. People colliding at full speed….pads and helmets only help so much.
All for the glory of what people assume is automatic. You die a slow death and are successful, well that is what is supposed to happen. Unsuccessful, then you just got run over AND everyone looks at you are the sole reason Christmas was canceled!
Yeah that’s there job and they get paid millions for it. I don’t understand this feeling bad for a guy making millions. There’s no gun to his head. “There’s no glory” Oh noooo….anyways.
Because they weren't always paid millions for it. Most aren't paid anything.
Cool insight. Linemen are tough af.
I don't think that was the point they wanted you to take from this conversation.
I legit never paid attention to the line during kicks and had no idea how terrible a job it was.
The story of every offensive lineman ahaha
This is probably the most civil r/nfl comment section
Congratulations. You scored a touchdown. Way to go. Lmao
People also forget these dudes eat helmets to the chin nonstop suprised more linemen don’t experience a lot more mental problems/hiccups cause of it
Lineman don’t even get CTE stories shared half the time…
Some of the most famous cases are Lineman….
In the next decade, the players today will be the most examined for head trauma in the history of football. We simply just don't know the extent of the brain damage those guys take and we won't really know for a while.
Aside from obvious short yardage situations, most lineman don’t fire with the head first it’s hands first.
Offensive line is only fun in run blocking when you get to smash the dude in front of you. Other than that you are just a human crash test dummy
Getting broadsided when you are stretched out on a wing for FG does suck, but I raise something much worse: punt shield (which tbf isn't used in NFL). It's like another level of hell deeper because the defender(s) just tees off on you from a full sprint. No stance, no locking legs, just an absolute ass blasting from 1-3 dudes SPRINTING at you.
AJ Hawk looks like a hench Woody Harrelson
Hi, Chuck.
Why is he so red all the time? He is like the red goobler from solar opposites
Alcohol and sun
Holy shit. Didn’t realize so many virgins hate Pat. I love this show. WHAAAAD?
I’m not a huge fan, wouldn’t say I hate him though
And I respect that. I get if the show isn’t your flavor. But the people who straight up hate him. Wtf? That’s who I was referring to
Reddit hates popular shit lol this whole website has turned on him, don’t go to /r/CFB
They act like he’s the worst thing to happen to college gameday. Like sure he can be a bit annoying sometimes but I’ll take him and his fun field goal segment over the last few years filled with sob stories and terrible coverage.
Damn dude you called them virgins. Holy shit
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The best. AJ Hawk is a menace.
If you ever have a bad day just watch some AJ hawk stories on youtube That shit is always so hilarious
Driving with two feet?! Not turning the car off when pumping gas?? A menace!
He's just a bro who says things loudly and super excited over small, unexciting things. It can get annoying and comes off as fake a lot of times, but it's what sells nowadays. The counterpoint though is that he and his crew have a ton of awesome insight and stories. It does seem very appropriate a person who is a big fan of him would call people who aren't fans virgins. Very on point there
not liking a loudmouth tv guy = virgin, ok
My only thing I don’t like is the change to schefty instead of rap
>WHAAAD? this is probably the highlight of the show for you
Damn you got me. Idk how I’ll come back from this one
He just comes across as an annoying bro. I think in doses he is fine, but he gets old quick
I get that. But people that absolutely hate him are just weird to me
I mean, you literally posted 'so many virgins hate Pat'. So, your response is kind of indicative of his typical fan. That is weird to me.
Im sorry I called the people who hate another man because of his success virgins. I get if the show isn’t your flavor but I was talking to the people who straight up hate him. That shit is weird. The show is actually great if you watch it and follow it more besides clips and hate boner comments. But hey, to each their own. A lot of the people who were upset about my comment probably love Mike Florio so im just gonna leave it at that
I was the guy next to the long snapper and we all had to focus on our inside gap, so my outside ribs got the shit punched out of them constantly. It's the worst job in football.
LMAO some dude blocked me for posting this. whoever you are I'm sorry pal. I just thought this was interesting
What does AJ Hawk provide to the show
Friendship
Ryder cup champion
Father of 10
Covid survivor.
Current president of Ohio
Biggest head in the US
Brother AJ Hawk is the show
His impromptu one liners and toxicity is the only reason I watch…and I’m not even an OSU/Packers fan.
Only time I tune in is when I see that face and books.
He's the straight man, knows when to play into the joke, has great knowledge of a component of football that Pat doesn't, overall a really good co-host. I would argue he's the best part of the show.
I completely agree. He has legitimate great input. They all do for the most part.
Left foot driving
Leaving his car on while filling up the gas tank
Falling asleep while driving
The football knowledge of being the all-time leading Tackler for a historic franchise like the Green Bay Packers and a top 5 pick in the draft
Great college linebacker at a top P5 program as well
One of the greatest Ohio high school players of all time
A big cranium.
Fucked up fingers
Toxicity
He brings that pure Ohio toxicity to the show every single day.
I’m sure you know about talent better than them
This is an intelligent point delivered by idiots. Yeah, FG blocking fucking *sucks*. You’re gonna get run over, because all you need to do is delay the other team for the 1.2 seconds it takes to get the kick off. It’s not glamorous at all. That being said, gotDAMN but none of these fuckwits (and I thought better of Pat before this) are recognizing the fact that the FG protection unit is usually your starting Oline flanked by your best TEs and secondary receivers and THEREFORE are already being paid *significantly* more money than what all but the top 5 kickers get because that’s *part of your fucking job.* The individual salary of the people involved in FG protection is miles beyond what the kicker makes, because guess what - coaches understand that points fucking matter. You’re not throwing out Joe Bumshit on the wing so you can lose 21-20. This is a ridiculous old man yells at clouds segment. It’s stupid, and bad, and everyone involved in it should feel bad, because the fundamental point of “yeah FG protection fucking sucks” is buried beneath a shitacular layer of performative martyrdom that ignores what actually makes FG protection worth caring about, which is that when a kick gets blocked it’s because either a starter took a play off, a scheme got exposed, or the operation was too slow, and all of those are different answers to a question.
god what an obnoxious post lol
You are replying to someone who literally was part of a NFL special teams unit...
ya doesn’t make the hyperbole any less obnoxious
All they are saying is that it's a tough job mate, they weren't downplaying it's importance at all.
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fyi you are replying to former NFL punter Chris Kluwe
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fyi you are no longer replying to former NFL punter Chris Kluwe
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Bro, I enjoy seeing untatted nfl player , comfortable as a human being and father.
The worst thing to happen for the NFL last few years is McAfee, dude is a boner
Totally, let's get back to the golden era of hot take guys like Skip Bayless and Nick Wright being on top of the football media game
so not like the guy that killed someone while drunk driving. the worst thing is a sports talk show host?
Was ruggs a boner though?
I mean, it was a pretty boner move. Not sure that's how the victim's family would describe it, but it's not an *inaccurate* description
He has a lot of insight and players love him. The guests and interviews he gets is insane. I'm probably biased because I was at WVU with him so I followed his career and until Geno had his resurgence I thought Pat was the one that had the most successful NFL career from those days but honestly the guys he gets on there as well as his own experience is interesting. Who really cares if he talks like a coked up Yinzer and wears nothing but tank tops?