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Today during our radio show "Tiger Talk", host David Jennings introduced the first of his All Time T.R. Miller Football team by selecting the defense. He claims he has a committee but I don't think anyone is really buying that. Actually this team only covered the years from 1976 until the present (before '76 apparently was ancient history). I recalled watching each of these players and everyone was an outstanding defender. It got me to thinking about what made up a good defensive player. It can't be size and speed because the biggest or fastest player isn't always the best defender. So I listed some qualifications if you want to have a chance to make this all time defensive team.
1) Contact- these guys loved running into each other. And it didn't matter where or when. They loved to hit guys at practice and they loved to wrestle and fight when they were kids. Their mother told them a hundred times "You're being too rough with him" or "you're going to hurt him!" They fouled out of basketball games and they loved full contact volleyball. When all the kids played "pick'em up bust'em", they started to quit when these guys showed up and said they wanted to play. They loved contact.
2) No Fear- They didn't care who we were playing or how big or fast the offensive players were. They literally had no fear of the offense. Every play was like a mini war and and they loved causing the enemy to retreat. The greater the challenge the more it pumped them up. To them, the game was all about courage.
3) Their middle name was "tough"- Nothing bothered them. They took on all comers regardless of who it was. They played with cuts and bruises.....sprained ankles and bad shoulders.....swollen knees and broken fingers. They loved stitches and casts. They loved to blow up the scout team running backs because it helped to teach them some toughness. Their helmet looked as if someone had tried to sand the paint of the front from all of the collisions. They would crack their helmet but wouldn't let anyone fix it. There would be blood on their facemask and they refused to clean it off. When the QB would run out of bounds they would call him the equivalent of "sissy". When they hit you, they tried to put you in the hospital.
4)They hated to lose. They never gave in regardless of the score. If the opponent got the best of them on a given play, they could hardly wait to retaliate on the next one. They played every play like it was the last one they would ever play.
5) On the game's biggest play, they wanted you to run the ball at them or throw the ball at them. They wanted to be the one to win the game. They relished the opportunity to put the final nail in the opponent's coffin.
But the greatest thing about these great defensive players was simply the fact that they inspired their teammates to play at a higher level and they built a confidence in their teammates that they would be there when they were needed and they would always get the job done and make the big play.
And they almost always did.
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