Goddamn this dude could hit--I think only Steve Atwater comes close. I know Primetime is the greatest cornerback, probably ever, but Ronnie Lott inspired more fear than any player I've ever seen maybe short of LT. And just because of the position he played, Lott may have inspired more fear. With LT, you always knew he was coming. But with Lott--because he was a safety--you never knew necessarily where he was coming from, if at all.
This video is bitter-sweet for me. The most poignant moments are not when Lott delivers a blow--though that Icky Woods joint is off the chain--but when he takes the worst of a collision. I love that because it shows that what made Lott so ferocious wasn't so much his physicality per se, but his mentality. He hit like he had nothing in the world to lose. I know a lot of pro players have paid for that mentality, and I guess that's why its kinda bitter. At the same time, there is something deeply spiritual about watching this dude continuously sacrifice his body. It mirrors the way I've always tried to approach life--go big or go home as my buddy David Carr says. I think that's what I love about football. There's no half-assing anything. Either you're going to be fearless or you're going to get ran over. It's such a metaphor for life. There is no substitute for mental courage.
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
Copyright © 2009 by The Atlantic Monthly Group. All rights reserved.
THat clip of him hitting Barry Sanders is one of the few times you see Sanders getting hit hard.
The worst I ever saw Ronnie Lott take a hit was when he had some big running back lined up, I think it was William Andrews, and Lott when in to lay him out and Andrews kept on going after the hit.
At the same time, there is something deeply spiritual about watching this dude continuously sacrifice his body. It mirrors the way I've always tried to approach life--go big or go home as my buddy David Carr says. I think that's what I love about hockey.
Fixed.
gotta love NFL Films. What is that piece of music right at the end, when Lott is talking about earning respect?
"At the same time, there is something deeply spiritual about watching this dude continuously sacrifice his body."
For me Lynn Swan represented the apotheosis of that spirit.
"Apotheosis" earns me a bonus slightly off topic comment on grammar [as the resident village idiot]. I have a love/hate relationship with grammar, and, at times, am not even sure what it is. But, I absolutely think the use of capitalization is ludicrous. For example, "but, i absolutely think the use of capitalization is ludicrous," demonstrates how silly it is. It serves no purpose except to slow a lousy typer like me down, thereby limiting the lumpen of the world of my flatulent form of sage, pithy wisdom. I challenge all comers to explain to me the use or value of capitalization.
Sorry for the digression. I have to return to my daily 6 hour prayer session asking God to have McCain drop dead. If McCain does drop dead, I swear I'll believe in God.
YiC,
Adin
Beautiful. Brings back so many fond memories...
One more thing. John York, please bring back the 1980's era 49er uniforms...and please bring back the 1980's 49er players...and please relinquish ownership back to your brother in law...
On the flip side this brings back AWFUL memories ... It was so close ... 34 seconds and the Bengals would have their SB.
Ugh... where did I put that bourbon...
Solely out of respect for the man: Lynn Swann, not "Lynn Swan."
Adin
Slightly O/T, and nothing against Ronnie Lott who was a truly great football player, and since I’m a huge consumer of televised sports, this is kind of like advocating vegetarianism while eating a moose burger, but virtually all ‘spectacular’ hits in football (or hockey) are blind-side hits, where the target wasn’t able to gather himself to take the impact.
In international football (soccer) the theatrical diving does look somewhat wack to my USA eyes, but I see it a stylized way of expressing an aversion to violence that I find preferable to the bloodlust in the NFL or NHL.
Blind-side hits can be entertaining, but frequently they’re cost-effective only by gladiatorial standards. In football, a significant amount of force is often necessary because the tackler must bring the ball-carrier down. In hockey, all the defender needs to do is separate the offensive player from the puck.
I’d encourage the officials to invoke the old ‘unnecessary roughness’ principle as much as possible.
What's crazy about Lott is that his hitting and tackling ability almost completely overshadowed his overall athleticism.
Dude is one of the league's all-time leaders in picks, and covered ground better than almost any other safety of his time. Think about one-dimensional safeties like Roy Williams, and it's easy to appreciate Lott's overall game.
Not to mention, I read his autobiography as a kid, and I think he was a star running back, point guard and baseball player in high school. I mean, he damn near beat out Marcus Allen at USC.
Blackink,
As a Cowboys fan, I can say that you're so right. He was what a safety should be. We had Darren Woodson--in the Lott mode, but nowhere near as talented, but Williams seems to have seen too many episodes of "Jacked Up." Lott made the Pro-Bowl at corner and safety. I think Rod Woodson was awesome. But man Ronnie Lott was just a force. Didn't he have the tip of his finger cut off so he could stay in a game?
Don't leave John Lynch out of this conversation. He doesn't have the stats of Lott (clearly the best) or Atwater, but in his prime with the Bucs he hit like the ball carrier owed him money.
Since you mentioned Steve Atwater's hitting abilities in a positive light, what do you say to being the VP pick on my presidential campaign? Don't laugh. Giving props to the Broncos shows you're more than qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Herb-Coates. "We don't have red states and blue states. We just have orange and blue states!"
Common, man. The hardest hitter was Jack Tatum. Then Ronnie Lott. Get it straight.
Also, Matt J, it's obvious that John Lynch's best years were with the Broncos, not the Bucs.
And I'm not saying that because I put the Broncos first...
Let me first say that Ronnie was a beast, but I think your selling Darren Woodson a little short. He was as good a saftey as there ever was, all time leading tackler in Cowboy history. I always thought Ronnie bit his own finger off, than spat it out on the trainer who told him he couldn't go back in...
I remember seeing Darren Woodson play with a seperated shoulder, and still bringing the wood. They also made the whole bitch-ass "hitting a defensless player rule" after he kept knocking fools out.
Also while we are speaking about defensive beasts, there is a new book coming out by Jeff Pearlman called "Boys Will Be Boys", about none other than the Cowboys. In it there is a chapter about Charles Haley and how off the chains NUTS he was, words can not do it justice to describe his insanity:
http://kissingsuzykolber.uproxx.com/2008/08/charles-haley-would-like-you-to-watch-him-masturbate.html
People talk about his 86 draft, but the 81 draft may be the best draft in NFL history as Walsh picks Lott, Carlton Williamson and Erik Wright and they all end up starting along with Dwight Hicks. With the help of Fred Dean turn the worst pass defense in the league into one of the best.
Lott's rookie season is easily the best ever by a first year cornerback. He made play after play that made him look like the veteran and the opposition the rookies. There was a play in a game vs the Rams where early in the game Dan Pastorini had completed a pass for a 25 yard gain or so catching Lott out of position. In the 4th quarter they went back to that same play and Lott made a move into the same area he did in the first quarter, then broke on the ball before Pastorini even started to throw, intercepting the ball and taking it in for six. Man I miss those days....
Yep, he choose to cut off the tip of his finger at the end of the season. The finger was so badly mangled that it was gonna continually give him hell, so he chose to snip it off.
Now that's gangsta.
And yeah, Darren Woodson was really, really nice. A poor man's Lott, for sure, with the only real gap between the two coming in coverage. Woodson could thump with the best of them but he was a linebacker in college, after all.
But man Ronnie Lott was just a force. Didn't he have the tip of his finger cut off so he could stay in a game?
So he could play in a game rather than stay out to avoid injuring it further, yes.
Less often told is the story of when he arrived before a game with a sprained neck ...
I would have to cast my vote for Ray Lewis as the most feared player of all time, if only because he's a murderer on top of everything else.
Jack Tatum also deserves mention.
Joel, no. I didn't delete it, but don't do that please.
And black, you know Woodson could cover too--arguably the best safety of his era. But Ronnie Lott just did everything Darren did--but better.
Most definitely Woodson could cover. And I agree: he probably was the best safety of his era. But it's tough to know for sure since he had so much help up and down those Cowboys defenses.
As a Houston native it hurts me to say it but, man, those Dallas teams were pretty damn nasty. Especially on D - they're so good, even Dave Wannstedt has been able to keep a job all these years despite strong evidence that he's a terrible coach.
C'mon blackink, the 49ers were every bit as dominate in the eighties as were the Cowboys. Need I refer to my earlier post on the nut(pun intended) Charles Haley. It's no coincidence that Dallas was able to get over the hump when Haley left the Niners and went to the Cowboys. They had guys like Romanowski, Matt Millen, Tim Mckyer, Michael Carter made 3 pro bowls, hell even Keena Turner was good. In fact, I am willing to bet that Ronnie Lott played with more Pro Bowlers than did Darren Woodson.
do you do fantasy football?
want in on my league? live draft tomorrow at 5 45 EST.
Email me.
There's no half-assing anything. Either you're going to be fearless or you're going to get ran over. It's such a metaphor for life. There is no substitute for mental courage.
I think that attitude is why my grandfather drank himself to death, sad to say. Though Joe McCarthy didn't help.
Sorry man, I can't let the claim that Deion Sanders was better than Rod Woodson slide. Sanders was more athletically talented, but Woodson was vastly better against the run, on blitzes (he led the team in sacks one year!), and on routes over the middle. Sanders was afraid to really hit someone. Rod Woodson wasn't, and it made him better in every facet of the game besides man-on-man coverage.
Capt,
Interesting. I'll set up a thread tomorrow. I still go with Sanders--the ability to basically eliminate whole halves of football fields for a quarterback is insane. But save your argument and check in 2morrow around noon. No doubt, Rod Woodson was nasty and more physical.
Nice to see some D Wood love in here. Dude was a hit machine and a great guy to boot.
keith,
You're dead on about Haley. The most underrated piece of the Boys greatness of the 90s. Triplets get all the love, Prime Time all the glory, but it was Haley that put the Doomsday back in Dallas' D.
What... no love for my man Bob Sanders? I'll spot you Lott and Atwater, but there isn't a defensive back in the NFL today who is more dangerous than #21.
He was arguably a more valuable piece of the Colts' Super Bowl run than Manning himself.
Ronnie Lott carried out what I still believe to be the single most devastating defensive play in NFL history. It was the 1989 playoff game between the Niners and the then-LA Rams. It was in the first quarter. The Rams were on the move. Ram receiver Flipper Anderson's lined up on quarterback Jim Everett's right while Lott's lined up ALL THE WAY on the left side. Everett launches what appears to be a perfect rocket strike to Anderson. Somehow Lott managed to arrive at the other side of the filed just in time to swat the ball away from Anderson's hands. How? Had to be teleportation, because NOBODY could have moved that fast without something mystical at work.
The Rams were never a threat to the Niners for the rest of the afternoon. (Final score: 49ers 30, Rams: 3) Or, for that matter, to anyone else ever again, until they moved to St. Louis. That's what that one game-altering, franchise-shattering swat did.