When asked his definition of “old school,” he referred to big-hitting safeties such as Sean Taylor and Bob Sanders, so he’s still kind of young. And because he has a support system in place with old friends like Jackson and old coaches like Smith and Canales and so many other former Seahawks here, it feels like he’s been here longer than the five weeks since he joined the practice squad on Aug. 28.
New offensive tackle Jake Curhan, who was with Dallas in both Seattle and Arizona before joining him here Wednesday, walked by at that moment, and Dallas laughed and said, “I call him my shadow, because he follows me wherever I go.”
But the way Dallas follows offensive linemen also has earned him the respect of other players.
“He’s just excited to play football every time we get to play, and you can tell when you watch DeeJay Dallas play football, it’s like he wants to hit people,” Curhan said. “He’s not one of those running backs who want to dance around or whatever. He wants to run through somebody’s chest, and he’s excited to do it, which is infectious.”
And that personality is beginning to show. Linebacker Claudin Cherelus, one of the regulars on special teams here, said Dallas “brings that juice every day,” but also brings that gravity that comes with being able to do so many different things.
“He’s a gadget dude,” Cherelus said, rattling off a laundry list of positions Dallas can and has played. “He’s all the above, so it it’s special, man. It’s impressive to watch, really.
“He’s definitely making me better, you know. I mean, just from the first day, really, just going against him. It’s like somebody who has all that experience at all these positions. And then you’re seeing it from an offensive guy that understands leverage on a tackle, he can make an open field tackle like a DB.”