What was an “attitude adjustment” in the locker room, and what was a “pin move” on the field?
An attitude adjustment? Man, we could all use an attitude adjustment from time to time, right? Let’s differentiate. This was not hazing, this was not a fraternity prank. This is a beat-down in love. Sometimes a guy gets squirrely, he doesn’t have that attitude like he wants to perform or practice or he’s doing something stupid, we would joke and say we were going to give him an attitude adjustment. It could be putting a guy in a dumpster. It could be messing with his jock. It could be pinning him down and tickling him. Slapping him on the back of the neck. But these were not life-threatening things. These were just things to say, Hey, man, we’re all in this together. Get your mind right. Honestly, we all could use an attitude adjustment from time to time. That was the team policing itself and the team coaching itself. And believe me, the coaches appreciated it.
The pin move, when I got in the league in 1989, I literally cried myself to sleep at night. I was on the scout team, going against Howie Long, playing right guard at that time. Talk about giving yourself a confidence problem. The guy was a Pro Bowler, he was a beast, people were afraid of him, he was a former Golden Gloves boxer and I prepared for practice like it was a war. I’m going to kick his butt. I’m going to get him. I did not back down from Howie Long. I earned his respect right away and he would go as hard as he could in practice. With whatever reps he took, it was going to be full speed. As a rookie, man, I go home after taking scout-team reps and first-team reps. I was exhausted. I always felt like, Man, he’s getting the best of me. I suck. I just felt terrible. But it was a way of getting me better.
The pin move, Howie used to love to throw a rip, a heavy rip, because back in those days, guys used to be able to club you. Not in the head, but they would use a heavy club to hit your shoulder pads or a heavy rip to drive their arm up and in. And when Howie used to drive his arm up and in my shoulder pad, I found out real quick if I just jammed his hip, it only takes about 15 pounds of pressure on his hip, to torque him. Bend him backwards and drop him right in place. I got good at that. With the pin move, guys who would throw a heavy rip, you could drop them right in place. It worked real well against Howie and he’s like, “Damn, what are you doing? How are you doing that?” Nowadays they kind of call holding on that. It really isn’t holding. You’re just collapsing a guy’s hip. A different era, a different time. They let us get away with a little bit more then. But that was the pin move.
But to finish the Howie story, I honestly felt like I sucked. But after my second year in the NFL, I was voted to my first Pro Bowl. And that was by the grace of God, only because I had to go against Howie every single day. I mean, there was no one I was going to face in a game that was going to match what I had to practice against.
How unique is that brotherhood on the offensive line, and how did you know it was time to retire after Gruden convinced you to return for one more season?
Joe Bugel was one of the finest offensive line coaches in the NFL…but we honestly didn’t need a coach, in the sense that we were going to push ourselves. We were going to work hard on a daily basis, and later in our career, sometimes our coach would get mad at us and storm off the field and we would carry on. We would push ourselves through practice. If I can say what the culture is missing nowadays in the NFL, it’s the lack of leadership. The lack of buy-in. Very few teams have units that say, “Hey, coach, go on in, we’ve got this.” No one was going to slack. I felt like I owed it to Lincoln to play every down and he did the same to me. I felt like I couldn’t live with myself if I couldn’t play for a game because I was somehow injured. I felt like I betrayed all my family members, my loved ones, if I wasn’t going to step on that field, And I don’t think you see that today.
There’s very few teams that have that tight-knit culture. And the ones that do seem to be the best teams, right? Right now, the Kansas City Chiefs, they look like they’re having fun. They have a tight-knit group and my nephew Stef (a Raiders draft pick in 2011) could attest to that. A few years back, when he was with Philadelphia, the Eagles were having fun and they had that buy-in and were effective. Back in our era, right or wrong, we killed each other in practice. Under Art Shell, it was a battle during the week, I used to joke we were the best team in the league on Wednesday or Thursday. We would expend ourselves live and then sometimes limp into the game on Sunday. I just remember a lot of Sunday mornings, getting ready to play a game thinking, Man, my body feels like crap. I just hurt all over. How am I going to do this? So I knew after 13 years it was probably time to retire.
I don’t regret it, but I wish I could have been a part of that Super Bowl season but at least now I can touch my toes and I can still be active and do things I enjoy. Everyone asks, “What do you miss?” You miss the camaraderie. You miss the fun. You miss the shared life experience. Even guys I didn’t play with, I’ll give them a hug. But for my Raider brothers, I’ll give them the shirt off my back. If it will fit.